Scooter Braun Confirms That Justin Bieber Says the Shema Before Every Show

In October 2010 I used the example of Justin Bieber reciting the “Shema Yisrael” Jewish prayer in a blog post about non-Jews performing Jewish rituals. I explained how there were reports that Justin Bieber’s Jewish manager Scott “Scooter” Braun, who discovered Bieber on YouTube, taught Justin the “Shema Yisrael” prayer and he says it before each concert. In the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronot, Scooter Braun said “Justin prays the Shema before each show. First he says a Christian prayer, then he says the Shema.”

I cynically noted that “Based on the number of concerts at which Justin Bieber performs, I’m guessing that he’s actually said the most important statement of Jewish belief many more times in his life than the average 16-year-old Jewish youth.”

Scenes of Justin Bieber saying the Shema even made it into his “Never Say Never” movie (I haven’t actually seen the movie, but that’s what I’m told).

Last week at the 2012 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, I had a chance to meet Justin Bieber and Scooter Braun. After Justin looked into my camera and said hello to my six-year-old daughter (which made her year!), I asked Scooter Braun to give a “shout out” to her as well. After he mentioned that he has a cousin by the same name as my daughter, he also confirmed that Justin says the Shema before every show. Here’s the video:

Here’s Justin Bieber saying the Shema along with Scooter Braun, Usher, and Jayden Smith:

(c) Rabbi Jason Miller | http://blog.rabbijason.com | Twitter: @RabbiJason | facebook.com/rabbijasonmiller