The 'echad Conspiracy
Recently, I heard a self-described Trinitarian apologist claim that Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (Rambam) had changed the Shema to read “Yachid” instead of “echad” so in order to keep Jews from coming to a belief in the Trinity. Unfortunately, this is not the first time I have come across this claim, it can be found on sites dedicated to Apologetics toward Jews all over the web: the Following are just examples:
“We ourselves are REAL commandment observant, Torah observant, Christians who find Yeshua, Jesus, undeniable. However, we fully understand why you find Jesus repulsive. You were promised a conquering Messiah. Moses (Rambam) Maimonides changed the word ECHAD in the Shema of Deu 6:4 to YACHID, which added to your dilemma, and keeps a G-d ordained veil in place. Nevertheless, soon in just one day, HaShem will Himself remove that veil from the whole nation.”
http://www.moresureword.com/ToALLJews.htm
“Trinitarianism is based on the Biblical version of the Shema that reads Elohim (Gods) is “a united one” (echard).
Unitarianism, however, currently is based on an altered version of the Shema introduced by Maimonides. Maimonides changed the Shema from Elohim (Gods) is ‘a united one’ to Elohim (Gods) is ‘a unique one’ (yachid). Though the OT never used yachid to refer to Yahveh, Maimonides’ altered yachid version of the Shema has become a pivotal article of the modern Jewish faith.”
from “The Jewish Trinity” by YoelNatan
https://arizonaauntbee.wordpress.com/2015/08/30/messing-with-the-words-in-the-shema/
“ Anti-Trinitarian who say the use of echad is insignificant in the Old Testament must be reminded that shortly after the rise of Christianity, the Jews replaced "echad" with "yachid" in Deut 6:4.
If the use of "echad" instead of "yachid" in Deut 6:4 gave no help to the early Christians in proving to the Jews that Yahweh of the Old Testament was a multi-personal God, then Jews would not have felt compelled to change the word. If it is really that insignificant, then they would have told us the argument Christians were using to prove trinity is invalid to native Hebrews who know and speak the language. But instead, the Jews responded by changing the word in Deut 6:4 from the unified oneness (echad) to the numeric oneness (yachid).
The Talmud was written either by Judah the Prince (135-219 A.D.) or as late as the 9th century A.D. The important point, is that the Talmud did not exist before about 200 AD, long after Christian theology had made its impact.
A man named Moses Maimonides who lived in the 12th century AD, was Jewish Rabbi and philosopher who compiled a creed with 13 articles. In this creed, the word yachid is used, instead of echad: "I believe with a perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is an absolute one [yachid]".
Modern Jewish prayer books use the word "yachid" to describe God.
It must be most troubling for Jews that their word of choice (yachid) to describe God's oneness is never actually used in the Bible. They should give up their 2000 year old rebellion against Christianity, be more truthful and not engage in a deliberate action of misrepresenting what the Bible says. Then they could use Bible words to describe the one true God and creep closer to becoming Christians!”
http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-oneness-unity-yachid-vs-echad.htm
This one seems to make a slightly different claim, and that is that Jews earlier than Maimonides changed the Shema (never mind that the author gave ZERO evidence for this).
“Meanwhile, PLEASE take considerable note of ECHAD and the plural ELEINU (our Gods) as reasonably translated in Deuteronomy 6:4. As such, in the THIRTEEN PRINCIPLES of JEWISH FAITH, which is meant to be the standard guide for all Jews, why did the Jewish scholars who created it, substitute the ECHAD in Deuteronomy 6, to the alternate word, YACHID? These men were without any doubt Hebrew language scholars and knew very well what they were doing. Why then? I would surmise, these men were well aware of the difference between ECHAD (a PLURAL UNITY) and the other word YACHID, which denotes a SINGULAR ENTITY. Therefore, ECHAD literally means Unity or Collective Unity, hence Altogether. So, why then was ECHAD changed to YACHID in the THIRTEEN PRINCIPLES of JEWISH FAITH? You decide.”
