The Shema is an opportunity and experience to connect with Hashem. Saying it twice daily with thought and an understanding of what it means can change a person's life.

Let us begin.

We are taught that by proclaiming 'Shema Yisroel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad' we accept upon ourselves the 'yoke of the kingdom of Heaven' (ohl malchus shomayim).

Where in this verse do we say that Hashem is a king and that we are accepting upon ourselves the yoke of His kingdom?

Perhaps we say that Hashem is king by saying 'Hashem Elokeinu', that Hashem is our G-D. Perhaps is a pledge to obey his commandments, the way one obeys the commandments of a king. Then, accepting the 'yoke of the kingdom of heaven' is a pledge to observe His commandments. However, the Mishna (Brachos 13a with clarification in 14b) implies that accepting His kingdom is something else, as follows.

The Shema consists of three sections from the Torah. All three have commandments. All three sections state that Hashem is our G-D. Yet, the Mishnah says that accepting the kingdom of heaven is unique to only first section of the Shema.

We are thus left to say that by stating Hashem Echad we accept upon ourselves 'the yoke of His kingdom.' But what does His oneness have to do with His being our king? And, what does the yoke of His kingdom mean?

Furthermore, what does it mean when we say that Hashem is one? What is the significance of His oneness?

We say that Hashem Elokeinu, He is our G-D. What about the rest of the world? The written and oral Torahs expect all of mankind to obey His commandments. While the Jewish people have 613 core commandments, the rest of mankind have these seven: Idolatry, incest, murder, taking meat from a live animal and eating it, blasphemy, theft, and justice, all as defined by the written and oral Torahs. If Hashem is not their G-D, then why are they expected to not worship idols?

Yet we say that Hashem is our G-D. Why?

Hashem is King. Is He just our king or is He everyone's? The Talmud (Brachos 40b) stresses the importance of mentioning that Hashem is King whenever we recite a blessing. Indeed, many blessings contain the phrase, 'Melech HaOlam – King of the world. Tosfos (beginning with 'Amar') notes that the phrase 'Melech HaOlam' is not in our Shemoneh Esreh prayer. In the discussion, the R"Y writes that we must say both words, 'Melech' (King) and 'HaOlam' (of the world) to fulfill this requirement. He also says that we can find a reference to Hashem's 'malchus' (kingdom) in the abbreviated Shemoneh Esreh of Friday night. It is implied by the words 'the Holy G-D, nothing is like Him.' This, he writes 'is like malchus (kingship). It is just like 'Shema Yisroel Hashem Elokeinu Hashem Echad,' which is in place of malchus.'

His words add focus to Hashem being unique and that He is King over the entire world, not just over the Jewish people. He does not explain the connection between Hashem being unique and that He is King.

When stating that Hashem is one, we need to delve into the concept of Hashem. While we cannot know Him by what He is, we can relate to Hashem by what He did and does. We also need to better understand the concepts of oneness and malchus.

In his famed Lakewood lecture series, Rav Noach Weinberg Z"L used the following three terms to help us relate to Hashem: (1) Hashem is the Creator, the 'Boray.' He alone and independently created everything from nothing, long ago. (2) Hashem is the sustainer of what He created, set out to do, and promised. He is the 'Mekayim' of everything we see and what happens right now (3) Hashem is the manager of all creations and events, the 'Manhig'. He guides everything towards a future state that He defined.

When we say 'Hashem Echad' we are saying that the Creator, Sustainer, and Manager are one and the same. And we also associate this oneness with His being in what to us is the past, present, and future. This reflects the teaching that He was, is, and will be.

The word for 'one' is 'Echad' and is spelled with three Hebrew letters: Aleph, Ches, and Daled. In the Torah, the Daled of 'Hashem Echad' is written in a large font. As the Daled is the fourth letter in the Hebrew alphabet, commentaries say that it portrays the four directions. In the Torah script, the Ches is written as two letters that fill the writing area from bottom to top and are also connected by a caret, or roof. Commentaries say that it represents the remaining two dimensions, downwards and upwards.

