וידבר אלוקים את כל הדברים האלה, The reason for this introduction is that the Torah wishes to show that G-d organises His words just as human beings organise their words prior to expressing them to outsiders. Hence: “G-d spoke all these words:”The word: וידבר here is to indicate that G-d said these words to Himself, in a preparatory manner; subsequently, the word: לאמור, refers to the final draft of this address by G-d to the people.“I am the Lord your G-d;” this is what Job meant when he said: (Job 28,2728) אז ראה ויספרה, הכינה וגם הקרה ויאמר לאדם, “then He saw and gauged it; He measured it and probed it and said to man etc.:” the Torah teaches you what are good manners, i.e. that even if you are an erudite scholar do not be arrogant enough when facing a crowd until after you have weighed carefully every word that you are going to say. You will do well to practice what you are going to say two or three times before actually addressing your words to an assembly of people. It happened once to Rabbi Akiva in a synagogue (Tanchuma item 15 on our verse) that the sages called upon him to read publicly from the Torah scroll, i.e. to accept an aliyah. He declined the honour. When his students asked him why he had declined, quoting that he had taught them a verse in Deuteronomy 30,20, according to which reading from the Torah in public is one of the highest achievements in your life, so how could he refuse such a request? He answered them that indeed this was so, but that he had declined to do so as he had not previously reviewed this particular portion and it would be an insult to the congregation to presume to read to them unprepared as he had been. He should have first gone over that text at least two or three times. He quoted our verse from the Torah as the source of his reticence. If G-d had not addressed the Jewish people before having marshaled His thoughts first, how could he permit himself to do less?

את כל הדברים האלה, according to Rashi, G-d uttered all these words as a single utterance, something no human being is able to do. If so, why did He repeat the first two commandments a second time? The second time He spelled out each of these commandments separately word by word. This explains why the first two commandments were written in direct speech whereas parts of the remainder were written in indirect speech. The Israelites found it too overwhelming to have to listen to all of this without collapsing, and this is why they interrupted by asking Moses to act as their go between, as related by Moses in verse 16. They had been literally afraid of dying before hearing the end of the commandments.(Rashi bases himself on the Mechilta on our portion) According to the Talmud in tractate Makkot folio, 24, the last 8 commandments were each addressed to the Israelites one by one and relayed to the people by Moses. This is hinted at by the numerical value of the letters in the word תורה in the line: תורה צוה לנו משה, “Moses commanded the Torah to us.” The combined numerical value of the word Torah is 611, the other two commandments of the 613 commandments had been communicated to the people by G-d directly, without an interpreter. This interpretation seems reasonable as a close look at the first two commandments creates the impression that the author was speaking about Himself, as opposed to the third and fourth commandment which sound as if the author is addressing an audience, although referring to Himself in the third person. According to Rashi’s commentary, all of the commandments were spoken twice, once by G-d and once by Moses.

אנכי ה' אלוקיך, “I am the Lord your G-d;” Rabbi Levi is quoted as saying (old version of Tanchuma Yitro 17) G-d appeared to the Israelites as if a multifaceted portrait visible to a thousand people at the same time (by means of refraction) so that all could see Him and vice versa. The people each heard His voice in a similar manner [as of course a visual image was out of the question since even if they had seen one that would be proof that it could not be His “face.” Ed.]. In this way every Israelite was able to claim that G-d had spoken to him individually, saying: “I am the Lord your G-d, etc. This is the reason that G-d had not said: אלוקיכם “your G-d (plural mode,)” but אלוקיך, “your G-d, (singular mode)”. He had addressed all of them in the order in which they stood assembled around the Mountain. This corresponded exactly to G-d’s commandment to Moses in 19,12: והגבלת את העם סביב לאמור, “you are to set bounds to the people around, saying:Do not raise the question that if the people had been used already to receive their daily ration of manna by picking it up around the boundaries of the encampment, and in spite of each one receiving the same amount, its taste would vary in accordance with the imagination of its recipient, then each one would presumably have a different recollection of how G-d’s voice had sounded to him?

ה' אלוקיך, “the Lord your G-d,” (two separate attributes of G-d) the author refers the reader to his commentary on Genesis 1,1 where he had pointed out that the “plural” ending in the word אלוהים, is not a plural ending at all.