http://www.shalach.org/GodExists/deuteronomy_6.htm
“The writings of a great medieval scholar Moses Maimonides (The Rambam) reflect the way Judaism is guarded against accepting the idea of God being a compound unity. In Rambam's famous 13 articles of faith, a writing that declares what every Jew should believe, concerning article two which relates to the unity of God, Rambam removed the words Moses wrote in the Deuteronomy 6:4 passage (the Shema) and replaced Echad (plural) with Yachid (Singular).”
http://www.jewishroots.net/library/prayer/lessons-from-shema-2.html
Now that we have gone surveyed the often repeated claim that Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon changed the Shema, we shall examine the claim by turning to text these claims are based on: The 13 Principles of the Jewish Faith!!! After examining the 13 principles of faith, we will then analyze the work of the Rambam himself in the Mishnah Torah and the Guide to the Perplexed.
The basis for the claim that Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon changed the Shema to read from ‘echad to yachid is the 2nd Article of the Statement of Faith which reads:
אֲנִי מַאֲמִין בֶּאֱמוּנָה שְׁלֵמָה, שֶׁהַבּורֵא יִתְבָּרַךְ שְׁמו הוּא יָחִיד וְאֵין יְחִידוּת כָּמוהוּ בְּשׁוּם פָּנִים, וְהוּא לְבַדּו אֱלהֵינוּ, הָיָה הוֶה וְיִהְיֶה:
“I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be his name is one and there is no unity like his in any way. He alone is our G-d- He was, he is, and he will be.”
Here, you can see that the words behind “he is one” are “hu yachid”. The polemicist takes this fact and makes the allegation that a change in the Shema has taken place, despite the fact that this doesn’t cite the Shema. The argument goes as follows:
p1: the statement of faith affirms God’s unity.
p2. God’s unity is taught by the shema
p3. The shema uses ‘echad
p4: the statement of faith uses yachid
Conclusion: a change from ‘echad to yachid occurred.
This logic seems sound, given certain assumptions. Unfortunately for those making the allegations, the 2nd Principle as stated above is not the words of Maimonides. The 13 Principles of Jewish faith found in the siddurim and sites online are all a summary version of what the rationalist rabbi from Spain wrote down. What most apologists don’t realize is that there is a second restatement of the principles found in the siddur also. This restatement is a poem written in the 14th century by Rabbi Daniel bar Judah of Rome. This prayer is known as the Yigdal, the first word of the prayer. For the second statement, the Yigdal reads:
אֶחָד וְאֵין יָחִיד כְּיִחוּדוֹ, נֶעְלָם, וְגַם אֵין סוֹף לְאַחְדּוּתו:
“He is One, no unity is like His, He is hidden, His unity has no end.” In this restatement of Maimonides’ principle, the word “’echad” and “yachid” are used. “He is one” is a translation of the word ‘echad. Using the argument of the counter missionaries, it therefore would stand that the shema wasn’t changed, or was changed back. As I noted however, these are not the words of Rabbi Maimonides. To really evaluate the claims of the Christian apologist, we then would have to look at the words the rabbi wrote himself.
Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon wrote the 13 principles in his commentary on the Mishnah Sanhedrin 10, originally in Judeo-Arabic. His work was subsequently translated into Hebrew, and it is this that is used in printed editions of the Talmud, and thus will be used in this work. In his work, Maimonides is commenting on a Mishnaic passage that opens up saying that all the sons of Israel will enter into the olam haba (the World to oome), but then goes on to state that three groups of people will have no part in the world to come. It is this section that implied that there were things that one must affirm to be part of Israel, and thus have a share in the world to come. Maimonides’ listed what the he believed were 13 principles the Torah and the Talmud taught as essential to Judaism. In the second Principle, he wrote:
“Principle II. The unity [יחוד] of God - Meaning to say to accept that this is the quintessential idea of Oneness [אחד]. It is not like the oneness [ אחד] of a pair (i.e. pair of shoes - one group) and not one [אחד] like a species. And not like man that has many individual (members) nor like a body that divides into many different parts until no end (every part being divisible). Rather, God is one [אחד] and there is no other oneness [אחד] like His. This is the second principle and is taught in what it says, “Hear Israel, Hashem is Our God, Hashem is one.”
