PARSHAT VA’ETCHANAN – THERE IS NOTHING BESIDES HIM

ב”ה

Parashat Va’etchanan contains some of the most fundamental words in the Torah:

אַתָּה הָרְאֵתָ לָדַעַת כִּי ה’ הוּא הָאֱלֹהִים אֵין עוֹד מִלְּבַדּוֹ

“You were shown to know that Hashem is G-d; there is nothing besides Him.”¹

A few verses later, Moshe says:

וְיָדַעְתָּ הַיּוֹם וַהֲשֵׁבֹתָ אֶל לְבָבֶךָ … אֵין עוֹד

“You shall know today and take it to your heart… there is nothing else.”²

Moshe does not tell us merely to believe. He tells us to know—and then to bring that knowledge into the heart. Belief in Hashem must change the way we understand ourselves, the world and the purpose of life.

More Than Belief in One G-d

Many people believe that one Supreme Being created the universe. They understand G-d as the highest power or the first cause of existence. Yet the world He created may still be perceived as a separate reality—something that continues to exist while G-d rules over it from above.

The Torah’s declaration, Ein od milvado—“there is nothing besides Him”—goes much further. It does not mean only that there are no other gods. It means that nothing possesses an existence independent of Hashem.³

When a carpenter makes a table, the table remains after he has left. Creation is different. Hashem did not form the universe from material that already existed. He brought all existence into being from absolute nothingness. The Divine power that created it must therefore continuously sustain it. Were that creative power to be withdrawn for even one moment, creation would not merely collapse; it would cease to exist. The universe is therefore not only something Hashem created long ago. It is being brought into existence by Him at every moment.⁴

Every person, tree, star and atom exists because Hashem presently gives it existence. This does not mean that the world is G-d. The Creator is infinitely beyond His creation. It means that
creation has no independent existence apart from Him. Hashem is not merely watching the world from a distance; He is continuously its source of life.

“You Were Shown” and “You Shall Know”

The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains the difference between the two verses. First, Moshe says, “You were shown to know.” At Sinai, Divine unity was revealed from Above. The concealment of the physical world was temporarily removed.

Later, Moshe says, “You shall know today and take it to your heart.” This describes our own work. A miraculous revelation can awaken us, but it cannot replace the lifelong task of learning, contemplating and internalizing Divine truth.⁵

It is not enough to repeat that Hashem is One. We must ask what this means for our work, family, possessions, relationships and decisions. What does it mean when life develops differently from what we had hoped?

The knowledge of Divine unity becomes complete when it enters ordinary life.

The Question of the Young Ruzhiner

A beautiful Chassidic tradition is told about the young Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin. He is said to have asked the Alter Rebbe a profound question about the order of the verses in the Shema.

First we declare:

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, ה׳ אֱלֹקינוּ, ה׳ אֶחָד

“Hear, O Israel: Hashem is our G-d; Hashem is One.”⁶

The recitation of Shema expresses complete surrender before Hashem. A person recognizes that nothing possesses independent reality. Immediately afterward, however, the Torah says:

וְאָהַבְתָּ אֵת ה׳ אֱלֹקיךָ

“You shall love Hashem your G-d.”⁷

The young Ruzhiner asked: If, while saying Shemá, I have completely surrendered my individual existence before Hashem, who remains to be commanded to love Him?

According to one version of the tradition, the Alter Rebbe considered this question so profound that he said the entire teaching of Chassidus could be understood as an answer to it. The story appears in varying forms in later Chassidic sources, but its message expresses a fundamental Chassidic idea.⁸

The purpose of Shemá is not that the human being should disappear. The purpose is that we return to life with a transformed sense of self.

Between Shemá y Ve’ahavta, we quietly say:

בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד

“Blessed is the name of the glory of His kingdom forever.”

El Alter Rebe explica que Shemá expresses the higher unity, while Baruch Shem expresses the lower unity.⁹ From the higher perspective, nothing has independent significance before Hashem. From the lower perspective, the world is experienced as real and diverse, but every part of it is recognized as dependent
upon Him.

We return to our individual lives, personalities and responsibilities, but no longer see ourselves as independent. Our individuality is not erased; it is given a Divine purpose.

Now the Torah can say:

Ve’ahavta—You shall love Hashem.

Knowledge Gives Birth to Love

This explains why Ve’ahavta follows Shemá. First comes contemplation and understanding. Then comes recognition of Divine unity. From that awareness, love is born.

The Rambam teaches that when a person contemplates the wisdom within creation, he becomes filled with love and a desire to know the Creator.¹⁰ Chassidus explains that understanding in the mind awakens emotion in the heart.

When a person understands that Hashem is not only a distant Creator but the source of life at this very moment, the relationship becomes personal.

My next breath comes from Him. My abilities come from Him. The people and opportunities in my life are entrusted to me by Him. Even my challenges occur within a world continuously sustained by His will.

The more deeply this is understood, the more naturally gratitude, trust and love can develop. Knowledge enters the mind, awakens the heart and transforms the way we live.

A Truth Meant for Humanity

A human being can observe creation and recognize that the universe has a Creator. Avraham Avinu reached this recognition through contemplation before the Torah was given.¹¹ People of every nation can possess wisdom, spiritual sensitivity and a sincere desire to know Hashem.

