One World Under G-d

A friend once cautioned me about using the word G-d in my writing because it makes some people uncomfortable. I understood the concern. G-d is not simply one more subject for us to think about; once we take Him seriously, it changes how we understand the world itself and our place within it.

With Rosh HaShanah arriving Friday night, it’s a good time to think about G-d’s kingship over creation. To call G-d King is to recognize that all of creation belongs within one Divine order. The Torah gives us six constant mitzvos that apply at all times and teach us how to bring our mind, emotions, and actions under that one center.

The first mitzvah is to know that G-d is the source of all existence and continues to supervise everything, as stated, “I am G-d, who took you out of Egypt” (Exodus 20:2). This is more than believing that G-d exists. It means that nothing we encounter stands outside the reality He created and continues to sustain.

But one Source is not enough if we still imagine other powers competing with Him. The second mitzvah therefore tells us, “Do not have any other gods besides Me” (Exodus 20:3). We don’t bow to idols, but we can still live as though money, status, other people, or our own desires have the final say.

The third mitzvah goes deeper still: “G-d is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4). G-d is not a collection of separate powers or parts. The first three mitzvos dismantle a divided universe: one Source, no rival, and no division within G-d Himself.

Yet a unified understanding of G-d does not automatically produce a unified life. We can know one thing and love something else. The fourth mitzvah therefore moves from the mind to the heart: “And you shall love G-d” (Deuteronomy 6:5), drawing our deepest attachments toward the One our mind has already recognized.

Closeness, however, can become casual. The fifth mitzvah, “You shall fear G-d” (Deuteronomy 6:13), adds awe to love so that intimacy does not erase reverence. We are drawn toward G-d, but we also remember before Whom we stand.

And even a mind that knows and a heart that loves and fears can lose control at the moment of choice. The sixth mitzvah therefore enters ordinary life: “You shall not stray after your heart and eyes” (Numbers 15:39). What we see and desire no longer has to dictate what we do.

Rosh HaShanah is the day on which we proclaim G-d’s kingship over the world. These six mitzvos turn that proclamation inward, moving us from a divided life toward one centered on G-d.