Moses proclaims the Unity of God in Parashat Va'etchanan (Deut. 3:23–7:11). The Oneness of the Creator is a fundamental principle throughout Torah. Moses reminds Israel,” You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God; besides Him, there is no other." Moses repeatedly warns the nation against straying after other gods and not fall prey to the idolatrous practices of the surrounding nations.
Moses eloquently endorses the riches of Torah, asking Israel, “What great nation has laws and rules as perfect as all this Teaching that I set before you this day?"
The Italian Sage, Sforno articulated how God’s unity in demonstrated, even in the court system under Torah, “What is justice for one is at the same time fairness, righteousness for the opposing party. Restitution of stolen property to the victim is justice, having returned stolen property makes the erstwhile thief once more a righteous person.”
Moses anchors these teachings with the Shema, prayed twice daily: ”Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” The Shema, as written in Hebrew, in this Torah portion, ends with the word echad (one) but the dalet in the word is enlarged, actually bigger than the other letters in the verse. It's a visual clue, pointing the reader to the letter Dalet. It has the numerical value of four conveying the idea of the four cardinal point of the compass and how we can seek the Creator’s presence in all directions.
Dalet can also mean “door”, symbolic of the access to knowledge and wisdom, as well as His care, as written in Proverbs 8:34, "Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.”
Teaching the Unity of God could be called Job # 1 for the Jewish People.
For years, science sought a Unified Field Theory, but it’s a truth that's always been there, embedded in the Shemah. Our Creator is a singular, infinite, all-encompassing presence. Unity is such a powerful idea that when the Jewish People re-discover their unity, it will change the world.
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