אנכי ה' אלוקיך, this is the beginning of the first of the ten Commandments. By means of this declaration G-d commands the people never to forget that is was He Who had redeemed the people by taking them out of bondage in Egypt. As a result, He had now become their new Master. He implies that they are far better off serving Him than remaining slaves to Pharaoh.

אשר הוצאתיך, “Who has taken you out;” why did G-d choose this activity when He could have said: “I have made you,” or “I have created you?” He could have listed any number of favours that He had performed for the Jewish people already. Each one have them would have established His claim to be their Master and to obey Him. The answer is simple; they would have replied that G-d had performed deeds of loving kindness for the other nations also without requiring them to accept His Torah as a result. The one He listed here He had not performed for anyone else, however. By listing the Exodus as His claim to become their Master, He forestalled any such replies by the people.

לא יהיה לך, “You must not retain for yourselves;” do not say that you will serve Me as well as other deities. Seeing that only I took you out of Egypt without the assistance of any other powers, it is clear that no other deity deserves your respect. Besides, they are useless even if they had attempted to help you.

אלהים אחרים, “other deities,” This translation is incorrect. The correct translation is: “deities worshipped by others.” If they are so useless why do they have the title: “deity?” According to Rabbi Yossi in the Mechilta chapter 6 on this verse, (a dissenting voice there) explains the need for G-d to say: לא יהיה לכם אלוהים אחרים, as follows: He said it so that the gentiles would not have a pretext to say that if these “deities” had been called by their individual names in the Torah, instead of simply “non gods,” this would be proof that G-d had had need of them for some purpose at some time. [There had indeed been a time when man had referred to such “deities” by the same title as G-d; this happened during the generation of Enosh, a grandson of Adam, when the Torah in Genesis 4,26, reported: 'אז הוחל לקרא בשם ה, “at that time some people called (other forces) by the name that had been reserved until then for G-d.” When that happened, one third of the earth’s landmass was flooded by the oceans rising, a mini-deluge as a warning to mankind. Ed.]

אחרים, according to Rabbi Eliezer, in the same paragraph of the Mechilta, the expression elohim acheyrim means that they coined new names for new deities constantly, i.e. when one proved impotent, they exchanged it for another. If a deity made of gold had proved worthless they substituted one made of silver. He derives this from when Moses said in Deuteronomy 32,17: חדשים מקרוב באו, “new ones, which had come into existence only lately.”

לא יהיה לך אלוהים אחרים, “you will have no authority over you other than Mine.”

על פני, “in My place;” we find a similar use of this expression in Deuteronomy 21,16: על פני בן השנואה, where the Torah forbids to treat the firstborn son of a beloved wife, that has been born later than the firstborn son of a less beloved wife, preferentially. In other words, as long as the firstborn son of the less beloved wife is alive, his claim to be treated as the firstborn of the father cannot be overruled. We also have this expression when after the death of the two oldest sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, his sons Elazar and Ittamar were appointed as priests in their stead. An alternate explanation: “If you were to accept any of these deities as your gods this would be against My express wishes and would arouse My anger against you.” An example of a similar construction would be: חמס ושוד ישמע על פני, “before Me constantly are grief and wounds.” Or: ,אם לא אל פניך יברכך, “if not he will curse you to your face.” (Job 2,5)

לא תעשה לך פסל וכל תמונה, “do not make for yourself a sculptured image or any likeness (of what is in heaven above or on earth below)” In Deuteronomy 4,15 the Torah supplies the reason for this prohibition when we read: “for you have not seen any likeness (at the revelation)”. You should not be able to say that I am a G-d Who hides Himself, and since no one can see You I am forced to make for myself an image in order to constantly remind myself of You and to prostrate myself before Your image instead, in Your honour.

וכל תמונה, “nor any likeness;” the prefix letter ו seems unnecessary; it is meant to mean: “do not make for yourself a sculptured image of any likeness, even if it is doesn't have a face (and as Mercurius stone heaps does not have a face). Since the reason of making such artwork is to be a symbol of G-d - then it is idolatrous by definition. In the verse, the word "כל" is in the same grammatical sense as in כל אלמנה ויתום, meaning "none", in contrast to the usual meaning of כל "every".

