Glossary · Torah Ohr · Likkutei Torah
Echad and yachid
אחד ויחיד
One and Singular (echad and yachid) · also: חד ולא בחושבן
Two terms for G‑d’s oneness. Echad (One): He is one in the heavens, earth and four directions, which are nullified before Him. Yachid (Singular): He alone, beyond any relation to worlds or number.
The word Echad is also the plain number one, or “one of” a group (“one is counted,” as Reuven is one of twelve; “a nation one on earth”), and yachid is the ordinary “only” or “single” (an individual as against the many). The concept is meant where the text speaks of G‑d’s oneness, “Havayah is One,” or sets Echad against Yachid as levels.
Where it’s explained
- Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 3, ¶5On the words “Singular, Life of the worlds, King”: Yachid is above Echad. Echad means He is one in the heavens, on earth and in the four directions, since the worlds take up no place and are as nothing before Him; that is, when He is set against the worlds. Yachid means He is alone, singular in Himself, not in the category of worlds at all.
פי׳ יחיד הוא למעלה מבחי׳ אחד
- Torah Ohr, Vaeira 1, ¶7Why does the Shema say “Havayah is One” and not “Singular”? “One” can be one of a count, as Reuven is one of twelve. Of His very essence “one” does not apply at all, for He is singular; “One” says that even in the heavens, earth and four directions, realms of division, His oneness rests and is revealed, and all are nullified to it.
שבאמת לגבי קוב״ה מצד עצמותו ומהותו ית׳ לא שייך עליו מלת אחד כלל שהרי הוא יחיד ומיוחד והוא לבדו הוא
- Likkutei Torah, Balak 2, ¶33Echad is said when many powers and parts are joined together completely, as in the vessels of Atzilus; Yachid is His very self, utterly simple and beyond number. The souls were “one” with Him in thought before descending; through Torah and mitzvos below they rise from Echad to revealing Yachid.
אבל יחיד הוא בחי׳ עצמותו ית׳ שאין עוד מלבדו שהוא פשוט בתכלית הפשיטות ואינו בגדר מספר
- Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 10, ¶10He is “singular and unique,” and “Life of the worlds” comes only from the level of King. When one contemplates that “Havayah our G‑d” is Yachid itself, this is why the soul is called Yechidah: it receives from Yachid.
היינו מה שהנשמה נק׳ יחידה ע״ש שמקבלת מבחי׳ יחיד
Stated differently
In the Shema, whether “Havayah is One” is the level within the chain of worlds, below the Yachid from which “Havayah our G‑d” is drawn, or a level above Atzilus and the chain of worlds
שבחי׳ הוי׳ אחד אין נופן לשון אחד כ״א בהשתלשלות בחי׳ שמים וארץ“Havayah is One” uses the word one only within the chain of worlds, heaven and earth and the six directions, which are nullified to Him; “Havayah our G‑d” is drawn from Yachid, He alone, the Life of life.
ואח״כ בחי׳ הוי׳ אחד בחינה שלמעלה מאצילות אנת הוא חד ולא בחושבן“Havayah our G‑d” is the Or Ein Sof clothed in the ten Sefiros (the 248 mitzvos); then “Havayah is One” is a level above Atzilus, “You are One but not in number,” reached through self-sacrifice.
וזהו חד ולא בחושבן כלומר שאינו בבחי׳ ערך כי אינו בגדר ההשתלשלות כלל וכשישים האדם אל לבו בחי׳ אחד זה בק״שThe One of the Shema is “One but not in number”: beyond comparison, not in the category of the chain of worlds at all. Taking this Echad to heart brings love with the Yechidah of the soul, which receives from Echad, the will above reason.
Discussed by
The Rebbe Rashab · Sefer HaMaamarim 5672 (Hemshech Ayin-Beis), vol. 2 (old ed.), p. תשא
The Rashab places the ‘One’ of the Shema (one in heavens, earth and the four directions) in the Or Ein Sof that still bears a relation to worlds, which he identifies as sovev, above the gradations of place and time even of Atzilus, while the Essence, outside the category of worlds, is Yachid.
ויחוד זה הוא בהאוא״ס שבבחי׳ שייכות עכ״פ אל העולמות כו׳, דבעצמות א״ס שאינו בגדר העולמות אינו שייך לומר אחד ג״כ
Further in Chassidus
The Tzemach Tzedek · Or HaTorah, Devarim vol. 1, p. ריא
The Tzemach Tzedek explains that ‘one’ does not apply to His essence, which is Yachid, alone; ‘One’ means His oneness as it rests and is revealed in the seven heavens, earth and four directions, which are nullified before Him.שבאמת לגבי הקב״ה מצד מהו״ע ית׳ לא שייך עליו מלת אחד כלל שהרי הוא יחיד ומיוחד והוא לבדו הוא
The Rebbe Rashab · Sefer HaMaamarim 5651, p. קעח
The Rashab defines the two terms (one among others that can be counted, or one that unites many details, versus singular with no fellow and no details at all) and notes that the Shema says echad to teach that even the details of the worlds are wholly one, as if Yachid.דאחד הוא מה שיש בו ריבוי פרטים אלא שהן בהתאחדות, ויחיד הוא שאין בו פרטי׳ כלל עד שיפול לומר לשון התאחדות
The Rebbe · Sefer HaMaamarim (bilti muga) 5711–5712, p. רפט
The Rebbe maps the terms onto the worlds: Atzilus, the world of oneness, is echad (details known on reflection to be one), while Yachid, with no division at all, is above Atzilus, and Torah study raises the world even to that.שהרי, פעולת הקנין היא ע״י המשיכה לרשות היחיד, יחיד דייקא, ובחי׳ יחיד היא למעלה מאצילות, כי אצילות הוא בבחי׳ אחד שלמטה מיחיד
Short quotes, © their publishers; each page opened by a second AI reader.
Sefer HaErchim Chabad
והתואר ”יחיד” הוא באוא״ס שלמעלה משייכות לעולמות. ונקרא ”יחיד”, כי לגבי בחינת האור שאינו שייך לעולמות, אין שייך לומר גם שהעולמות אינם תופסים מקום, מכיון שלגבי בחינה זו לא ישנו כל הגדר דעולמותThe title Yachid refers to the Or Ein Sof that is above relation to worlds. It is called Yachid because, of the light unrelated to worlds, one cannot even say that the worlds take up no place, since for this level there is no category of worlds at all. (our translation)
Sefer HaErchim Chabad, vol. ח, entry אחד — ביחס ליחיד, col. שמ · © Kehot Publication Society, quoted
Main sources
Torah Ohr, Mikeitz 3, ¶5Torah Ohr, Vaeira 1, ¶7Likkutei Torah, Balak 2, ¶33Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 10, ¶9Likkutei Torah, Vaeschanan 10, ¶10Likkutei Torah, Reeh 3, ¶29
Where it appears
In 7 paragraphs of 6 maamarim (only where it is the subject: the word is common in its plain sense).
Written with AI from the paragraphs of Torah Ohr and Likkutei Torah, each entry checked by a second AI reader and every Hebrew quote checked by code; not yet reviewed by a person. Our English: CC BY-NC 4.0.