Greetings.

I wrote this two years ago on the 10 commandments and it is pretty significant.  I wanted to pull it out of today’s Parsha

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for Shevat 20, 5782

Shabbat Shalom! May all of us on this day be aware of Hashem’s Chesed (kindness) in our lives, even when we are struggling to see it!

Today let’s dig into the Ten Commandments from yesterday before we move into today’s portion closing out the Parsha Yitro (Jethro).

Before we break down the commandments, let’s look at the overall structure:

Rabbi Mordecai Joseph Leiner writes;

The Ten Commandments address the five core faculties of man: imagination, contemplation, will, speech and action. Two commandments are dedicated to each faculty.

• Imagination is addressed by the first and last command: “I am God” is the source of our positive imaginations: “You shall not covet” addresses the negative.
• Contemplation is addressed by the second and third commandments, not to think of any other gods, and not to take God’s name in vain, i.e., not to discard anything in the world which contains a spark of God- as unnecessary or useless.
• Will is addressed by the sixth and seventh commandments, not to kill or commit adultery.
• Speech is addressed by the eighth and ninth commandments, not to steal or bear false witness. Withholding oral teaching from others is a form of “stealing” (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 91b); by the same reasoning “bearing false witness” means speaking too much.
• Action is addressed by the fourth and fifth commandments, to observe the Sabbath and to honor your parents.

There is a beauty here to the structure. These commandments focus on our imagination, contemplation, will, speech, and action! Let’s dig in;

1. I am God, the God of every one of you, Who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

I notice here first, that Egypt is connected to bondage. We are not just talking a literal sense of Hashem taking us out of Egypt; we are talking about being taken out of bondage. The pieces of our lives that enslave us.

There are some great things written about this;

About The first three words, “I am God…” ,

Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Rymanow wrote in the 18th century;

“All that the Jewish people heard directly from the mouth of God was the letter alef, enunciated with the vowel kametz-that is, the first letter of the word anokhi, “I’”

Rabbi Asher Isaiah expands on the words of Rabbi Mendel;

“What does this mean? The entire message of the Torah is contained in this one letter, kametz-alef. Alef is an acronym for ‘ozen (ear), lev (heart) and peh (mouth). Added together these words have the numerical equivalence of the word ‘einayim (eyes). Kametz means to “contain.” The entire Torah depends on “containing” our ears, heart, mouth and eyes, ensuring that they are only fed with appropriate content.”

The second part of the beginning of the commandment; “The God of every one of you.”

Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneerson makes a tremendous insight here:

“Three rings are interlocked together: Israel, the Torah and God. All are on different planes, one higher than the other, partly hidden, partly revealed (Zohar). The “revealed” qualities of Israel include the unique intelligence and natural character of the Jew. The hidden qualities of Israel include the pure, simple and refined faith in God found in every Jew’s heart.

As for the Torah, the “revealed” part is the logical interpretation of all the various subjects of the Torah, which discuss man’s life on this earth, as well as how the world came into being. The “hidden” part of the Torah is its Divine intellect which differs essentially from human intellect and cannot be properly grasped by man.

In the case of God, there are also “revealed” or conceivable attributes, and “hidden” or inconceivable attributes. What is conceivable about God is that He creates and forms the world and its contents from nothingness and He constantly infuses them with vitality. What is inconceivable about God is His true essence and identity – that which lies beyond His involvement with the world. Nevertheless, the realization of God’s greatness as He transcends the world should move us to a longing and yearning to cleave to Him.

All three “rings” are connected- The revealed qualities of Israel unite with the revealed attributes of God, by means of the revealed part of the Torah; the hidden qualities of Israel unite with the hidden attributes of God, by means of the hidden part of the Torah.

2. You shall not possess an idol of other deities. You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image or any picture of that which is in the heavens above, which is on the earth below, or which is in the water beneath the earth. You shall not bow down before them, nor worship them, for I, God, your God, am a God who is zealous, who visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, Upon the third and fourth generation of those who continue in their fathers ways to hate Me. But I act kindly to those who love Me and to those who keep My commandments, for two thousand generations.

This is one of the longest of the Ten Commandments. I’m reflecting on why that might be. My brain goes to the place as potentially this is one of the most difficult commandments to keep.

