And His Name One

I was davening the Minchah service (praying the afternoon service) today when a particular thought came into my mind. Specifically, I was at the end of the Aleinu prayer where we say "And the L-RD will be King over all the earth; in that day the L-RD will be One, and His Name one." This verse is from Zechariah 14:9. It is the last part of the verse "His Name one" which got me thinking of an event from the previous day. I was with a Christian man who decided he needed to pray over some difficulties he was experiencing. Over and over during his prayer he called out to god but he ended his prayer with "in Jesus' name."

The difference between the Christian and Jewish prayers hit me strongly during the Michah service. When I pray to G-d, there is no other name that I am calling out to. Just like the Bible says, I am praying for a time when G-d's name will be "one." On the other hand, Christians call out to another name, Jesus. As Messianic "Judaism" is a branch of Christianity, the Messianic movement does the same thing. In Messianic prayers you often hear the addition at the end of the prayer of "b'shem Yeshuah" which means "in Jesus' name." This addition clearly conflicts with the theology of the Bible and the prediction of the future recognition of G-d's name being one.