** SHABBOS MINCHA: DEFINING MESSIANIC YEARNINGS**
The Kedushas Hayom section of theShabbos Mincha Amidah begins with the following declaration:
You are one and your name is one –and who is comparable to your nation Israel, goy echad ba’aretz.
The phrase goy echad(underlined) could be translated either as:
1. Aunique - i.e., “one of a kind” - nation
2. One, i.e.,a unified single nation rather than a divided one.
The Bible provides two possiblesource-references for this phrase. The following reference would support thefirst possible translation [1]:
1. IISamuel 7:23: And who is like your people Israel—the one nation on earth thatGod went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself,and to perform great and awesome wonders by driving out nations and their godsfrom before your people, whom you redeemed from Egypt?
Thisnext source follows the second translation [2]:
2. Ezekiel 37:19-22: 19 Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God:“Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, andthe tribes of Israel, his companions; and I will join them with it, with thestick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in My hand.” ’ 20 And the sticks on which you write will bein your hand before their eyes. 21 “Then say to them, ‘Thus says theLord God: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations,wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring theminto their own land; 22 and I will make them one nation in the land, onthe mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; theyshall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into twokingdoms again. 23 They shallnot defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestablethings, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from alltheir dwelling places in which they have sinned, and will cleanse them. Thenthey shall be My people, and I will be their God.
Sincethe theme of the Messianic redemption is central to the liturgy of ShabbosMincha, I feel that its opening reference is to the passage in Ezekiel ratherthan to the verse in Samuel.
Thefirst clause in the liturgy - You are one and Your Name is One –reinforces centrality of Shabbos Mincha’s Messianic theme, insofar as it is aclear reference to the verse in Zechariah 14:9 [3]:
And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: on that dayshall there be one Lord, and His name shall be one.
On that day – but not priorto that day; i.e., not until the Messianic era
Rashi’scommentary to Shema Yisrael [Devarim 6:4]points to the ideological centrality of this universalistic concern. Theessence of our “accepting the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven” is our optimistic anticipationof “that day” that Hashem will be recognized by all of humanity:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is ourGod; the Lord is one.
