The Oneness Bond Between Hashem and
Yisroel, As Explained by the Maharal and
the Pachad Yitzchok
By Eliakim Willner
Eliakim Willner is author of “Nesivos Olam – Nesiv HaTorah: An
Appreciation of Torah Study”, a translation with commentary of a work by the
Maharal of Prague, published by Artscroll/Mesorah. This article is adapted from
his forthcoming continuation of the Nesivos Olam series, “Nesivos Olam – Nesiv
HaAvodah: The Philosophy and Practice of Prayer”.
Introduction
We are now in the midst of
the days which epitomize the barrier between Hashem and Klal Yisroel
that was erected after the churban, the destruction of the holy Temple
in Yerushalayim. It is a depressing segment of our calendar, and it
behooves us to be depressed at the thought of what we have lost. At the same
time, though, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the bond between Hashem and
Yisroel, although obscured, remains steadfast. There is a bond of oneness
between us that will not come into full bloom until the end of days, but which
exists today as well. An understanding of this bond will help us get through
this difficult time, and also assist us in preparation for the yimei hadin,
the days of judgement that follow it.
The Source: Shma Yisroel
We begin with a verse that
Jews recite twice daily to accept the Kingship of Heaven on themselves: Shma
Yisroel, Hashem Elokeinu, Hashem Echad, "Listen Yisroel, Hashem is our
G-d, Hashem is one". The Maharal analyzes this verse in detail in Nesivos
Olam, Nesiv HaAvodah, Chapter 7. He considers other permutations of the
verse that seemingly might more efficiently accomplish the same purpose as the
actual Shma verse, and systematically rejects them one by one. Here is
an excerpt:
“...We also cannot say
‘Listen, Yisroel, our G-d, is one’,
because Hashem’s Singular Name, in particular, is associated with
Yisroel. We must therefore precede ‘our
G-d’ with ‘Hashem’. In this way we affirm that [the Bearer of] the Singular
Name is ‘our G-d’, yet He is intrinsically one, and this will become apparent
in the future, when the language of all the nations will transform into an
unequivocal and universal declaration of Hashem’s oneness. In this world, however, the oneness inherent
in Hashem’s Singular name is not apparent. That is reserved for the future, per
the verse, ‘[And on that day…] it will
come to pass that Hashem shall become King over all the earth; on that day
Hashem will be one, and His name will be one’.”
The name of Hashem used in
the context of this verse is the four-letter “Havaya” name which is
spelled with the letter yud followed by hai followed by vov
followed by hai, but it has no vowelization and is therefore
unpronounceable in our current world. It is the name most closely associated
with Hashem’s oneness; His singularity – with the concept that the only “real”
existence is Hashem, that nothing exists besides Hashem, and the existence we perceive
is an emanation of Hashem. That is why this name, in particular, is used in the
verse that declares Hashem’s oneness and why it is sometimes also referred to
as the Singular Name.
The Maharal is saying that
when we declare that Hashem is our G-d we must explicitly use the Singular name
(where we here write “Hashem”) because there is an association between Hashem’s
singularity – His oneness – and Yisroel’s
oneness. Hashem's oneness is absolute - there is no other existence besides
Him. That attribute is, of course, unique to Hashem. But Yisroel can also be
said to partake of the quality of oneness because Yisroel and only Yisroel is
the nation that “matters”, the nation on behalf of whom the world was created
and continues to exist. All else is subsidiary. Only Yisroel is primary. That
is our oneness, and it is integrally bound with Hashem’s oneness, as we shall
see.
Hashem replicated, as it
were, his attribute of oneness in Yisroel. The Maharal writes in Ner Mitzva,
Section 1, that Yisroel and only Yisroel was created in order to further the
honor of Hashem by proclaiming his oneness; the four nations that usurped
Yisroel’s ascendancy after the destruction of the Temple (and who presided and
continue to preside over our exile) obscure Hashem’s oneness. Yisroel is suited
for its role as sole standard bearer for Hashem’s oneness by virtue of their
own attribute of oneness. The verse (Yeshayahu 43:21) states, “This
people I formed for Myself; they shall recite My praise”. The Hebrew word for
“this”, zu, has the numeric value 13 – the same value as the three
letters aleph-ches-dalet, echad, which means one.