I put into brackets the underlying Hebrew words translated as “one”, If you note, not one of them read “yachid” with the exception of the title of the principle is laid out, but in a related form of the word (yachud). The most relevant part of our analysis is the quotation of the the Shema. The rabbi quotes the Shema as:
שמע ישראל יוי אלהינו יוי אחד:
“Hear oh Israel, YVY is our G-d, YVY is one (‘echad)!”
Being, that the revered sage used ‘echad and not yachid in his quotation of the Shema in the laying out of his principles, it would then seem that the claim of the Christian polemicist has been soundly refuted, and thus I don’t need to write any further to demonstrate the deception of Trinitarians in how they misrepresent Judaism and make false allegations. To continue our analysis of this claim though, we shall look at other works of Maimonides that mention this second principle.
The first and second principle are repeated as the first and second positive commandments in his book “Sefer HaMitzvot”, in which he enumerated a list of 613 commandments of the Torah. Each summation of the commandment is linked to a citation of a bible verse to support the enumeration of the mitzvah. For the second mitzvah, Rambam wrote:
“The 2nd mitzvah is that we are commanded to acquire knowledge of the nature of G‑d's Unity, i.e. to understand that the Original Creator and Source of all existence is One.
The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement (exalted be He), "Hear [i.e. "understand"] O Israel, G‑d is our Lord, G‑d is One.”
היא הציווי שנצטווינו להאמין בייחוד, והוא שנאמין שפועל הנמצא בסיתו הראשונה הוא אחד. והוא אמרו יתעלה: "שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד" (דברים ו, ד).
As one can see, Maimonides used ‘echad in his recitation of the Shema when justifying his claim that affirming the unity of G-d is a mitzvah.
The third and last source we shall visit before ending our discussion is the rabbi’s codification of Jewish law known as the Mishnah Torah. Maimonides’ wrote in three separate sections of this work that information relevant to our discussion. In Hilchot Teshuvah, Rambam listed all the principles found in his commentary on the Mishnah, but in summary form. He discussed 4 of the principles concerning God in some depth in Hilchot Yesodei Ha-Torah. What is most important to our discussion, however, is the final place the Shema is discussed, Hilchot Kiriat Shema!
First, let us turn our focus on Hilchot Teshuvah. Hilchot Teshuvah is a section of the Mishnah Torah that covers the laws about Repentance. In Chapter 3, Rambam discussed what makes an individual righteous, wicked, and neither righteous or wicked, and who will and who will not enter the world to come. Halacha 6 identifies those who will not enter the Olam Haba as those who are of the minim, the Epicurians, those that deny the Torah, and those who deny the resurrection and the coming of Messiah. In Halacha 7, Rambam defines what a min (heretic) is. In Halacha 8, he clarifies what an Epicurian is and what it means to deny the Torah. Halacha 6, where the minim are defined, Rambam lists in negative and summary form, 4 of the foundations of Judaism. Rambam wrote: “Five individuals are described as Minim:
a) one who says there is no God nor ruler of the world;
b) one who accepts the concept of a ruler, but maintains that there are two or more;
c) one who accepts that there is one Master [of the world], but maintains that He has a body or form;
d) one who maintains that He was not the sole First Being and Creator of all existence;
e) one who serves a star, constellation, or other entity so that it will serve as an intermediary between him and the eternal Lord.
Each of these five individuals is a Min.”
