Hashem is One

Question

Rabbi,

I hope this email finds you doing well!

I first off want to thank y’all for hosting this service, being able to send these emails means a lot!

In a post Jesus-movement world, the idea of a “trinitarian,” “Unitarian,” and even “bitarian” God seems to be a matter of debate between believers of Jesus and non-believers in Jesus. Stressing that HaShem is ONE makes a lot of sense- but a time BEFORE the introduction of the Christian faith, what did it mean for HaShem to stress his oneness? I understand HaShem wanting to clarify that He is the ONLY god to be worshipped, but why clarify that He *was ONE?*

Thank you,

Ryan

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    The Maharal from Prague explains that the word “echad – one” means something absolute or complete. Hashem Echad is coming to teach us that there is only one Entity in our existence that can truly be described as “Echad” – and that is Hashem. Every other dimension of our existence is comprised of parts that come together to make up one unit. But, as the Maharal describes, all other “ones” are not really one, but rather a “unit of parts”.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team