VAETCHANAN 5784
What Does “Gd is One” Mean?
After the assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders a couple of weeks ago, we were all holding our breaths—especially last Tuesday on Tisha B’Av, a date where so much tragedy has happened before—as Iran vowed a revenge attack upon Israel. Apparently diplomatic efforts have so far been successful in stopping an all-out war. On Thursday in Qatar, negotiations continued to hash out a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and the release of the hostages. Gd willing, this time—especially with Iran looking for a way to save face and not go to war—it will be successful. Hopefully, Cheryl and I will be able to go to Israel on the 25th for our granddaughter’s Bat Mitzvah.
This Shabbat, I’d like us to turn our focus from Gaza, the hostages and war with Iran to matters of the soul and connecting with Gd through prayer. And to do that, I’m going to review an essential concept of prayer from my book, Dancing With God, and answer the question: What does “Gd is One” mean?
Yes, Jewish prayer a dance. How? When a Jew prays, he/she sits and stands, moves his hands expressing his feelings, moves backward and forward, bows and rises up; he chants and sings and, in effect, embraces Gd. Each movement is pregnant with meaning. Taken together Jewish prayer is nothing short of a most intimate dance with our Creator.
The Talmud (Brachot 30b) tells us our earliest Sages would take an hour before praying just to prepare for an intimate prayer experience. Just as an athlete must warm up before a game in order to be at his best, we also need to warm up—especially after a night’s sleep—in order to be at our best before Gd.
But if encountering Gd was such an arduous task for our ancient Sages, would it not be an almost impossible task for the rest of us? Let me caution you not to become overwhelmed, and not to think too little of your own spiritual potential. Each of us is a holy soul, and with some effort and focus, every one of us can actually feel the presence of Gd every day. That’s what my book is all about. Listen carefully and you’ll get an idea of what I mean.
If you don’t do this already, why don’t you set aside a few minutes each day from your rat-race routine to just be with yourself and Gd? I know it’s not easy because the whole pace of our times is against it. So, schedule a daily appointment with yourself and Gd. You can do it for a half hour or 15 minutes—even 10 minutes. Get up a few minutes earlier or take the time before bed. Whatever works, just do it!
We are so connected today with our smart phones, laptops, email, texting and social networks that it’s difficult to be really alone. So shut it all down for a special time to just be with yourself and Gd—even for a few minutes. You see, if we never allow a moment for ourselves to catch our breath and think or feel or pray or just do nothing, then what kind of lives are we living?
In a world in which there’s so much pressure upon us to be doing things all the time … in a world where everyone says, “Don’t just stand there, do something,” we need to say to ourselves, “Don’t just do something, stand there,” at least long enough for our souls to catch up with ourselves. In that private time with yourself, find a moment to pour out your heart to Gd. Thank Him for all the blessings in your life and then ask for His help where you need it most.
My friends, Gd loves you and wants to be close to you. Don’t avoid prayer with the thought: “Who am I that Gd should be listening to my prayers? I’m just a sinner and have not done as much as I should have to help my fellow man, so why should Gd listen to me?” In the Ashre prayer (Psalm 145) it says: Karov Hashem l’chol korav (Gd is near to all who call upon Him. In other words, Gd loves you and wants to be close to you. Gd has all the time in the world to listen to you. But you have to make the call.
The Talmud (Pesachim 112a) teaches: “More than the calf wants to suckle, the cow wants to provide it with milk.” Gd wants, more than anything, to shower His love upon us. What it all adds up to is that Gd wants most from us is a relationship so that He can be good to us! Isn’t that remarkable?
Did you ever have a conversation with Gd? That’s right, a conversation where both He and you spoke to each other? No, I’m not crazy. You can have such a dialogue and strongly sense a message from Gd. And Jewish prayer, in a sense, sets this up for you. Our 2 main prayers are the Shema and the Amida. The Shema—the 1st paragraph from today’s Torah portion—is the most powerful statement of faith and the Amida is our opportunity to speak directly to Gd. The Shema consists of 3 passages from the Gd’s Torah and, therefore, when we recite it, it is Gd speaking to us. When we pour out our hearts to Gd in the Amida we complete the dialogue of prayer as we speak to Gd.
The most important part of the Shema is its opening verse. It’s the 1st prayer taught to a child and the last words recited before death. It’s just 6 words we all know so well: Shema Yisrael, Hashem Eloheynu, Hashem Echad (Listen Israel, Hashem is our Gd, Hashem is One).
Today I’d like to focus on the last 2 of these 6 words: Hashem Echad (Hashem, Gd, is One). How is this relevant in our world where we don’t know anyone who believes there are multiple gods? To say that “Gd is One” means Gd is not 2 or 3, is superficial. So, let’s go deeper.
What “Gd is One” really means is that Gd is absolutely One—One with everything. In other words, since everything comes from Gd there is a unity in everything. I once heard astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson, on PBS make a similar point that describes the oneness of Gd’s creations in the physical world. I was so impressed I recorded it when the show was repeated and wrote it down: Recognize that the very molecules that make up your body, the atoms that construct the molecules are traceable to the crucibles that were once the centers of high mass stars that exploded their chemically enriched guts into the galaxy enriching pristine gas clouds with the chemistry of life. So, we are all connected to each other biologically, to the earth chemically and to the rest of the universe atomically. That’s kind of cool! That makes me smile and I actually feel quite large at the end of that. It’s not that we’re better than the universe; we’re a part of the universe. We’re in the universe and the universe is in us. Wow!
Scientists tell us the universe was created with a “Big Bang” from a spot no larger than the period at the end of a sentence, and that energy—which can turn into matter—flowed out into the universe and all the solar systems and stars then emanated from it. This all leads to a very religious idea: that there was a beginning to our world—that the world was created. And this beautifully coincides with the Kabbalistic point of view (Nefesh Hachaim) that everything was created from Gd’s LOVING ENERGY. As the Psalm (89:3) teaches: Olam chesed yibaneh (The world is built from love—Gd’s loving energy).
So, when we recite the words Hashem Echad (Hashem is One) at the end of the 6 words of the Shema, we should try to feel that Oneness of Gd with ourselves and the universe. Gd is never absent from this world for everything in the world is an expression of His loving energy.
A time-honored practice recommended by the Talmud is to recite the last word of the Shema verse, echad (one), elongating its pronunciation until you actually can feel Gd’s Oneness with you and everything. Then recite the letter dalet, emphasizing the “d” sound, at the end—echaaaaaaaddd.
The recitation of this last word of the Shema, echad, is the climax of the spiritual ascent of the Shema experience. When reciting this powerfully charged word, allow your soul to soar so you can feel the love of Gd and the uniqueness of your own soul as it becomes one with Gd and the universe.
Let’s try it. In a moment I’ll ask you to close your eyes and say with me this Shema verse. When we get to the end, do not complete the word echad (one) until you can feel Gd’s loving energy and His oneness in every fiber of your body and all the way to the very depths of your soul. Ready?
Close your eyes. Feel Gd’s loving energy in yourself, and everyone you know and love—even those you may not like. Feel it in everything you have—in your loved ones, your home, your possessions. Everything Gd has blessed you with is from His loving energy—a piece of Him. So, feel that loving energy now and His Oneness on the last word echad as we sing together: Shema Yisrael, Hashem Eloheynu, Hashem Echaaaaaaaddd!
If you do this twice every day—as the Sages prescribe—you will live your life with the special awareness of always being one with Gd, and this will make your life so much more wonderful. Amen!