לא תשתחוה להם, “neither must you prostrate yourself before them even if they [are not yours and. Ed.] have been made by others.”

ולא תעבדם, “and you must not serve them;” even if the mode in which they are being served represents something disgraceful and despicable in your eyes.

כי אנכי ה' אלוקיך, “for I am the Lord your G-d;” seeing that you have a benign Master, you have no need to turn to idols.

אל קנא, “a philosopher asked Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi since when a superior individual demeans himself by being jealous of someone way below him physically and mentally. The Rabbi answered him if he thought it appropriate that someone should call his dog by his father's name? Does it not make sense that his father should be angry of being compared to a dog? The philosopher was forced to agree.

פוקד עון אבות, “who remembers the sin of the fathers, etc;” G-d explains that He must demonstrate that He cannot simply “forget” the sins of the fathers, even if He delayed punishment for good reasons. This statement does not mean that the children will be taken to task for their father’s sins, seeing that the principle of each person is executed on account of his own sins not because of the sins of his fathers. (Kings II 14,6) This attribute of G-d must be understood as follows: when a person sins, G-d is apt to delay punishment to give the sinner an opportunity to become a penitent and to therefore rehabilitate himself. G-d’s patience may extend beyond the lifetime of the sinner and even the sinner’s son and grandson. If during these years the descendants of the original sinner have not mended their ways but continue to sin, G-d has to punish the great grandson for his own sins immediately, so that He will not be viewed as “forgetting” the original sin. He does so by removing that fourth generation of sinners from the world. He does so only when these generations successively have all been unrepentant sinners. He relates to such “sinners” in this fashion only if they do not sin inadvertently but “hate” Him and His laws,

לשונאי, to those who hate “Me.” Having said this we might think that G-d operates in a similar fashion in delaying rewards for those who have lived exemplary lives; He therefore assures us that on the contrary, His memory of meritorious deeds performed by the fathers will be taken into consideration of the treatment of their children and children’s children for up to two thousand generations. He adds the words: לאלף דור, “for as long as a thousand generations,” i.e. forever. (Compare Deuteronomy 7,9)

לאוהבי, “to those who love Me.” This is a reference to the category of Jews known as “chassidim” by their fellow Jews. [These are people who excel in their piety. Ed.]

ולשומרי מצותי, “and to the ones who are observe My commandments;” [the Jews who are careful not to violate any of My negative commandments; the tzaddikim.” Ed.]

לא תשא את שם, “do not utter the sacred name, etc.” Seeing that you have not ever seen a visual image of G-d, you can utter an oath only by invoking His name. Even so, you must not even swear an oath in His name unless there is an absolute necessity to do so, as G-d does not allow His sacred name to be used for profane reasons, or for secular purposes. This is one sin which will not be subject to being wiped out even by repentance, i.e. כי לא ינקה, “He will not consider such a person as being free from guilt.”

לשוא, “in vain.” Do not make a habit of prefacing any parts of your speech by invoking the name of G-d (unless as a pseudonym), even if what you say is the truth. The very habit of uttering G-d’s name on too many occasions will lead you to do so when it is a blasphemy, or an outright lie. If that were to happen it would result in an unforgivable sin, i.e. כי לא ינקה.

