Sometime during the 13th Century, in a private study in Barcelona, an anonymous author sat and composed Sefer Ha-Chinuch (The Book of Education). This systematic study of the Torah’s 613 commandments was beautifully written as a gift from a father to his son. In his introduction, the author lovingly states that he wrote this book “to inspire the heart of my boy, my son, with an accounting of all the mitzvot…”
This week’s Torah portion – Parashat Yitro – is famous for what has become known as “The Ten Commandments.” In light of the beautiful Bar Mitzvah gift mentioned above, where the anonymous author set out to explain "all the mitzvot" - all 613 of the Torah's commandments - how and why did one set of commandments become singled out as “The Ten Commandments”?
The distinguishing factor of these “famous ten” amongst the Torah’s 613 commandments is that they are the only ones spoken directly by God to the Jewish People.
Torah readers who actually read Parashat Yitro for the public in the synagogue notice that the “Ta’amim/Trope” (cantillation notes) for the Aseret Hadibrot are more elaborate, and that the verses are much longer. The public reading of the Aseret Hadibrot is done in what the tradition calls Ta’am Elyon (Upper Cantillation), which divides this section into
Why did God choose to speak only these ten directly to the people?
In his Sefer Ha-Ikarim (15th century Spain), the Spanish-Jewish philosopher Rabbi Joseph Albo teaches: “These 10 utterances spoken by God at Mount Sinai are general, all-inclusive principles representing the two main categories of commandments in the Torah. The first five of these commandments represents man’s faith and obligations towards God. The next five define the overriding principles governing man’s relationship to his fellow man, and are mandatory to the existence of an orderly life in any state or society” (Section 3, Chapter 26).
Rabbi Albo asserts that the Aseret Hadibrot are a sort of “preamble to the constitution,” and without them, the rest of the Torah cannot make sense.
But there is an even deeper meaning to these “Ten Utterances.”
From the very beginning of time, the Torah teaches us about the power of words.
Genesis Chapter 1 tells of God creating the world.
Not a single scientific detail is provided about the process of creation; instead, we are taught that “God said…and there was...” Throughout Chapter 1 of the Torah, “God says” (Va-Yomer), and with the power of the spoken word, God creates the entire world. We are reminded of this every morning during our prayers, when we recite Baruch She’amar V’haya Ha-Olam – “Blessed be He who spoke and the world came into being.”
The Talmud teaches: “Through ten utterances, God created the world” (Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 32a).
This parallel between the Ten Utterances of Creation and the Ten Utterances at Mount Sinai drew the attention of The Ba’al Ha’Turim commentary (11th/12th Century, Germany/Spain). In examining both sections, he discovered something special about the opening line of both sections: they each contain the exact same number of words and letters.
Genesis 1:1: Breshit bara Elohim et ha-shamayim v’et ha’aretz (“In the beginning, God created heaven and earth”). In Hebrew, 7 words and 28 letters.
Exodus 20:1: Va-Yedaber Elohim et kol ha-d’varim ha-eleh le’mor… (“God spoke all of these words saying…). In Hebrew, 7 words and 28 letters.
This remarkable parallel of words and letters between the two sets of God's “Ten Utterances” has a very deep message about how we build the world and our lives.
The job of an architect is to design and build a home. Once he/she has completed the home, and the inhabitants obtain the key and move in, the architect has nothing to say on how the inhabitants are to live within that home. There may be instructions for certain appliances, but there is no instruction manual on how to live a happy, fulfilling, meaningful and successful life within the home.
In Genesis 1, God is an architect who builds a home. In ten utterances, introduced by a verse containing 7 words and 28 letters, God designs and builds a home for all of humanity.
But God eventually goes beyond the role of an architect.
In Parashat Yitro, with the Aseret Hadibrot – also introduced by a verse containing 7 words and 28 letters – God provides an instruction manual on how to live in the home that He built for us.
In ten brief statements uttered by God at Mount Sinai, we are taught about ethical monotheism, shunning idolatry, respecting God’s name, taking a day in seven to relax and rejuvenate, respecting parents, respecting human life, establishing faithful relationships, respecting the property of others, living honestly and shunning jealousy.
In ten utterances in Genesis, God built a physical world… and in ten utterances in Parashat Yitro, God established a moral code for all of us to live by.
We so often hear people say “I wish I would have read the instructions before using this product.” The instructions for this product called "The World" have been in print for more than 3000 years. In a world continuously plagued by immorality, bloodshed, violence and greedy lusting after material wealth, it’s time we read the instruction manual. God laid it out for us in ten simple utterances.
Shabbat Shalom