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Who Knows One? Not the Angels

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It is not Judaism’s most famous song. That honor, I believe, belongs to Dayeinu, or according to others that I have surveyed, I have a little Dreidel. Nonetheless, it is an old camp favorite that is prominent in many Hagaddahs. Indeed, I can still remember those long Shabbos afternoons in camp listening to a staff member bellow, “Who knows one?”

Of course, all the children would respond, “I know one. One is Hashem. One is Hashem in the heaven and on the earth.” Even first-time campers caught on quickly. It all seemed very simple and straightforward.

However, as I grew up, I discovered that Judaism, even its songs, is anything but simple. The question, “Who knows one?” was not rhetorical. There were sentient beings, angels more brilliant than us, who did not, and could not grasp the awesome fact of Hashem’s Oneness.

And if you ask why this is so, the answer is that each angel was created to embody one particular attribute and to serve one specific function. As the Midrash states, “One angel cannot have two missions. Neither can two angels share the same mission.”

For example, Michael is the angel that exemplifies G-d’s quality of loving kindness, while Gavriel is the angelic concretization of Hashem’s justice. Like a defending lawyer pitted against a prosecuting attorney, Michael is the polar opposite of Gavriel. Michael defends the Jewish people even when they are apparently not worthy, while Gavriel demands justice even when they are. Each of them is limited in scope, and it is beyond their ability to grasp that G-d contains many attributes within Himself.

Only man who was fashioned in the image of His Creator, and possesses contradictory qualities can assess that all the various manifestations of G-dliness in this world - from those judged pleasant or the converse - testify to the O neness of Hashem.
This explains the passage in the Zohar that, “G-d brought all the various animals to the angels and asked them, ‘What shall be its name?’ They could not answer. He gathered the animals before Adam who contemplated and said, ‘This is a shor (ox); this is a chamor (donkey).’” /

Animals, like angels, represent a distinctive attribute and are programmed to fulfill a definitive, albeit limited task. Due to this one-to-one relationship, the most that an angel can do is divine the name of its corresponding animal. Man of course, has no such limitations.

Having ascertained that our old camp song excludes the angels, we can now understand the next phrase: “Who knows two? I know two. Two are the Tablets that Moshe brought.” Our Sages remind us that Moses had to contend with the angels for the Two Tablets. How did he prevail? By pointing out that there are two tablets; the first dealing with man’s responsibilities to G-d, the second with man’s obligations to his fellow man, such as ”Do not steal” and “Do not testify falsely.” Since the angels have no connection, and in fact cannot even comprehend the necessity for such laws, they acquiesced. For this reason we say, “We know two, but not you.”

The next line, “The Patriarchs are three,” should also be viewed in this light. Abraham personified Hashem’s quality of kindness, Isaac emphasized His attribute of justice, and Jacob the virtue of truth. As their descendants, we’ve inherited the diversity of their personalities - angels did not.

The rest of the song follows suit. Still, regardless of how different our heritage is (i.e. four are the Matriarchs, twelve are the tribes), the song always concludes with that which is most important and connects us all, G-d is One.

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