As one can see, the negation of the first principle is held onto by the atheists, principle 2 by the polytheists, and principle 3 held onto by those who believe that God is material.. If you note, principle three is stated with an affirmation of principle 2 when it stated that these heretics affirmed that “there is one Master”. The words behind “one master” are: “רבון אחד”. As you can see, the word one is ‘echad and not yachid..
Next we shall analyze a more in depth treatment of the principles found in Hilchot Yesodei Ha-Torah. Hilchot Yesodei Ha-Torah talks concerning the foundational commandments and beliefs of the Torah. Chapter one begins with the mitzvah to believe in God. Halacha 7 covers the foundations of the oneness of God and him not being physical or having a body. With regard to the Oneness of God it reads: “This God is one (אחד). He is not two or more, but one (אחד), unified (אחד) in a manner which [surpasses] any unity (אחדים) that is found in the world; i.e., He is not one (אחד) in the manner of a general category which includes many individual entities, nor one (אחד) in the way that the body is divided into different portions and dimensions. Rather, He is unified (יחוד), and there exists no unity (יחוד) similar to His in this world.” So far, Maimonides had used the word ‘echad in all but 2 places to affirm the Oneness of God. His supporting verse for the proposition that this is a foundation of Torah is: “ה' אלהינו ה' אחד:” Hashem is our God, Hashem is one.. As you can tell, Rambam cited all but 2 words of the Shema to validate his claim, and the word he used was not yachid as the Trinitarian Apologists would have you believe, but rather ‘echad.
Finally, we shall look at the most relevant text of the Mishnah Torah. Hilchot Kirat Shema, or laws about the recitation of the Shema. If the charge of the Trinitarian apologists is correct, then we should not at all expect Rambam to give laws about the recitation of the Shema using the word ‘echad. Turning to chapter 1, when recounting why we are to say “Blessed be the name of his Glorious Kingdom forever”, Rambam recounts the tradition about Jacob gathering his sons before his death and asked them concerning God’s unity. Jacob’s children respond saying: ‘Listen, Yisra’el, YY is our God, YY is one” or “Listen to us, our father Yisra’el, YY is our God, YY is one.” Jacob responded with, “Blessed be the name of his glorious kingdom forever”. The Hebrew reads:
שמע ישראל יי' אלהינו יי' אחד כלומר שמע ממנו אבינו ישראל יי' אלהינו יי' אחד
Here again, rabbi Moshe ben Maimon used the word ‘echad in his recitation of the word Shema. The reader may counter saying, “Well here, Rambam was just recounting an oral tradition.” This explanation might work if it wasn’t for the fact that Rambam gives detailed rules about the way to pronounce certain words of the Shema In particular, he tells us how to recite the word ‘echad. In chapter 2, halcha 9: “One should sufficiently elongate the dalet in אחד (echad) (Deuteronomy 6:4) in order to proclaim God's sovereignty over the Heaven and the Earth, and all four directions. The chet in אחד (echad, ibid.) should not be shortened so that the word sounds like איחד (ee-chad).”
For somebody that supposedly changed the Shema from reading “YHVH ‘echad” to “YHVH yachid”, it seems strange for him to expound in binding fashion the obligation to pronounce the word ‘echad in a certain way when reciting the Shema.
In summary, we are told by Trinitarian apologists and missionaries all over the web and sometimes in books that the word ‘echad means composite unity and that Maimonides changed the Shema to read yachid instead of ‘echad in order to combat Christianity. This allegation against Maimonides is based off of the modern formulation of the 13 principles of faith initially written down by Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon. Rambam’s actual formulation of the principles use the word ‘echad when describing God’s oneness and he recited the Shema with the word ‘echad as proof for his principle. Rambam furthermore restates the principle as the 2nd positive commandment in his book of Commandments and recites the Shema with ‘echad. Finally, he not only restates the principle using ‘echad in the Mishnah Torah, he also recites the Shema and gives a detailed halacha on pronouncing the words of the Shema, including the word ‘echad. All of this proves beyond any reasonable doubt, that Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon did not change the Shema in order to combat Trinitarian Christianity.