Hashem is one, everything is His, nothing exists unless He wills it, which He can do at any time, He is always, and He is everywhere.

We say that Hashem is the King. What is a king?

Human kings are decision makers. They have the greatest power and control among all their subjects. The power of a human king depends on many factors that can neutralize it. A human king's will is supreme but only until he dies or is replaced. His will itself is subject to change, depending on his mood, which is not under his control. And it can be affected by events that are beyond his control. Human kings need external resources, such as taxes. They depend upon the cooperation of others. A king's will may not be carried out, as other people sometimes get away with blocking, distorting, or ignoring it.

Clearly, Hashem is not a king as we know it.

Hashem's oneness means that He was, is, and will always be constantly one, single, and unique. He has no competitors and therefore is the supreme decision maker. While some creations appear to have the power to make decisions, they are always consistent with the higher-level decisions made by Hashem.

Unlike a human king, Hashem is always the same and consistent. His decisions as King do not vary over time, place, stage, or phase. He does not make conflicting decisions. He is not affected by mood swings.

Hashem is the source of all existence. Unlike a human king, He does not depend upon external resources or beings.

As King, Hashem solely controls everything according to His will. He set a single goal that everything revolves around. Human kings set goals but what is unique is that here, It is the same goal for basically everybody, both as individuals and collectively. It is to complete ourselves and the act of creation. One goal from one G-D.

Let's move this up a notch.

While there have been many human kings, only Hashem was, is, and will be always be a King in the true sense of that word. The following illustrates this point.

You can bang a spoon on a tree and say that sounds a bit like a drum. You can then bang it on a table and say that it sounds more like a drum. You can then bang it on an empty can and say that it sounds even more like a drum. But it doesn't make sense to bang a drumstick on a drum and say that it sounds more like a drum than anything else you've heard.

Similarly, only Hashem is a King in the true sense of the word. People who are labeled as kings are only pseudo-Kings, imitations with significant limitations. Upon seeing a human king we recite this blessing: 'Blessed are You Hashem, our G-D and King of the world, He who gave / partitioned off from His honor to flesh and blood.'

Clearly then, the title that we give a human king is a borrowed term. That is, Hashem is King and we borrow that term to describe our kings. Whatever a human king is, Hashem is somewhat like that, only much more. And we cannot measure the difference because Hashem is infinite.

Thus, since the uniqueness of Hashem being a King is connected with His oneness, we can now see that saying Hashem Echad is a statement of His Malchus.

The Ramchal says the following about the Shema and the theme of Hashem's kingdom, oneness, and what we know He does (Derech Hashem 4:4). He makes the following points.

He writes that creation will be completed when Hashem's oneness becomes obvious to all mankind. And, the ultimate good will occur when all recognize His Kingdom.

He writes that our completion is strengthened as we commit ourselves to override personal comfort, and to endure even suffering and death to fulfill Hashem's will. The second verse in the Shema elaborates on this by stating: 'You shall love Hashem with your heart (desires), with all your life, and with all your resources (alternate reading: no matter what happens).' We proclaim that there is something greater in life than our ego, our comfort, and our personal preferences.

Accepting the 'yoke of the kingdom of heaven' is a pledge of allegiance, loyalty, and commitment. It is a recognition of an awesome King, one that is a privilege to serve and to love.

Furthermore, it's a statement of our relationship and what we are, that He is our master and we are his servants. It's a statement that fulfilling His will is more important than fulfilling our own.

Rashi in Devarim 6:4 provides a reading for the words of the Shema. It addresses the question we raised above, why the Shema states Hashem Elokeinu, and not everyone's G-D. He writes:

Shema Yisroel, Hashem is right now just our G-D, not the god of the nations who ignore Him and worship the stars. He will become Hashem Echad, the only G-D to all mankind. As it is stated: 'For then I will change the nations to speak a pure language so that they will all proclaim the name of Hashem . . .' (Zephaniah 3:9). And it is stated, ' . . . on that day Hashem will be one and His name one' (Zechariah 14:9).

