as it is written : the earth shalt thou make an altar for God . and if thou wilt make an altar of stone , thou shalt not build it of hewn stone , for if thou lift up thy sword upon it , thou hast polluted it . the Shamir . and they shall seek the Shamir , to make an altar . according to the legend , Solomon had asked the Prince of the demons , Ashmodeus to bring him the Shamir and Ashmodeus told him that the Shamir had not been placed under his charge , as there is no Shamir in Gehenna ( hell ) . an eagle brought the Shamir to Solomon from Eden , the paradise , the only place where the Shamir could be found . the Talmud describes that the Shamir lives in a sanctuary , and only some rare birds know the existence of it . these birds are , the Cherubim and the Seraphim . we are also told that the Shamir is the stylus used by Moses , and this stylus is described as a very precious diamond-stone and very adamant . the word Shamir was used as a personal name ( Git 68a ) . the Hebrew word Shamir means guarded or preserved . therefore , the real man , who regards himself as insignificant , as the prayer says : what am I ? a worm , he is the Shamir and such a man fulfils the Shmah , loves the Lord God with all his heart , and with all his soul and with all his might and studies the word of God . this man is the worm , the creature that cuts and polishes altar-stones . such a man is the Shamir that guards himself against all the irrelevant pleasures . such a Shamir possesses the real acid to mould our character , to melt our heart of stone . this Shamir helps us earthly creatures to build an altar for God to come nearer to God . the action of the Shamir writes books and their books are readable . this Shamir is indeed a rare diamond that incises the hardest rock , the hardest facts . and these creatures existed from the beginning . it is the stone , which the builders refused , but it is to become the head-stone of the corner . ( Ps 118 , 22 . ) and the stone shall tell ! for the stone shall cry out of the wall , like Baalam &apos;s ass , and the purlin of timber shall creak in answer if the roof of our security is crushing our soul ( see Hab 2 , 10-11 ) . and it is through the Shamir : that the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord , as the waters cover the sea . ( Hab 2 , 14 . ) the Shamir &apos;s daily life writes the Decalogue , which is written on two plates , the hard facts of life , and all facts are one . we have all come across human Shamirs and they leave a deep impression on our feelings and senses . they make us the altar for God to emit the light which can be read in every language . the Shamir is the seventh and most important creature , that was created on the eve of the sabbath , to bring the sabbath , real peace to the whole world . then the whole earth will be his altar . the second lesson of the shmah Deut 11 , 13-21 . and it shall come to pass , if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments , which I command you this day , to love the Lord your God , and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul . this may seem very good , but there is something deficient . to love the Lord your God with all your might is lacking ( Deut 6 . 5 . ) . it is this lack of vision that may make us fail . and without visionary power the people will perish . but nature will at first not interfere . that I will give you the rain of your land in its due season , the first rain and the latter rain , but the consequence will be that thou mayest gather in thy corn , and thy wine , and thine oil . under such conditions without putting your mind together we can not solve the further summons of destiny , to solve the economic problems . hence says Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai ( Tanis 6a ) if Israel does not fulfil the wish of the Lord , failing to serve the Lord God with all their visionary power , the work will have to be done by each individual . they will not work in union . if physical power , spiritual power and visionary power is not united , man will remain in his heart selfish and think only of one &apos;s personal advantage to gratify selfish aims , then each man will gather-in for himself only , instead of all to help to gather your corn , your wine and your oil . freedom from want can not be fulfilled nor freedom from fear , fear of starvation in the midst of plenty . help will not be easily forthcoming for the people in need . they will think of the animals first ( which is of course our duty ) . of course the individual will eat and be full but : take heed to yourself , that your heart be not deceived , and ye turn aside , and serve other gods , and worship them , the yourself is thy greatest enemy , the self-seeking self . and you serve Mammon and God . and you can not serve two masters , and you worship self-interest , isolating yourself , under such conditions the goods are your gods . and then the Lord &apos;s wrath be kindled against you , and he shut up the heavens , that there is no rain , and that the land yield not her fruit and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord giveth you . for without the vision to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might the problem of life can not be solved . therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul . the text adds and in your soul , searching your soul . and the sequence in the text is different than in the first part of the Shmah , we have first and to bind them for a sign upon your hand , that they may be as frontlets between your eyes . first to bind them to have the vision and then and ye