“We ourselves are REAL commandment observant, Torah observant, Christians who find Yeshua, Jesus, undeniable. However, we fully understand why you find Jesus repulsive. You were promised a conquering Messiah. Moses (Rambam) Maimonides changed the word ECHAD in the Shema of Deu 6:4 to YACHID, which added to your dilemma, and keeps a G-d ordained veil in place. Nevertheless, soon in just one day, HaShem will Himself remove that veil from the whole nation.”
http://www.moresureword.com/ToALLJews.htm
“Trinitarianism is based on the Biblical version of the Shema that reads Elohim (Gods) is “a united one” (echard).
Unitarianism, however, currently is based on an altered version of the Shema introduced by Maimonides. Maimonides changed the Shema from Elohim (Gods) is ‘a united one’ to Elohim (Gods) is ‘a unique one’ (yachid). Though the OT never used yachid to refer to Yahveh, Maimonides’ altered yachid version of the Shema has become a pivotal article of the modern Jewish faith.”
from “The Jewish Trinity” by YoelNatan
https://arizonaauntbee.wordpress.com/2015/08/30/messing-with-the-words-in-the-shema/
“ Anti-Trinitarian who say the use of echad is insignificant in the Old Testament must be reminded that shortly after the rise of Christianity, the Jews replaced "echad" with "yachid" in Deut 6:4.
If the use of "echad" instead of "yachid" in Deut 6:4 gave no help to the early Christians in proving to the Jews that Yahweh of the Old Testament was a multi-personal God, then Jews would not have felt compelled to change the word. If it is really that insignificant, then they would have told us the argument Christians were using to prove trinity is invalid to native Hebrews who know and speak the language. But instead, the Jews responded by changing the word in Deut 6:4 from the unified oneness (echad) to the numeric oneness (yachid).
The Talmud was written either by Judah the Prince (135-219 A.D.) or as late as the 9th century A.D. The important point, is that the Talmud did not exist before about 200 AD, long after Christian theology had made its impact.
A man named Moses Maimonides who lived in the 12th century AD, was Jewish Rabbi and philosopher who compiled a creed with 13 articles. In this creed, the word yachid is used, instead of echad: "I believe with a perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be His name, is an absolute one [yachid]".
Modern Jewish prayer books use the word "yachid" to describe God.
It must be most troubling for Jews that their word of choice (yachid) to describe God's oneness is never actually used in the Bible. They should give up their 2000 year old rebellion against Christianity, be more truthful and not engage in a deliberate action of misrepresenting what the Bible says. Then they could use Bible words to describe the one true God and creep closer to becoming Christians!”
http://www.bible.ca/trinity/trinity-oneness-unity-yachid-vs-echad.htm
This one seems to make a slightly different claim, and that is that Jews earlier than Maimonides changed the Shema (never mind that the author gave ZERO evidence for this).
“Meanwhile, PLEASE take considerable note of ECHAD and the plural ELEINU (our Gods) as reasonably translated in Deuteronomy 6:4. As such, in the THIRTEEN PRINCIPLES of JEWISH FAITH, which is meant to be the standard guide for all Jews, why did the Jewish scholars who created it, substitute the ECHAD in Deuteronomy 6, to the alternate word, YACHID? These men were without any doubt Hebrew language scholars and knew very well what they were doing. Why then? I would surmise, these men were well aware of the difference between ECHAD (a PLURAL UNITY) and the other word YACHID, which denotes a SINGULAR ENTITY. Therefore, ECHAD literally means Unity or Collective Unity, hence Altogether. So, why then was ECHAD changed to YACHID in the THIRTEEN PRINCIPLES of JEWISH FAITH? You decide.”
