Ve'ethchanan: One

Ve'ethchanan: One

The Talmud starts with the question of when one says the Shema in the evening.   there is an assumption that here is an obligation to recite the Shema in the evening (and the morning).  That mitzvah seems to come from this weeks parsha., 

 וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם, בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ, וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ.

and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

The pasuk is taken very literally

 וְהָיוּ הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה

And these words,

It is taken to mean the very paragraph that commands talking in them is the paragraph used to fulfill the obligation.  I would have thought that the obligation could be fulfilled with any Torah ( and the talmud gives some support to this position), but ultimately  with such a strong commandment, couched in so many cautionary remarks about keeping the commandments,  we play it safe.  How can we go wrong reciting this particular paragraph of Torah?

The paragraph begins with a very obscure statement about the nature of Hashem: 

Listen Israel! Hashem is our gd,  Hashem is One

This statement is made at least twice every day, it is inside the mezuzah and tefillin, I am supposed to say it when I am about to die....What does it mean?

Shema Yisroel: Listen ( Hear) (O) Israel:  

This means I am taking up the role of spreading the (good) news. I have something to say to the people of Israel, they should listen to me.  

Hashem is our gd:

 Elohim is not necessarily kodesh.  It is the word used to refer to the gds of other nations, to idols. Elohim seems to mean the great power, perhaps the human conception of Gd as the most powerful, however one might conceive of that. 

For Israel, our most powerful entity is Hashem. 

Hashem is One: 

One is the loneliest number that you'll ever do. 

One is the integer - Gd has integrity   

One is indivisible ( with liberty and justice for all).  

One is the opposite of zero - Gd exists. 

Every part contains the whole (holographic) and there are no parts. 

Gd is unbreakable.

 There is only one Gd, Gd is special. 

 There is no appeal to another equal or greater authority. 

 GD is One powerful being!