The Lord is our God; the Lord is one: The Lord, who is now our God andnot the God of the other nations - He will be [declared] in the future “the oneGod,” as it is said: “For then I will convert the peoples to a pure languagethat all of them call in the name of the Lord” (Zeph. 3:9), and it is[also] said: “On that day will the Lord be one and His name one” (Zech. 14:9).
Thusthe culmination of Shabbos evokes our most central yearnings: That Israel beunited once again, and that Hashem be recognized by all humanity.
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[1]
שמואל ב פרק ז פסוק כג
וּמִ֤י כְעַמְּךָ֙ כְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔לגּ֥וֹי אֶחָ֖ד בָּאָ֑רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָלְכֽוּ־אֱ֠לֹקים לִפְדּֽוֹת־ל֨וֹ לְעָ֜םוְלָשׂ֧וּם ל֣וֹ שֵׁ֗ם וְלַעֲשׂ֨וֹת לָכֶ֜ם הַגְּדוּלָּ֤ה וְנֹֽרָאוֹת֙לְאַרְצֶ֔ךָ מִפְּנֵ֣י עַמְּךָ֗ אֲשֶׁ֨ר פָּדִ֤יתָ לְּךָ֙ מִמִּצְרַ֔יִם גּוֹיִ֖םוֵאלֹקיו:
[2]
יחזקאל פרק לז
יט) דַּבֵּ֣ר אֲלֵהֶ֗ם כֹּֽה־אָמַר֘אֲדֹ-נָ֣י יְקֹוִק֒ הִנֵּה֩ אֲנִ֨י לֹקֵ֜חַ אֶת־עֵ֤ץ יוֹסֵף֙ אֲשֶׁ֣רבְּיַד־אֶפְרַ֔יִם וְשִׁבְטֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל חברו חֲבֵרָ֑יו וְנָתַתִּי֩ אוֹתָ֨םעָלָ֜יו אֶת־עֵ֣ץ יְהוּדָ֗ה וַֽעֲשִׂיתִם֙ לְעֵ֣ץ אֶחָ֔ד וְהָי֥וּ אֶחָ֖דבְּיָדִֽי:
(כ) וְהָי֨וּ הָעֵצִ֜יםאֲֽשֶׁר־תִּכְתֹּ֧ב עֲלֵיהֶ֛ם בְּיָדְךָ֖ לְעֵינֵיהֶֽם:
(כא) וְדַבֵּ֣ר אֲלֵיהֶ֗ם כֹּֽה־אָמַר֘אֲד-ֹנָ֣י יְקֹוִק֒ הִנֵּ֨ה אֲנִ֤י לֹקֵ֙חַ֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מִבֵּ֥יןהַגּוֹיִ֖ם אֲשֶׁ֣ר הָֽלְכוּ־שָׁ֑ם וְקִבַּצְתִּ֤י אֹתָם֙ מִסָּבִ֔יב וְהֵבֵאתִ֥יאוֹתָ֖ם אֶל־אַדְמָתָֽם:
(כב) וְעָשִׂ֣יתִי אֹ֠תָם לְג֨וֹיאֶחָ֤ד בָּאָ֙רֶץ֙ בְּהָרֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וּמֶ֧לֶךְ אֶחָ֛ד יִֽהְיֶ֥הלְכֻלָּ֖ם לְמֶ֑לֶךְ וְלֹ֤א יהיה־יִֽהְיוּ־עוֹד֙ לִשְׁנֵ֣י גוֹיִ֔ם וְלֹ֨איֵחָ֥צוּ ע֛וֹד לִשְׁתֵּ֥י מַמְלָכ֖וֹת עֽוֹד
מצודת דוד יחזקאל פרק לז
(כ) והיו העצים - ר"ל העצי' ההםאשר תכתוב עליהם הדברים האלה תאחזם בידך לפניהם:
(כא) ודבר אליהם - בעת תאחז העצים ההםבידך תדבר אליהם כה אמר ה' וגו':
(כב) לגוי אחד בארץ - כשיהיו בארץ וחוזרומפרש בהרי ישראל שם אעשם לגוי אחד ולא יהיו עוד חלוקים לשנים להיות יהודה עם לבדועשרת השבטים עם לבד:
ולא יחצו וכו' - כפל הדבר במ"ש:
[3]
ט)וְהָיָ֧ה יְקֹוָ֛ק לְמֶ֖לֶךְ עַל־כָּל־הָאָ֑רֶץ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֗וּא יִהְיֶ֧היְקֹוָ֛ק אֶחָ֖ד וּשְׁמ֥וֹ אֶחָֽד
[4]
ה' אלקינו ה' אחד: ה' שהואאלהינו עתה ולא אלהי האומות, הוא עתיד להיות ה' אחד, שנאמר (צפניה ג, ט) כי אז אהפוךאל עמים שפה ברורה לקרוא כולם בשם ה' ונאמר (זכריה יד, ט) ביום ההוא יהיה ה'אחד ושמו אחד:
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל ה' אֱלֹקינוּ ה' | אֶחָד
Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God; the Lordis one.
ה' אלהינו ה' אחד: ה' שהוא אלהינו עתה ולאאלהי האומות, הוא עתיד להיות ה' אחד, שנאמר (צפניה ג, ט) כי אז אהפוך אל עמים שפה ברורהלקרוא כולם בשם ה' ונאמר (זכריה יד, ט) ביום ההוא יהיה ה' אחד ושמו אחד
:
:
The Lord is our God; the Lord is one:Hashem - Who is now our God and not theGod of the other nations - will be [declared] in the future “the one God,” asit is said: “For then I will convert the peoples to a pure language that all ofthem call in the name of the Lord” (Zeph. 3:9), and it is [also] said: “On thatday will the Lord be one and His name one” (Zech. 14:9).