This Shabbas we will read Parshas Ve'Eschanan which includes probably the most well known verse in all of Judaism, "Shema Yisroel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad". We say this three times a day but what are we really saying? Why has this been the rallying cry of our people? Why have countless righteous Jews been slaughtered by our enemies while proclaiming these words?

These words are both a proclamation and prayer that G-d is One and that this Unity should be revealed entirely. But what is Hashem's Unity? When we say these words we proclaim that there is no other absolute will in existence other than G-d's Will. If He Wills something then it can happen and if He doesn't it can't. When we realize that everything is dependent on Hashem's Will then we realize His Unity, because nothing else has true existence outside of His Will. Anything that we see that seems contrary to His Will is only temporary and exists because He wants it to. We realize that nothing happens to us or to the world that isn't bound by His Will. Beyond this being a proclamation it is also a prayer that His Untiy will be revealed entirely. The world we live in presents us with many situations that seemingly run contrary to Hashem's Will. We can't understand how this could be G-d's Will. Part of this is because we only see a small fraction of the big picture so in the small scene that we call our life things seem contradictory, our prayer is that the Unity should be revealed and we should see clearly how everything is part of G-d's Plan.

Shabbat Shalom,

Heath