http://www.shalach.org/GodExists/deuteronomy_6.htm
“The writings of a great medieval scholar Moses Maimonides (The Rambam) reflect the way Judaism is guarded against accepting the idea of God being a compound unity. In Rambam's famous 13 articles of faith, a writing that declares what every Jew should believe, concerning article two which relates to the unity of God, Rambam removed the words Moses wrote in the Deuteronomy 6:4 passage (the Shema) and replaced Echad (plural) with Yachid (Singular).”
http://www.jewishroots.net/library/prayer/lessons-from-shema-2.html
Now that we have gone surveyed the often repeated claim that Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon changed the Shema, we shall examine the claim by turning to text these claims are based on: The 13 Principles of the Jewish Faith!!! After examining the 13 principles of faith, we will then analyze the work of the Rambam himself in the Mishnah Torah and the Guide to the Perplexed.
The basis for the claim that Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon changed the Shema to read from ‘echad to yachid is the 2nd Article of the Statement of Faith which reads:
אֲנִי מַאֲמִין בֶּאֱמוּנָה שְׁלֵמָה, שֶׁהַבּורֵא יִתְבָּרַךְ שְׁמו הוּא יָחִיד וְאֵין יְחִידוּת כָּמוהוּ בְּשׁוּם פָּנִים, וְהוּא לְבַדּו אֱלהֵינוּ, הָיָה הוֶה וְיִהְיֶה:
“I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be his name is one and there is no unity like his in any way. He alone is our G-d- He was, he is, and he will be.”
Here, you can see that the words behind “he is one” are “hu yachid”. The polemicist takes this fact and makes the allegation that a change in the Shema has taken place, despite the fact that this doesn’t cite the Shema. The argument goes as follows:
p1: the statement of faith affirms God’s unity.
p2. God’s unity is taught by the shema
p3. The shema uses ‘echad
p4: the statement of faith uses yachid
Conclusion: a change from ‘echad to yachid occurred.
This logic seems sound, given certain assumptions. Unfortunately for those making the allegations, the 2nd Principle as stated above is not the words of Maimonides. The 13 Principles of Jewish faith found in the siddurim and sites online are all a summary version of what the rationalist rabbi from Spain wrote down. What most apologists don’t realize is that there is a second restatement of the principles found in the siddur also. This restatement is a poem written in the 14th century by Rabbi Daniel bar Judah of Rome. This prayer is known as the Yigdal, the first word of the prayer. For the second statement, the Yigdal reads:
אֶחָד וְאֵין יָחִיד כְּיִחוּדוֹ, נֶעְלָם, וְגַם אֵין סוֹף לְאַחְדּוּתו:
“He is One, no unity is like His, He is hidden, His unity has no end.” In this restatement of Maimonides’ principle, the word “’echad” and “yachid” are used. “He is one” is a translation of the word ‘echad. Using the argument of the counter missionaries, it therefore would stand that the shema wasn’t changed, or was changed back. As I noted however, these are not the words of Rabbi Maimonides. To really evaluate the claims of the Christian apologist, we then would have to look at the words the rabbi wrote himself.
Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon wrote the 13 principles in his commentary on the Mishnah Sanhedrin 10, originally in Judeo-Arabic. His work was subsequently translated into Hebrew, and it is this that is used in printed editions of the Talmud, and thus will be used in this work. In his work, Maimonides is commenting on a Mishnaic passage that opens up saying that all the sons of Israel will enter into the olam haba (the World to oome), but then goes on to state that three groups of people will have no part in the world to come. It is this section that implied that there were things that one must affirm to be part of Israel, and thus have a share in the world to come. Maimonides’ listed what the he believed were 13 principles the Torah and the Talmud taught as essential to Judaism. In the second Principle, he wrote:
“Principle II. The unity [יחוד] of God - Meaning to say to accept that this is the quintessential idea of Oneness [אחד]. It is not like the oneness [ אחד] of a pair (i.e. pair of shoes - one group) and not one [אחד] like a species. And not like man that has many individual (members) nor like a body that divides into many different parts until no end (every part being divisible). Rather, God is one [אחד] and there is no other oneness [אחד] like His. This is the second principle and is taught in what it says, “Hear Israel, Hashem is Our God, Hashem is one.”
