Parashat Va’etchanan – 5784
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Sites
In Parashat Va’etchanan, we read the conclusion of Moses’ first speech as he prepares to part from the people in the fortieth year of their desert journey. Moses then begins another speech, known as the Speech of the Commandments. The first subject Moses mentions in this long speech is the Sinai Revelation. Moses vividly describes the awe-inspiring and overwhelming experience of the divine revelation and repeats the Ten Commandments that were given during that event.
Later, as part of the Speech of the Commandments, Moses recites the most famous biblical text: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.” This sentence has become the eternal call of the Jewish people throughout the generations. It is recited when a father brings his son into the covenant of circumcision and during the climactic moment of Yom Kippur’s closing prayer. It has been uttered by Jews moments before they gave their lives for the sanctification of God’s name, and most recently, it was used by IDF forces to identify themselves to Jews hiding from Hamas terrorists in the communities near Gaza on Simchat Torah, October 7, 2023.
What is it about this sentence that has made it the call expressing Israel’s faith and representing the eternal existence of the Jewish people? What is, in fact, the literal meaning of these words?
For thousands of years, commentators and scholars have written about “Shema Yisrael.” Already in the Mishnah, the early rabbinic text, the sages defined “Shema Yisrael” as a text whose meaning is “accepting the yoke of heaven.” Scholars throughout the generations have further refined these distinctions. Let us try to contribute our part in the light of the great scholars of the ages.
“Shema Yisrael” – originally, this was Moses’ call to the people of Israel standing before him and listening to his speech. Indeed, it does not refer to hearing in the simple sense but rather, as the sages defined it, “hearing of the heart,” an internal listening with full attention, a kind of hearing that involves deep internalization of the content. King Solomon asked God: “Give Your servant a hearing (understanding) heart to judge Your people, to discern between good and evil” (1 Kings 3:9). This is the type of listening Moses intended, and so do we, when we say “Shema Yisrael,” we are addressing ourselves and the entire people of Israel: “Listen!”
“The Lord” – the Tetragrammaton (YHWH) is the “proper name” of God. Unlike other names that can also be used for idolatry or even for humans (for example, the name “Elohim” is also used in the context of “other gods,” meaning idols; and as a title for judges), the Tetragrammaton is never used for any other purpose except as the proper name of God. When we say, “The Lord is our God,” we are stating a phrase that means that the Lord, the Tetragrammaton, has a role as “our God.” But what does this mean?
From an incidental comment by the famous Torah commentator Rashi, we learn that God’s commitment to Abraham, “to be a God to you and to your descendants after you” (Genesis 17:7), is defined as “a covenant of love.” When we say that the Lord is “our God,” we express our confidence in God’s love for the people of Israel, in the eternal protection He provides to the people, and in His divine providence.
And the sentence continues: “The Lord is One.” This unity is both in the philosophical sense: God is not composed of parts; He is unified in a way that we cannot comprehend. But it also means His uniqueness. He is the only God, and there is none besides Him; as King David said in his prayer: “There is none like You, and there is no God besides You” (2 Samuel 7:22).
Therefore, the meaning—or at least one of the meanings—of the sentence “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One” is this: Listen and internalize, Israel! The Lord loves us and watches over us, and no one can compete with Him, interfere with Him, or prevent Him from doing so.
This is a statement of strong faith and complete trust in divine providence. It has become the Jewish declaration of faith. From this declaration of faith emerges the next command: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.” Faith gives birth to love and devotion.