Rabbi Shalom Dov Baer Schneerson wrote this;

“Idol-worship may seem a concept that is foreign to our modern lives, but in truth, a mistake not dissimilar from that of the idol-worshipers can easily be made in our business activities. Men of old may have worshiped the sun and the moon, but do we “worship” our jobs and our clients and make the mistake of seeing “market forces” as being independent from God?

Just as then there was a need to see the sun and the moon as mere tools of God, “an axe in the hand of the chopper” (after Isaiah 10:15), we should see the marketplace as nothing other than a Divine tool by which God-and God alone-provides our sustenance. Our business efforts do not bring us wealth; they merely make a “vessel” into which God may channel His blessings.” (End quote)

I can see other areas of our lives where we can easily make the mistake of idol worship; what else do we worship? Those on social media? Entertainers and athletes?

Rabbi Schneur Zalman expands;

“Even the idol-worshipers receive their spiritual sustenance in this world from God’s holiness, as the verse states, “You sustain them all” (Nehemiah 9:6). Through God’s abundant patience, His kindness flows even to a place which conceals holiness. The reason why they enjoy so much wealth and glory which they do not deserve, is that their spiritual sustenance comes from a very lofty Godly energy which is concealed from them and that is why they deny God and arrogantly perceive themselves as independent of Him.

3. You shall not take the name of God, your God, in vain, for God will not absolve anyone who takes His name in vain.

Nachmanides wrote this;

“This includes swearing by the hallowed name of God unnecessarily. For example, a person swears about something that is true but self-evident- that the pillar is made of marble and he is standing by it, and everyone can see that this is the case.”

That’s an interesting concept. The idea that it shouldn’t be necessarily to swear to Hashem about something that is self evident. I’m reflecting in my life how much there are concepts I believe are self evident but may not be to others. What about those circumstances? I can see how in my own life, something that is self-evident isn’t enough for me. I must get others on board to agree with my perceptions. Why can’t I just accept for me it is self evident? That is a big lesson I am learning right now.

Rabbi Hayyim ibn Attar adds;

“Falsely representing yourself as a pious, God-fearing person is, in a subtle way, taking the name of God in vain, as it creates a false impression.”

Finally Rabbi Ephraim of Luntshits writes;

“When God said at Sinai. ‘You shall not take the name of God, your God, in vain; the entire world trembled” (Babylonian Talmud, Shevu’ot 39a). Why did the world tremble with this command in particular? Because God’s name gives life to the entire world, and by taking His name in vain you disturb the life force to the world, causing it to tremble.”

God’s name gives life to the entire world. I’m sitting with that on this sabbath.

4. Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it. Six days you may work and perform all your labor, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. You shall perform no labor, neither you, your son, your daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your beast, nor your convert who is within your gates. For in six days God made the heavens, the earth and the sea – and all that is in them – and He rested (so to speak) on the seventh day. Therefore, God blessed the Sabbath day by causing a double portion of manna to fall on Friday and sanctified it by not bringing the manna on the sabbath.

The other long commandment. Which tells me this sabbath thing is critical and crucial. What we do on this day of rest matters. But really the idea isn’t what we do on the sabbath that matters as much as the act of REMEMBERING the sabbath. That’s what sanctifies it. That’s what makes it holy. We must remember the sabbath to keep it holy. How we live out our sabbath, that’s a different question. I believe the rest of the mitzvahs contained in the commandment relate to ways in which helps us to remember the Sabbath. To remember our journey to freedom from bondage. That’s what we need reminding of every week as we live in our privilege.

Rashi writes that here, the Torah uses the expression “remember” the Sabbath, but when the commandments are repeated in Deuteronomy, it says “Guard” the Sabbath. In fact, Rashi states that both expressions were pronounced in one simultaneous utterance.

Rabbi Isaac Luria wrote about the sabbath in the 16th century;

“All our prayers and good deeds in this world are aimed at purifying and elevating fallen “sparks” of sublime holiness. Since these “sparks” are trapped in even the most material aspects of the world, all sorts of physical work can be employed for a mitzvah (commandment), thereby elevating sparks. For example, when you go to plow the ground, “You may not plow with an ox and donkey together” (Deuteronomy 22:10); and when you go to plant, “You may not sow your vineyard with a mixture of seeds” (ibid. 9).