I understand the citation from Zechariah as follows. Consider two domains, heaven and earth. Many theologies recognize Hashem as the supreme G-D, only they say that He is active only in Heaven, not here. Thus, they disconnected Hashem from the earth, thereby assigning Him one domain and presence up there and a different one down here, corresponding to two different names. To them we say that there is only one name and it's everywhere, both heaven and earth.

The more history plays out, the harder it becomes to buy into those theologies. For example, and there are so many, Hashem moved the Jewish people out of the land of Israel three times. Each time, He promised that they will come back and they did. He forced Yaakov and his family to live in Egypt and we came back with Yehoshua. He exiled the Jewish people when the Babylonian empire destroyed the first temple and we came back with the assistance and even encouragement of the empire that took over the empire that destroyed the Babylonian empire (sound like 'Chad Gadya.' It IS). He exiled the Jewish people with the destruction of the second temple by the Romans and we dropped into a very big and painful mixing bowl. How many times over the past 2,000 years did it look like the end of the Jewish people and/or Torah observance? And today, if it wouldn’t be for the Coronavirus, I can decide to drive to Newark airport, park my car, hop a plane, take a taxi, and eat a kosher falafel in Jerusalem, all within about twenty hours.

The Shema gives hope and energy to us all. The more we internalize it, the closer we will get to our personal end states.

The end state for mankind, a goal that the Great Manhig is driving us toward, is best described by what we say three times daily in our prayers. We had this prayer from the time of Yehoshua, some thirty-three centuries ago.

"We thus put our hope towards You, Hashem our G-D: To quickly see the glory of Your might; For the removal of the idols from the land and the total annihilation of the deities; To repair the world under the malchus of (the holy name) and for all flesh to call in Your name; To turn all the wicked people of the earth towards you. All who dwell on the earth will recognize and know that every knee will bow only to You, that every tongue will swear by You. They will bow and fall before You, Hashem our G-D, and give respect to Your name. And they will all accept upon themselves the yoke of your malchus and you will reign over them forever. For the malchus is Yours and You will reign forever in honor. As stated in the scriptures, 'And Hashem will be a King over the entire earth. On that day Hashem will be [recognized as being] one [by all mankind] and His name one.'"

Jewish history began with a big bang some thirty-three centuries ago. Since then it has been quite chaotic and frequently painful. And some scientists say that the world began with a big bang and a lot of ensuing chaos produced a beautiful world for us. If there is any truth in this, that chaos was very much under control and managed by Hashem. Interestingly, we do see control and management in our chaotic history. So, this may very be another demonstration of Hashem's oneness. He does not change and always does the same thing, just in different ways.

As I look back, I see that the pace of history and change keeps getting faster.

More people than ever are talking more Moshiach coming very soon. Some are tuning in late. Believing Jews are expected to know that Moshiach can come at any moment. Hashem is full of surprises. No being can figure out what He will do next. He and His genius are one and are infinite.

Are we ready for change? Let's start by improving ourselves and working a bit harder at it. I suspect that's what Hashem has been waiting for all along.

Are we on that final approach? Only Hashem knows. But we are taught that it will happen and will even be over by the year 6,000. Now it's year 5,781.

Clearly, we are experiencing turbulence and the Captain has turned on the Fasten Seat Belt sign. So please be seated and check to see that your seat belt is securely fastened.

But maybe now is not the time. Ladies and gentlemen, we have not yet reached the gate. Please remain seated until the Captain turns off the 'Fasten Seat Belt' sign.

Mankind has been waiting for the next and greatest phase of human history since the beginning.

May we soon merit hearing something like the following: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Yerusholayim. Flight attendants, please prepare the doors for arrival.

Regardless of where this journey with COVID-19 takes us, we all have a connecting flight to make. Those who don't make it will have to spend the night in the airport, a night that will last forever.

Rav Yaakov Weinberg Z"L once said that the Shema is one of the last words that a believing Jew makes before he leaves this world. In our final moments we want to have another chance to get it right, get it better. The discussion above gives us all a lot to work on and internalize.

If not in ten minutes, if not tomorrow, if not this year, Leshana Haba'ah B'Yerusholayim.