ABSTRACT
The essential belief of Judaism is that God is One. The primary prayer of the Jewish faith is the assertion of this conviction. It is known as the Shema from the Hebrew word for “Hear!” When they rise in the morning, when they go to bed at night, and, hopefully, on their deathbed, most Jews recite, “Shema Israel, Adonai Eloheynu, Adonai Ehad!” (Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One). This is the supreme truth. It is the essential message of the Scriptures and it was this unique insight that God gave to the Jewish people. As it is written in the Book of Deuteronomy, “To you it was shown that the Lord is God, there is no one other besides Him.”1
