About ONE

Hebrew Name

אֶחָד

English Name

ONE

Phonetic Spelling

EH-CHAD

Silhouettes,Of,People,Holding,Flag,Of,Israel

What does ONE mean?

The Hebrew word achdut, “unity,” is based on the word echad.

שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהֹוָ֥ה ׀ אֶחָֽד׃
Hear, O Yisrael! Hashem is our God, Hashem alone.
sh'-MA yis-ra-AYL a-do-NAI e-lo-HAY-nu a-do-NAI e-KHAD
Deuteronomy 6:4

וְעָשִׂ֕יתָ חֲמִשִּׁ֖ים קַרְסֵ֣י זָהָ֑ב וְחִבַּרְתָּ֨ אֶת־הַיְרִיעֹ֜ת אִשָּׁ֤ה אֶל־אֲחֹתָהּ֙ בַּקְּרָסִ֔ים וְהָיָ֥ה הַמִּשְׁכָּ֖ן אֶחָֽד׃
And make fifty gold clasps, and couple the cloths to one another with the clasps, so that the Mishkan becomes one whole.
v'-a-see-TA kha-mee-SHEEM kar-SAY za-HAV v'-khi-BAR-ta et ha-y'-ree-OT i-SHA el a-KHO-ta b'-k'-ra-SEEM v'-ha-YA ha-mish-KAN e-KHAD
Exodus 26:6

Description about ONE

Echad, “one,” appears in one of the most powerful verses in all of the Bible: “Hear, O Israel! Hashem is our God, Hashem is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4). This verse succinctly expresses our faith in one God, and so we are commanded to recite it twice each day, once in the morning and once at night. The Hebrew word achdut, “unity,” is based on the word echad. The sages teach that when the children of Israel stood at the bottom of Mount Sinai they achieved extraordinary achdut, joining together “like one person with one heart.” In the merit of this unity, they received the Bible from God. Unity, however, can also be used for negative purposes. At the beginning of the story of the Tower of Babel, we read “Everyone on earth had the same language and the same words” (Genesis 11:1). Commendably, the people of that generation joined together as one, but then tragically worked together to rebel against their Creator. Mankind must unite, but only to perform God’s will. Echad also appears in the Bible’s description of the building of the Tabernacle. After the people brought all the necessary materials and constructed the many parts of the building, God commanded them to weave huge pieces of cloth to surround the Tabernacle from all sides in order that the “Tabernacle becomes one.” This is not merely a technical description of the structure of the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle was a microcosm of God’s world. By binding the Tabernacle together so it became one, the children of Israel symbolically affirmed God’s oneness and unity in the world.

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