The L-rd Shall Be One, and His Name One

"...to call upon the Name of the L-rd," and it is said, "On that day the L-rd shall be One, and His Name One."

At first glance, this prophecy is astonishing: can it be that only during the time of the Redemption "the L-rd shall be One, and His Name One"? After all, one of the foundations of our faith is the knowledge that the Creator is one and unique! The explanation is very simple: of course, even now the Almighty is One; the question is merely who believes in this!

At present, the Jewish people carry the banner of faith. In the future, every created thing will attain this knowledge. Then, after the full revelation of the Almighty's presence, the nations of the world will also understand and feel this.

RASHI reaches a similar conclusion to explain two different statements by our forefather Abraham (see Genesis 24:7). In one instance, Abraham calls the Almighty "the G-d of heaven," while in another, he calls Him "the G-d of heaven and the G-d of earth." Why is this so?

The essence of what Abraham meant was this: "Now He is [recognized as] the G-d of heaven and the G-d of earth because I have made His Name familiar on the lips of men. But when He took me from my father's house, He was the G-d of heaven but not the G-d of earth, because people did not know Him, and His Name was not familiar [i.e., known] on earth." The same applies to our subject: during the Redemption, the glory of the Almighty and His authority throughout the world will be revealed; then it will be known to all that "the L-rd is One, and His Name One."

The realization of this is more important than all levels of faith. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, King Moshiach, explains that as long as there remains anything in creation that does not fully identify with the exclusivity of the Almighty, it means that this exclusivity is not yet perfect. For exclusivity to be complete, it must be tangibly perceptible and evident in all aspects of creation. Therefore, the fact that everyone will know that "the L-rd is One, and His Name One" is particularly emphasized.

The Talmud speaks of another change in consciousness that will result from the revelation of the Almighty's unity. Today, we identify events happening to us as partly good and partly bad. According to Jewish law, regarding things that appear good to us, we recite the blessing "...Who is good and does good," while regarding things that appear bad to us, the blessing is "...the True Judge." Even though the Creator is the essence of good, we perceive some events as evil because we lack the capacity to endure the full intensity of the Divine good within them. But during the Redemption, we will be able to perceive all this benevolence; therefore, nothing will be considered negative by us, and we will always recite the blessing "...Who is good and does good."

Sources: RAMBAM's Book of Commandments, Positive Commandment #2; Talmud, Tractate Pesachim 50a and commentaries of RASHI and MAHARSHA there; Likkutei Torah, Portion of Devarim 4b; Likkutei Sichos Vol. 4, p. 1171, note 22.