The Shema and Saving the World

Moses reveals the secret to saving the world in Parashat Va’etchanan (Deut. 3:23–7:1) when he teaches Israel powerful connections between prayer, the invisible Presence of God, and His Oneness. The name of the parasha comes from the Hebrew root chen meaning grace or favor. Moshe says he pleaded for grace.

Rashi explains that although the righteous possess good deeds upon which they might base a claim, they do not approach God as though anything is owed to them. This is remarkable when we consider who is praying. Moshe had confronted Pharaoh, led Israel from Egypt, received the Torah, and faithfully carried the burdens of the nation for forty years. Yet when he asks to enter the Promised Land, he does not present God with an account of his accomplishments. He approaches HaShem asking for grace.

This principle hearkens back to Avraham. He petitioned God in behalf of the people of Sodom, while confessing, “I am but dust and ashes” (Gen. 18:27)

Moshe then tells us in Deut. 5:19 that God spoke at Sinai—v’lo yasaf a unique Divine utterance whose power does not cease. In this Torah portion, after Moshe recounts the giving of the Torah, he introduces the Shema:

“Hear, O Israel: HaShem is our God, HaShem is One” —Deuteronomy 6:4

Prayer, Divine Presence, and God’s Oneness are therefore not separate ideas. We pray because God is the singular Source of all existence. And we seek his kindness because every blessing ultimately flows from His will.

Teaching the Unity of God is part of Israel’s mission. Science has pursued a Unified Field Theory, seeking one underlying principle capable of explaining the forces of nature. Yet the concept of ultimate unity has always been with us—embedded in the Shema. All reality ultimately depends upon the One Creator.

In Chassidic thought, the recitation of the Shema with kavanah(proper intention) is understood as a redemptive act—a drawing of all of reality back to its single Source.

Moshe brings God’s plan full circle—a plan that began with Avraham. The Midrash and classical commentaries emphasize that Avraham recognized God’s Oneness long before the Torah was given. The Rambam describes how Avraham arrived at this truth through reason, rejected the idolatry surrounding him, broke the images, and publicly taught that there is one God over the entire world.

In Avraham’s day, Bavel had propagated the error of idolatry while he became the ultimate iconoclast, destroying idols and proclaiming God’s Oneness. According to the chronology preserved in the Oral Tradition, Avraham lived during the generation of the Tower of Bavel. This edifice, a monument to human vanity whose builders rejected the One God of Avraham, were not destroyed as the generation of the Flood had been. Rashi explains that they were spared because although their purpose was rebellious, they were united in their efforts and God loves unity.

The Torah introduces Avraham immediately after the account of the Tower as the cure for the Tower mentality. The builders sought to make a name for themselves, while God told Avraham, “I will make your name great.”

Avraham, the man of complete devotion to God, did not seek self-aggrandizement. He was a pioneer of monotheism, the embodiment of chesed and a man of prayer who pleaded for the lives of others.

One day, the air of Jerusalem will be filled with the voices of Israel and those from the nations who will join in prayer for all people, worshiping the Creator—the singular, infinite, all-encompassing One Presence. Unity is a force so powerful that when the Jewish People completely embrace it—they will change the world.