Комментарий к Дварим 6:4

This is the command that he commanded us about belief in [God's] unity. And that is that we believe that the Power over existence and its First Cause are one. And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "Hear Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One" (Deuteronomy 6:4). And in many midrashic texts, you will find them saying, "On condition that they unify My name, on condition that they unify Me," and many like these. What they want with [such] a statement is that He indeed took us out of slavery and did the various kindnesses and benefits on condition that we believe in His unity; as we are obligated in this. And they often said, "The commandment of unification." And they also called it the commandment of the yoke of Heaven. As they say, "In order to accept upon himself the yoke of Heaven" - meaning, acknowledgement of His unity and belief in it. (See Parashat Vaetchanan; Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the Torah 1.)

ה׳ אלהינו ה' אחד means, The Lord who is now our God and not the God of the other peoples of the world, He will at some future time be the One (sole) ה׳, as it is said, (Zephaniah 3:9) “For then I will turn to the peoples a pure language that they may all call upon the name of the Lord", and it is further said, (Zechariah 14:9) “In that day shall the Lord be One (אחד) and His name One" (cf. Sifrei Devarim 31:10).

HEAR, O ISRAEL: THE ETERNAL OUR G-D, THE ETERNAL IS ONE. This too is a commandment that offers explanation. For, already contained in the commandment I am the Eternal thy G-d,²¹¹Above 5:6. is [the principle of] the Unity of G-d. As the Rabbis have said:²¹²Mechilta, Bachodesh 5. “Rabbi Nathan says: From here there is a refutation to those heretics who say there are two powers governing the universe. For, when the Holy One, blessed be He, stood on Mount Sinai and proclaimed I am the Eternal thy G-d,²¹¹Above 5:6. who protested against Him?” But here he [Moses] came to explain this commandment [I am the Eternal …] and mentioned it after the Ten Commandments because it is the root of faith, and whoever does not acknowledge it denies the essential principle [of the religion] as if he worships idols. “The Eternal our G-d, the Eternal is One. This means: the Eternal, Who is [now, only] our G-d and not the G-d of the [other] nations, will eventually be acknowledged as the One [and only] Eternal, as it is said, In that day shall the Eternal be One, and His Name One.”²¹³Zechariah 14:9. This is Rashi’s language. Now you must contemplate [the fact] that Scripture changed [the normal usage] here by saying the Eternal ‘our’ G-d and did not state “thy” G-d as it says everywhere else: Hear, O Israel: thou art to pass over the Jordan this day etc. Know therefore this day, that the Eternal ‘thy’ G-d etc.;²¹⁴Further, 9:1-3. Hear, O Israel, ye draw nigh this day unto battle etc. for the Eternal ‘your’ G-d is He that goeth with you.²¹⁵Ibid., 20:3-4. And so also in all sections where [Moses] spoke to Israel he mentioned “the Eternal your G-d” or “the Eternal thy G-d,” and even here [in this very section] he said, And thou shalt love the Eternal ‘thy’ G-d.²¹⁶Verse 5. However, in this declaration of the Unity [of G-d] Moses said, the Eternal ‘our’ G-d because He had done great and awesome things²¹⁷Further, 10:21. with Moses to make Himself a glorious Name²¹⁸Isaiah 63:14. [therefore Moses said “our G-d,” for had he said “your G-d,” he might have appeared to exclude himself from this declaration of Unity].²¹⁹Bei’ur Ha’lvush to Ricanti. See my Hebrew commentary p. 371. Now the letter daleth in the word echad (one) is written [in the Torah] large in order to allude to that which is written, He divided the water before them, to make Himself an everlasting Name.²²⁰Isaiah 63:12. And therefore the Rabbis instituted²²¹Pesachim 56 a. in the reading of the Sh’ma²²²The first word of the section beginning with the verse before us. The word S’hma is used as the title for the group of three portions from Scripture (Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11:13-21; Numbers 15:37-41) which we must recite twice daily, in the morning and in the evening. See “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 15-16. “Blessed be His Name Whose Glorious Kingdom is for ever and ever” and they further said [there]:²²¹Pesachim 56 a. “This may be compared to a lord’s daughter who smelled the [sweet] odor of some pudding etc.,”²²³“If she were to express her desire for it she would be embarrassed; if she were to remain silent she would find it painful. So her servants began bringing it to her quietly.” The parable explains why the Sages instituted this sacred prayer of praise — “Blessed be His Name Whose glorious Kingdom etc.” is to be recited as part of Sh’ma, but should be done quietly (Pesachim 56 a). for Moses stated it in the Torah by an allusion.²²⁴In the letter daleth [of the word echad — “one”] which is written large (Bachya). And then he reverted [to the general usage] and stated, And ‘thou’ shalt love the Eternal ‘thy’ G-d²¹⁶Verse 5. like the expression found in [the other] sections of Deuteronomy.