This week we read the commandment that summarizes the principle of God's Unity1: "And you shall know this day, and take it to heart, that Hashem is God in Heaven above, and on Earth below; there is no other." The recognition that Hashem is God is subdivided here into three aspects: 1) "in Heaven" 2) "on Earth" 3) "there is no other.".
What does "there is no more" mean? The Midrash explains: "Even in the space of the world.".
He asks about this2: What is the need for such detail? Would it occur to anyone that there is an additional God, God willing, who is hidden beneath the earth, in subterranean waters, or in space, so as to require a special commandment that excludes this possibility and therefore warns so emphatically, in terms of "and you shall know... and you shall take it to heart"?
Hasidism explains that this verse aims not only to deny the existence of any other deity, God willing, but also to clarify that there is no existence outside of God. The Most High is the only and absolute existence—in Heaven, on Earth, and even in space.
The perception of the world and its creatures (after having been created by God) as possessing an independent existence is a fantasy, a product of our inability to see the Divine force that sustains all of existence. If we could see the truth, we would see that everything is Hashem and that Hashem is everything. Creation has no existence or sustenance of its own since it was created from nothing. Therefore, all of its existence—literally, every instant—comes from the Divine force that sustains and fills it.<sup>4</sup> Therefore, the truth is that "there is nothing outside of Him."<sup>5</sup>.
One might think that only "Heaven," meaning the highest spiritual creations, can contain Divine Power. That is why the Torah adds: "and upon the Earth, below," implying that even the lower, material creatures are "filled" with the power of the Creator.
But even this is not enough, since after all, "the Earth" is mentioned as a creation of the Ten Sayings with which the world was created. But what about the different and numerous creatures that exist "in the space of the world," which are not mentioned at all in relation to the Ten Sayings with which the world was created?
Are they also filled with the power of the Most High and yet possess no existence of their own? The Torah adds and emphasizes: "There is no other." There is only one existence—"Hashem is God.".
This subdivision exists, symbolically, in every person's life as well. There is a "heaven" for the individual, their Divine soul. There is an "earth," the material body, which is the proper vessel for the soul's light. But there is also a "world space"—all of a person's actions throughout the day.
The Torah tells us here that God must be "introduced" not only into "heaven"—into the life of the soul—and not only "on Earth"—into the physical body, but also into the world—into all of humanity's actions and endeavors. Everything must be at the service of and a means to Divine Holiness, and must serve to prepare the entire world, in all its components, to be a vessel for the revelation of absolute Divine truth, as it will be revealed in the true and complete redemption of the Messiah.
(Likutei Sichot Volume 29, Page 26)
NOTES: 1.Devarim 4:39 2.Shaar HaIjud VehaEmuná chapter 1 3.(Tania III, Spanish version Kehot Sudamericana, page 15) There, chapter 6 (page 66) 4.There Chapter 2 onwards (Tania III, Spanish version, page 21) 5.Devarim 4:35 6.See in Avot Chapter 5 Mishnah 1