More on the Oneness
Attribute of Yisroel
In the same vein the Maharal
in Netzach Yisroel 10 cites the verse (Shmuel 2, 7:23) “And who
is like Your people, like Israel, one nation in the world”. There are indeed
other nations but they are subsidiary to Yisroel, who are the raison d’etre of
the universe, and ideally they would be limited to playing supporting roles to
Yisroel’s lead role, as the Maharal writes in Derech Chaim, in his
introduction to the Mishna, “kol Yisroel”.
The oneness attribute of
Yisroel in relation to the oneness of Hashem also appears in the prayer
service. The Mincha Shmoneh Esrai of Shabbos, referencing the
verse in Shmuel 2, begins, “You are one, Your name is one, and who can
be likened to Your nation Yisroel, one nation in the world?”. Similarly the
liturgical hymn Om Ani Choma, recited on Hoshana Rabbah, declares
that Yisroel is “the one and only, who declares Your oneness”.
The Relationship Between
the Oneness of Hashem and the Oneness of Yisroel – Pachad Yitzchok
Rav Yitzchok Hutner
discusses the relationship between the oneness of Hashem and the oneness of
Yisroel in Igros U’Ksovim 55. A correspondent pointed out an apparent
contradiction between Rashi’s commentary on the Shma verse and a Gemara
in Pesachim 50a. Rashi, based on the Sifri cited earlier,
comments, “Hashem, who is currently our G-d but not the G-d of the nations [of
the world], will, in the future be one [i.e. universally accepted], per the
verse in Tzefania 3:9, “For then I will convert the peoples to a pure
language that all of them call in the name of Hashem”, and the verse in Zecharia
14:9, “And Hashem shall become King over all the earth; on that day Hashem
will be one, and His name one.” In other words, Rashi is implying that
it is a fact that as things now stand, we cannot truthfully say that Hashem is
one.
The Gemara in Pesachim,
however, on the same verse in Zecharia, asks incredulously, “[On that
day Hashem will be one…?] Does the verse seriously intend to imply that on this
day Hashem is not one?” The Gemara answers that this world is not like
the future world. In this world, for good news we recite the blessing, hatov
v’hameitiv, “He is good, and He does good”, while for bad news we recite
the blessing, dayan emes, “Blessed be the true Judge”; whereas in the
future world we will only recite the blessing “He is good and He does good”.
Rav Hutner responded by
referencing the Shabbos Mincha prayer we mentioned earlier, “You are
one, Your name is one, and who can be likened to Your nation Yisroel, one
nation in the world”. The manifestation of Hashem’s oneness, this prayer
declares, and the elucidation of the quality of oneness of Yisroel, are two
sides of the same coin and are, in fact, interdependent.
Dayan Emes and Tov
Umeitiv
How are we to understand
this? We begin with a consideration of the blessing of dayan emes,
“Blessed be the true Judge”, recited over bad news, and there is no more egregious
an example of bad news than the antipathy the non-Jewish nations have toward
Yisroel. This antipathy can only exist in the context of a world where dayan
emes holds sway; where the forces of evil that create bad news have power. In
that world the oneness of Yisroel is obscured, since Yisroel is beaten down by
the nations of the world.
In the world to come,
however, hatov v’hameitiv, “He is good, and He does good”, dominates,
and dayan emes is nullified. Evil ceases to exist. There is only a
blessing for good. The opposition to Yisroel caused by evil melts away, and the
unique status of Yisroel – their oneness – shines forth.
This is the message of the Gemara
in Pesachim. Why, the Gemara asks, do the verses in Tzefania
and Zecharia imply that Hashem’s oneness is impinged in this world?
Because, the Gemara answers, the oneness of Yisroel is obscured under
the weight of dayan emes as evinced by the oppression they suffer on the
part of the non-Jewish nations, and when the oneness of Yisroel is obscured,
the oneness of Hashem is obscured as well. The oneness of Hashem and the
oneness of Yisroel are intertwined.
Only in the world-to-come,
when dayan emes is vanquished for good, and the oneness of Yisroel is
apparent, will the oneness of Hashem also be apparent. “On that day Hashem will
be one, and His name one”.
Reconciling the Gemara in
Pesachim and the Sifri
The reason the Sifri
and Rashi are matter-of-fact about the reality that, today, we cannot
truthfully say that Hashem is one, while the Gemara in Pesachim
is incredulous about the possibility that we cannot today say that Hashem is
one (the issue raised by Rav Hutner’s correspondent) is chronology: the Gemara’s
question and answer predated the Sifri!