Yet human reason alone cannot reveal with certainty what the Creator expects from us. Reason may lead a person to believe that G-d exists, but revelation teaches us how He wants humanity to live.

At Sinai, Divine truth entered the world in an enduring form. The Torah was entrusted to the Jewish people not as a private possession, but as a responsibility. This includes making its universal teachings accessible to humanity.

The Seven Noahide Laws establish the Divine foundations of civilization: recognition of the Creator, respect for His Name, protection of life, family and property, humane treatment of animals and the establishment of justice.¹²

The Rebbe repeatedly emphasized the Rambam’s ruling that Moshe Rabbeinu was commanded to bring the inhabitants of the world to the observance of the commandments given to the descendants of Noach.¹³

This should be expressed carefully. A non-Jew does not require a Jew in order to recognize that there is a Creator or to develop a sincere relationship with Him. However, the Torah’s revealed understanding of Hashem, the deeper meaning of Ein od milvado and the knowledge that the Seven Laws are Divine commandments come through the revelation entrusted to the Jewish people.

This is not a reason for superiority. It is a responsibility to teach with humility, clarity and respect.

The Midrash teaches that the voice at Sinai divided into seventy languages, corresponding to the nations of the world. The Rebbe explains that this reveals the universal dimension of Sinai: its moral voice was meant to reach all humanity.¹⁴

Shabbat Nachamu: Comfort and Purpose

Parashat Va’etchanan is always read on Shabbat Nachamu, the first Shabbat after Tisha B’Av. The haftarah begins:

נַחֲמוּ נַחֲמוּ עַמִּי

“Comfort, comfort My people.”¹⁵

True comfort does not mean pretending that destruction and suffering never happened. The Rebbe explains that complete consolation comes through the rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash. The Third Beit HaMikdash will not merely replace what was lost; it will unite the Divine revelation of the First Temple with the human
effort and transformation associated with the Second.¹⁶

This is also the deeper meaning of consolation. Darkness does not have the final word. Concealment itself can become the setting for a deeper revelation.

Exile is a condition in which the world appears separated from its Creator. Life seems fragmented, and Divine purpose is difficult to see. The message of Ein od milvado is therefore especially appropriate for Shabbat Nachamu.

Hashem may be hidden, but He has not abandoned the world. His creative power continues to sustain every person and every moment. The Temple was destroyed, but the relationship between Hashem and creation was not destroyed.

There is also a personal comfort in this teaching. A person may feel alone, disappointed or distant from Hashem. Ein od milvado does not deny pain or explain every tragedy. It teaches that even within pain, we are never outside Hashem’s presence.

There is no place in which He is absent and no moment sustained by another power. We may not understand what is happening, but we have not fallen out of Hashem’s world.

Shabbat Nachamu therefore moves us from mourning to mission. Every act of justice, kindness, faith and moral courage removes a measure of concealment. Every honest decision declares that the world has a Master. Every home in which Hashem is recognized becomes a place for His presence.

Bringing Shema Into Life

After declaring that Hashem is One, we return to our families, businesses and responsibilities—but we return differently. We carry Shemá En el mundo.

There is no separate “religious life” and “ordinary life.” Work, family, money and technology must all serve a Divine purpose. Our abilities are gifts entrusted to us, and our lives are opportunities to reveal Hashem’s presence.

First comes:

Hashem Echad—Hashem is One.

Then:

Ve’ahavta—You shall love Hashem.

Love means using the life Hashem continuously gives us to fulfill the purpose for which we were created.

This is the shared message of Parashat Va’etchanan and Shabbat Nachamu: the world is not abandoned, human life is not meaningless and darkness is not permanent. Hashem is present, creation depends upon Him at every moment, and every person can help make that truth visible.

כִּי ה׳ הוּא הָאֱלֹקים אֵין עוֹד מִלְּבַדּוֹ

“Hashem is G-d; there is nothing besides Him.”

By Rabbi Avriel Rabenou, MSc. MBA

Sources and References

1 Devarim 4:35.
² Devarim 4:39.
³ Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 29, Va’etchanan 1.
⁴ Tanya, Shaar HaYichud VeHaEmunah, chapters 1–3.
⁵ Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 29, Va’etchanan 1.
⁶ Devarim 6:4.
⁷ Devarim 6:5.
⁸ Chassidic traditions concerning Rabbi Yisrael of Ruzhin and the Alter Rebbe; the wording varies among
later collections.
⁹ Tanya, Shaar HaYichud VeHaEmunah, introduction and chapter 1.
¹⁰ Rambam, Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 2:2.
¹¹ Rambam, Hilchot Avodat Kochavim 1:3.
¹² Sanhedrin 56a–b; Rambam, Hilchot Melachim, chapter 9.
¹³ Rambam, Hilchot Melachim 8:10–11; see the Rebbe’s talks on the universal mission of the Seven
Noahide Laws.
¹⁴ Shemot Rabbah 28:4; Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 4, Va’etchanan 1, “The Voice of Sinai.”
¹⁵ Yeshayahu 40:1.
¹⁶ Likkutei Sichos, Vol. 9, Va’etchanan 3, “Consummate Divine Comfort.”

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