I put into brackets the underlying Hebrew words translated as “one”, If you note, not one of them read “yachid” with the exception of the title of the principle is laid out, but in a related form of the word (yachud). The most relevant part of our analysis is the quotation of the the Shema. The rabbi quotes the Shema as:
שמע ישראל יוי אלהינו יוי אחד:
“Hear oh Israel, YVY is our G-d, YVY is one (‘echad)!”
Being, that the revered sage used ‘echad and not yachid in his quotation of the Shema in the laying out of his principles, it would then seem that the claim of the Christian polemicist has been soundly refuted, and thus I don’t need to write any further to demonstrate the deception of Trinitarians in how they misrepresent Judaism and make false allegations. To continue our analysis of this claim though, we shall look at other works of Maimonides that mention this second principle.
The first and second principle are repeated as the first and second positive commandments in his book “Sefer HaMitzvot”, in which he enumerated a list of 613 commandments of the Torah. Each summation of the commandment is linked to a citation of a bible verse to support the enumeration of the mitzvah. For the second mitzvah, Rambam wrote:
“The 2nd mitzvah is that we are commanded to acquire knowledge of the nature of G‑d's Unity, i.e. to understand that the Original Creator and Source of all existence is One.
The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement (exalted be He), "Hear [i.e. "understand"] O Israel, G‑d is our Lord, G‑d is One.”
היא הציווי שנצטווינו להאמין בייחוד, והוא שנאמין שפועל הנמצא בסיתו הראשונה הוא אחד. והוא אמרו יתעלה: "שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד" (דברים ו, ד).
As one can see, Maimonides used ‘echad in his recitation of the Shema when justifying his claim that affirming the unity of G-d is a mitzvah.
The third and last source we shall visit before ending our discussion is the rabbi’s codification of Jewish law known as the Mishnah Torah. Maimonides’ wrote in three separate sections of this work that information relevant to our discussion. In Hilchot Teshuvah, Rambam listed all the principles found in his commentary on the Mishnah, but in summary form. He discussed 4 of the principles concerning God in some depth in Hilchot Yesodei Ha-Torah. What is most important to our discussion, however, is the final place the Shema is discussed, Hilchot Kiriat Shema!
First, let us turn our focus on Hilchot Teshuvah. Hilchot Teshuvah is a section of the Mishnah Torah that covers the laws about Repentance. In Chapter 3, Rambam discussed what makes an individual righteous, wicked, and neither righteous or wicked, and who will and who will not enter the world to come. Halacha 6 identifies those who will not enter the Olam Haba as those who are of the minim, the Epicurians, those that deny the Torah, and those who deny the resurrection and the coming of Messiah. In Halacha 7, Rambam defines what a min (heretic) is. In Halacha 8, he clarifies what an Epicurian is and what it means to deny the Torah. Halacha 6, where the minim are defined, Rambam lists in negative and summary form, 4 of the foundations of Judaism. Rambam wrote: “Five individuals are described as Minim:
a) one who says there is no God nor ruler of the world;
b) one who accepts the concept of a ruler, but maintains that there are two or more;
c) one who accepts that there is one Master [of the world], but maintains that He has a body or form;
d) one who maintains that He was not the sole First Being and Creator of all existence;
e) one who serves a star, constellation, or other entity so that it will serve as an intermediary between him and the eternal Lord.
Each of these five individuals is a Min.”
As one can see, the negation of the first principle is held onto by the atheists, principle 2 by the polytheists, and principle 3 held onto by those who believe that God is material.. If you note, principle three is stated with an affirmation of principle 2 when it stated that these heretics affirmed that “there is one Master”. The words behind “one master” are: “רבון אחד”. As you can see, the word one is ‘echad and not yachid..
