The Song of the life of a Jew

וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב, אֶל-בָּנָיו; וַיֹּאמֶר, הֵאָסְפוּ וְאַגִּידָה לָכֶם, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-יִקְרָא אֶתְכֶם, בְּאַחֲרִית הַיָּמִים

Our Parasha tells us that Yaakov wanted to tell his sons what will happen in the end of the days but he then lost his “Ruach Hakodesh” The Holy Spirit and couldn’t tell them the future anymore. The Midrash says that at this moment he thought maybe they weren’t righteous enough so they all said together “Shema Israel Hashem Elokenu Hashem Echad” Hear O Israel Hashem our God, Hashem is one, then Yaakov thanked Hashem and said “Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuto leolam va-ed” Bless is the name of his honour forever.

What does that mean and what is so special about the Shema Israel?

The Netivot Shalom opens the book with the following words “The Shema Israel is the song of the life of a Jew.” 
The Shema Israel is a testimony that Hashem is the only power that runs this world.

The power of a Yehudi is not a strong army or a smart government; it’s the power of Tefilah, prayer, the power of our Tongue, so much that Shlomo Hamelech said “Mavet ve Chaim beyad lashon” (life and death are in the "hands" of your tongue).

The last letter of the first word of the Shema is Ain (ע) and the last letter of the last word is Dalet (ד) together it’s Ed (Witness). When we say the Shema Israel, we not only testify that Hashem is the only power that’s ruling the world but we also state that he is ONE, meaning, even though we all look different from each other, and nature seems very diverse and divided it is just an illusion, it is really all ONE, and that is Hashem. My Rosh yeshiva said as a milta debdichuta (a small joke) That this is also the reason why we say the Shema with our eyes closed, because as soon as you open them it doesn’t seem true anymore :]

There’s an interesting Gemara in Masechet Megila daf 4. It says that sometimes a person feels a little worried or scared without any legitimate reason, just an inner feeling and the reason for that is every person has an Angel above him that protects him and sometimes there are certain Mezikim (bad spirits) around the person that the angel can see but the person can’t, and that’s why you’d get this inner feeling so in order to make them go away you should close your eyes and say the Shema Israel, that is the power of the Shema.

שמע ישראל ה' אלוקינו ה' אחד