To accomplish all this, man requires assistance from above. So the upper worlds descend down here on weekdays to assist man in elevating the fallen sparks. Or, to be precise, the seven lower sefirot (Divine emanations) descend and become infused in the seven days of the week.

However only six of the seven sefirot have sufficient energy to successfully power this elevation- which is why there are only six workdays. The Sabbath corresponds to the final emanation, malchut (sovereignty), which, being the weakest of all, is unable to empower us to elevate any “sparks.”

So what happens is, on the Sabbath, all the six higher sefirot that were infused in our world during the six workdays, return and ascend to their original heavenly location.

On the weekday we DRAW Divine energy into the world, by performing work. On the Sabbath, we allow that energy to RETURN, by refraining from work.

What do these energies do on the Sabbath once they have been restored to their natural habitat? They couple with each other and reenergize themselves. That is why, on the Sabbath, physical coupling is encouraged, too, down here (Babylonian Talmud, Ketubbot 62b), because the lower is a reflection of the upper (end quote)

Whew. A lot there. But the idea of the sabbath being more than physical is significant. There is a spiritual dynamic in play we often don’t engage with.

5. Honor your father and your mother, in order that your days will be lengthened on the land that God, your God is giving you.

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson has a lot to say about this;

There are three partners in your formation: God, your father, and your mother. When you honor your father and your mother, God says, “I consider it as if I lived with them and they honored Me.” By honoring your parents, you honor God (Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 30b).

A person should recognize and act kindly towards anyone who has been kind to him. He should take to heart that his father and mother are the cause of his presence in the world and therefore it is genuinely appropriate for him to honor them and assist them in whichever way he is able. For they brought him to the world and toiled greatly with his needs when he was a child.

By adopting this trait, he will come to recognize the kindness of God, who is the cause of both the person and all his ancestors back to the time of the first man (Rabbi Aaron ha-Levi (Hinnukh) 134 century)

The Torah prohibits lending importance to or honoring any intermediary. The sun gives you light and warmth, on which your very life depends, yet you are forbidden to honor it. Why, then, may you honor your parents?

Because your parents were given the free choice whether to have children or not and whether to act kindly towards you or not. Therefore, even though God is the source of all good, it is nevertheless appropriate to honor your parents, in the spirit of the saying,

“Though the wine belongs to the owner, the thanks are given to the butler” (Babylonian Talmud, Bava Kamma 92b). The butler may only be delivering the master’s wine, but he had the choice whether or not to do so; consequently, he needs to be thanked too.

However, praising the sun, moon and stars, etc., is inappropriate since they possess no free will at all.

6. You shall not murder

The Zohar says “The first five commandments correspond to the second five. ‘I am God’ corresponds to ‘You shall not murder,’ since they both comprise one, single principle. One who murders diminishes the Devine image, because man was created in the image of God.”

7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.

The Zohar writes about the last three commandments (and the next one):

With all these three commandments the word lo (“shall not”) has a cantillation note instructing it to be chanted in a drawn out fashion, making an interruption. This transforms the meaning of each phrase, suggesting that, in certain circumstances, acts resembling murder, adultery and theft are permissible.

“You shall not murder” – Without the interruptive note you would not be permitted to enact capital punishment and there would be no social order. But since the note is there, the act is both forbidden and permitted.

“You shall not commit adultery”-Without the interruptive note you would not be permitted to procreate or delight with your wife. But since the note is there, the act is both prohibited and permissible.

“You shall not steal” – Without the interruptive note you would not be permitted to make personal use of your teacher’s wisdom; or feast at a Torah scholar’s enlightened face. And a judge would be forbidden to expose a defendant’s lies by questioning him deceptively. But since the note is there, the act is both prohibited and permissible.

But when it comes to “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” there is no interruptive note. This act, then, is totally forbidden.

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, his manservant, his maidservant, his ox, his donkey, or whatever belongs to your neighbor.

Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra writes; “It is possible for you not to desire a beautiful object if you are wise, if you realize that you can only acquire that which is willed to you by God. Whatever God did not choose for you, you will be unable to attain by your own devices.

Rabbi Jehiel Mikhel of Zloczow writes; “Alternatively, one might argue that this commandment is beyond your immediate control. ‘You shall not covet’ is not a command but a promise: If you carefully observe the first nine commandments you are assured by the Torah that you will not covet.”

Whew. That is a lot to process about the 10 commandments.