Until we know the Gemara’s
answer we cannot help but be incredulous. How can we possibly say that Hashem
is not one, in any context? But, once we understand, as the Gemara
explains, that Hashem is linking His oneness to our oneness, and our oneness is
not revealed until the world-to-come, we appreciate that this linkage is the
message of the verses in Zecharia and Tzefania. “On that day
[when our oneness will be revealed due to the cessation of the evil that hides
it today] Hashem will be one, and His name one”. The Sifri presumes
knowledge of the Gemara’s question and answer and merely restates the Gemara’s
conclusion as established fact, without detailing the Gemara’s linkage
explanation.
Truth in Davening
A question remains, however.
If the oneness of Yisroel, and therefore the oneness of Hashem are not revealed
until the world-to-come, how can we honestly declare, in Shabbos Mincha,
“You are one and Your name is one”, in the present tense? The oneness of Hashem
is, after all, obscured in this world. Now, it might be thought that since we
know with certainty that Hashem’s oneness will be revealed in the future,
there is no harm in speaking of it in the present tense, as if it were a fait
accompli. In fact, though, we have a definitive indication that our Sages
understood that Hashem is the essence of truth and does not abide falsehood of
any kind, and they were therefore scrupulous about keeping even a hint of
falsehood out of the prayer service.
What is this indication?
After the destruction of the Temple our Sages were prepared to excise the
phrases “mighty and awesome” as attributes of Hashem from the first blessing of
the Shmoneh Esrai on the grounds that, with heathens cavorting on the
site of the Temple, Hashem’s might and awesomeness were no longer apparent. The
Sages surely understood that these phrases remained valid attributes of Hashem
and were destined to be revealed again in the future. Yet, because they lacked
present-tense validity, using them would not live up to Hashem’s rigorous
standard of truth. How, then, can we permit “You are one and Your name is one”
to remain in the prayer service if they, too, lack present-tense validity?
(In fact, the phrases
“mighty and awesome” were allowed to remain in the first blessing of the Shmoneh
Esrai when our Sages came to realize that Hashem’s self-restraint in the
face of the intense provocation of heathens cavorting on the Temple site was in
itself an act of supreme might and awesomeness, giving the phrases a
present-tense validity. But is there an equivalent present-tense understanding
of “You are one and Your name is one”, from Shabbos Mincha?)
There is, and it is an even
more direct understanding than that of “mighty and awesome”, as Rav Hutner
explains in Pachad Yitzchok, Pesach 60, 21-23. It
is a mistake to believe that our oneness will not make an appearance until the
end of days. In fact, our oneness was implanted in us when our nation was
formed. It is not a future attribute, but a present one, latent in its
fullest sense until the world-to-come but present as a reality in our nation
since our formation as a nation during the exodus from Egypt. At that time, as
Hashem promised Avrohom years earlier, Egypt was drained of its wealth, and
that wealth was transferred to Yisroel. This, Rav Hutner explains, was a
pre-enactment of the ultimate destiny of the newly formed nation of Yisroel at
the end of days, when the strengths of the other nations of the world will
similarly be transferred to Yisroel, to be used by them in their service of
Hashem.
Thus our oneness is not
merely a promise of things to come, it is a present-day reality, albeit not yet
in full-blown form.
We return to the prayer of Shabbos
Mincha, where we say, “You are one and Your name is one”, and we continue,
“and who is like Your nation Yisroel, one nation on earth?” Notice that the
prayer’s description of Hashem and His name as one appears as a declarative
statement, while the description of Yisroel is couched as a question. A
question implies immediacy; it demands an answer that has an application here
and now. This signals that the oneness; the uniqueness of Yisroel is not
something that we merely await, it is, in fact, present-tense.
As we said earlier, though,
the manifestation of Hashem’s oneness and the elucidation of the quality of
oneness of Yisroel are two sides of the same coin and are, in fact,
interdependent. The immediacy of Yisroel’s oneness (“Who is like Your nation,
Yisroel?”) brings the reality of Hashem’s oneness into the present tense as
well, and thus our declaration that “You are one and Your name is one” is not
merely a reflection of what will be some day, but a totally accurate
description of present day reality that can be uttered without at all impinging
on Hashem’s absolute standard of honesty.
May we merit seeing the
fulfillment of the prophecies of Tzefania and Zecharia speedily
in our days, when Hashem's oneness and Yisroel's oneness will be apparent to
all, without question!
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