shall teach them to your children . and as we have gone through the mill , we need not teach them to the children any more diligently and the children will grasp now what will befall them without visionary power . and we will nail the divine law on the door posts of the house and upon the gates . the reward . that your days may be multiplied and the days of your children in the land , which the Lord swear unto your father to give them , as days of heaven on earth . that means the kingdom of messianic righteousness ( Talmud Sanh 99A ) . the Messusah , which is nailed on the doorposts contains those two lessons . the third lesson of the Shmah ( Numbers 15 , 37-41 ) is called the going-out of the land of Egypt . it starts with the story of the fringes the tsitsits . this lesson used to be read only in the morning . and the Talmud tells a story , which is also in the Hagadah that Rabbi Eleasar ben Assarja said , I am nearly seventy and I had not succeeded that people should read the going out of Egypt the passage Numbers 15 , 37-41 , by night , because the fringes ( tsitsits ) are only used in the day ; till Ben Zoma came and explained the verse ( Deut 16 , 3 ) that thou mayest remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the days of thy life . Ben Zoma said : the days of thy life means in the day-time ; all the days of thy life means even at night-time . ( Berochoth . ) and the Rabbis thought it important that when we read the Shmah to be willing to hear , we should remember the great deliverance : Passover and its connection with the fringes ( the tsitsits ) . the tsitsits and the Hagadah . and the tsitsits had a message sealed inside the knots just as there is a message sealed in the four emblems which are used on Passover , to depict the time of our freedom . and they are ( 1 ) Matzo ; ( 2 ) bitter herbs ; ( 3 ) salt-water and charauses ( a kind of fruit mixture in likeness of the appearance of mortar ) ; and ( 4 ) an attitude to lean back . ( 1 ) . Matzos is deficient bread , ( lechem anjo in Hebrew ) , so are we deficient without spiritual knowledge , and to cure our mental incapacity we should be willing to learn . education is always the most important task . education gives : freedom of speech . ( 2 ) . bitter herbs symbolises the bitterness that is hurled against us . we eat it . we accept it , to show we have self-control and that God dwells within us . self-control gives us : freedom to worship God . ( 3 ) . salt water and charauses : the salt-water at the seder-table represents the covenant of the Torah ( melach brith elohecho in Hebrew , salt is the covenant of thy God , Levit 2 , 13 . ) salt preserves and we should have this salt in ourselves and have peace with one-another . and the sweet mortar ( the charauses in Hebrew ) that binds all the hard-facts together and explains them , represents the oral tradition . we dip into both , at the seder . and we want to understand more of the Torah and the oral tradition , our inheritance . living the life of the Torah ( dipping-in ) makes us meek : but the meek shall inherit the earth ; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace ( psalm 37 , 11 ) . that gives us freedom from want . ( 4 ) . we lean back on the seder-night , that symbolises we are unafraid , for we are Israel , the overcomer , the suffering servant , who will leaven the whole lump , chosen from all the nations , and we realise that all mankind are God &apos;s children . that gives us freedom from fear . these four emblems are the substance of the Passover and these four symbols are also the four ways of interpreting the Torah . ( 1 ) Matzo represents Peshat ; ( 2 ) Moraur represents Remez ; ( 3 ) dipping-in represents Derush ; ( 4 ) leaning-back represents Saud . ( this is the pardus . ) matzo represents the literal meaning of Pesach which is called : the feast of Matzos . the bitter-herbs represent the spiritual principle and this gives us a wink ( Remez ) how to live and accept all the bitterness that is hurled against us . the salt-water and the sweet mortar in which we dip-in represents the richness of the law and that we should immerse into it . leaning back carries the concealed message . and we start the seder showing the Matzos , that they represent the bread of poverty which our fore-fathers were eating in Mitzrajim , to show they were willing to learn ; and we invite anybody who wishes to partake in our discussions , saying : anybody who is hungry , let him come and eat , anybody who is thirsty , let him come and drink . and we want all to eat and drink his great philosophy of the four ways of Israel &apos;s redemption . hence four questions , which are really interrogations to examine into the principles of the four redemptions are asked at the seder-evening about these four symbols ( the manishtano ) . and the person who asks these questions is seeking the opinion of the one who is conducting the seder . and we answer , that the Lord our God gave us four freedoms without which society can not make progress . and we drink four cups to thank the Lord our God for the four freedoms which are divine . there are four ways of redemption : ( 1 ) . I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt . ( 2 ) . I will rid you of their bondage . ( 3 ) . I will redeem you . ( 4 ) . I will take you to me for a people . ( 1 ) . I will bring you out from under the burdens of Egypt : how was it that Israel was brought out from under the burdens of Egypt ? because , they kept the Passover and they were eating Matzos in Egypt and the feast of Matzos was known even to Abraham and Lot . ( Gen Rashi 19 , 3 . ) 