and others a governor. But the one who was cleverer than the rest chose the king as his patron, as all the other officials were liable to be changed, but the king would remain the king. Likewise, when God came down on Sinai, there also came down with God many companies of angels, Michael and his company, and Gabriel and his company. Some of the nations of the world chose Michael as their patron, and others chose Gabriel, but Israel chose God, exclaiming the words of , "The Lord is my portion, says my soul," and this is the force of the words "the Lord our God" in . Rabbi Eleazar ben Azariah read , "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One," to indicate that Israel has made God the sole object of Israel's love in the world. God, in turn, makes Israel the special object of God's love in the world, as 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles say, "And who is like Your people, like Israel, a nation one in the earth." The Gemara explained that when Jews recite the Shema, they recite the words, "blessed be the name of God's glorious Kingdom for ever and ever," quietly between the words, "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one," from , and the words, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might," from , for the reason that Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish expounded when he explained what happened in . That verse reports, "And Jacob called to his sons, and said: ‘Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you what will befall you in the end of days.'" According to Rabbi Simeon, Jacob wished to reveal to his sons what would happen in the end of the days, but just then, the Shechinah departed from him. So Jacob said that perhaps, Heaven forefend, he had fathered a son who was unworthy to hear the prophecy, just as Abraham had fathered Ishmael or Isaac had fathered Esau. But his sons answered him (in the words of ), "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One," explaining that just as there was only One in Jacob's heart, so there was only One in their hearts. And Jacob replied, "Blessed be the name of God's glorious Kingdom for