Next we shall analyze a more in depth treatment of the principles found in Hilchot Yesodei Ha-Torah. Hilchot Yesodei Ha-Torah talks concerning the foundational commandments and beliefs of the Torah. Chapter one begins with the mitzvah to believe in God. Halacha 7 covers the foundations of the oneness of God and him not being physical or having a body. With regard to the Oneness of God it reads: “This God is one (אחד). He is not two or more, but one (אחד), unified (אחד) in a manner which [surpasses] any unity (אחדים) that is found in the world; i.e., He is not one (אחד) in the manner of a general category which includes many individual entities, nor one (אחד) in the way that the body is divided into different portions and dimensions. Rather, He is unified (יחוד), and there exists no unity (יחוד) similar to His in this world.” So far, Maimonides had used the word ‘echad in all but 2 places to affirm the Oneness of God. His supporting verse for the proposition that this is a foundation of Torah is: “ה' אלהינו ה' אחד:” Hashem is our God, Hashem is one.. As you can tell, Rambam cited all but 2 words of the Shema to validate his claim, and the word he used was not yachid as the Trinitarian Apologists would have you believe, but rather ‘echad.
Finally, we shall look at the most relevant text of the Mishnah Torah. Hilchot Kirat Shema, or laws about the recitation of the Shema. If the charge of the Trinitarian apologists is correct, then we should not at all expect Rambam to give laws about the recitation of the Shema using the word ‘echad. Turning to chapter 1, when recounting why we are to say “Blessed be the name of his Glorious Kingdom forever”, Rambam recounts the tradition about Jacob gathering his sons before his death and asked them concerning God’s unity. Jacob’s children respond saying: ‘Listen, Yisra’el, YY is our God, YY is one” or “Listen to us, our father Yisra’el, YY is our God, YY is one.” Jacob responded with, “Blessed be the name of his glorious kingdom forever”. The Hebrew reads:
שמע ישראל יי' אלהינו יי' אחד כלומר שמע ממנו אבינו ישראל יי' אלהינו יי' אחד
Here again, rabbi Moshe ben Maimon used the word ‘echad in his recitation of the word Shema. The reader may counter saying, “Well here, Rambam was just recounting an oral tradition.” This explanation might work if it wasn’t for the fact that Rambam gives detailed rules about the way to pronounce certain words of the Shema In particular, he tells us how to recite the word ‘echad. In chapter 2, halcha 9: “One should sufficiently elongate the dalet in אחד (echad) (Deuteronomy 6:4) in order to proclaim God's sovereignty over the Heaven and the Earth, and all four directions. The chet in אחד (echad, ibid.) should not be shortened so that the word sounds like איחד (ee-chad).”
For somebody that supposedly changed the Shema from reading “YHVH ‘echad” to “YHVH yachid”, it seems strange for him to expound in binding fashion the obligation to pronounce the word ‘echad in a certain way when reciting the Shema.
In summary, we are told by Trinitarian apologists and missionaries all over the web and sometimes in books that the word ‘echad means composite unity and that Maimonides changed the Shema to read yachid instead of ‘echad in order to combat Christianity. This allegation against Maimonides is based off of the modern formulation of the 13 principles of faith initially written down by Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon. Rambam’s actual formulation of the principles use the word ‘echad when describing God’s oneness and he recited the Shema with the word ‘echad as proof for his principle. Rambam furthermore restates the principle as the 2nd positive commandment in his book of Commandments and recites the Shema with ‘echad. Finally, he not only restates the principle using ‘echad in the Mishnah Torah, he also recites the Shema and gives a detailed halacha on pronouncing the words of the Shema, including the word ‘echad. All of this proves beyond any reasonable doubt, that Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon did not change the Shema in order to combat Trinitarian Christianity.