זכור את יום השבת, “remember the Sabbath day;” this commandment begins with an infinitive, “to remember;” the reason is because it is a day which should dominate your thinking throughout the week, seeing it is the most important day of the week. Also, the other six days of the week during which you are preoccupied with matters concerning your livelihood are not likely to be “forgotten,” as opposed to the Sabbath, the day of rest. Seeing that it is the spiritual highlight of your week and has been sanctified by G-d, it deserves special attention. The expression: ”to remember,” as opposed to the ”planning” of the six days to follow, is always something that is concerned with the past, one remembers things that have already passed, not things that are to come. [as opposed to the way we use the word in our daily language. Ed] In the second version of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy, the word in the written text is replaced by the word: שמור, as there it is connected to the purpose of the day, to provide constructive rest, למען ינוח, both for yourselves and for your servants and beasts. An alternate explanation: the line זכור את יום השבת “remembering the Sabbath day” is aimed at reminding you of the first time you heard about the concept of the Sabbath at Marah (Exodus 15,25). This is why the word: “remember” is appropriate. Still another exegesis of the infinitive used here is that this day must be remembered every day of the week, and that is why when describing each day of the week, i.e. naming it, we always do so in relation to the previousSabbath, i.e. “the first day after the Sabbath, the second day after the Sabbath, etc. Another approach: the words: זכור את יום השבת in the infinitive mean that you are to be mindful of the Sabbath day at all times, i.e. you should remember each day when the last Sabbath occurred and when therefore the next Sabbath occurs. The reason that you have to do this is so that when the next Sabbath occurs you will not forget it, not fail to observe its commandments. When you understand the line of זכור את יום השבת לקדשו, “keep on remembering the Sabbath day to observe it as a holy day,” it is practically the same as when it says in the second version of the Ten Commandments: “make sure you observe the Sabbath day to keep it holy, i.e. שמור את יום השבת לקדשו. This is what the rabbis meant when they said that the two words were spoken by G-d simultaneously, although we human beings cannot duplicate this exactly. This is what Rashi meant to tell us in his commentary. In our portion the commandment is phrased as a positive commandment, while in the Book of Deuteronomy it is phrased as a negative commandment, warning us not to violate the prohibitions applicable on that day. Our sages spelled this out in the Talmud tractate Eyruvin 96. It is a rule in the written Torah that whenever the expression השמר פן, or אל, occurs in the Torah, this introduces a negative commandment to be careful not to do something, It also includes women as being included in that prohibition. In other words, anyone to whom the warning of שמור is addressed, is automatically included in a commandment which is elsewhere expressed by the positive aspect of that commandment described by the word זכור.

ועשית כל מלאכתך, “and you may (or must) go about all your weekday activities;” our author does not understand the word: כל in our verse as literally “all” or “every,” but as a euphemism for “part of all your activities,” as for instance in the expression: כל מגפותי, “usually translated as “all My plagues,” which we all know was not meant to mean: “all the plagues at G-d’s disposal.” (Compare Exodus 9,14,) and numerous similar occasions when such an expression is used.

שבת לה׳ אלוקיך, “as a Sabbath for the Lord your G-d;” and not for you; in other words, during the preceding six days you pursue your own agenda; on the Sabbath, seeing that you are relieved of having to pursue your own agenda, I expect you to pursue My agenda.

לא תעשה כל מלאכה, “do not perform any work of a purely secular nature. The meaning of the word כל in this verse is the same as in the expression לא תעשה כל תמונה, in verse 4, or as in Exodus 22,21: כל אלמנה ויתום, i.e. “any widow or orphan.”

ועבדך ואמתך, “nor your male or female slave.” Seeing that the Torah here does not spell out here the reason or purpose for this prohibition, this has been spelled out in Deuteronomy 5,15 where the Ten Commandments have been repeated, i.e. in order to contrast this day with your status in Egypt when you were slaves and never had a day of rest from menial work. It is the lawgiver of this commandment who redeemed you from that status.

כי ששת ימים עשה, “during the six days of creation preceding the Sabbath of creation, G-d had created the six directions of the spatial universe, i.e. north, south, east, west, up and down. What had He left for you to complete, seeing that He had done it all? This verse is a reminder that there had been nothing left for the Creator to do on that day and that we are to emulate Him as a reminder of this. Just as He had looked at His completed universe, so we are to look at having completed our secular tasks during the preceding six days, before turning to the six days following and the tasks awaiting us then.

כבד את אביך, “Honour your father;” elsewhere we have a more detailed formulation of what is meant by “honouring” our parents, i.e. when Solomon spelled this out in Proverbs 3,9 saying: כבד את ה׳ מהונך, “honour the Lord with (part) of your wealth; all G-d asks of us is a small part of the wealth He has granted us, not all of it. We are to emulate Him in our relations with our parents, our progenitors on this earth. In Leviticus, another aspect of our relationship with our parents has been legislated when the Torah writes in Leviticus 19,3 as the first commandment after bidding us to try and become holy ourselves, that we are to revere our parents. When the Torah there continues with repeating the requirement to observe the negative commandments of His Sabbath, it hints at the definition of “reverence” being not to disregard our parents’ instructions. The Torah decrees the death penalty for anyone who curses father or mother (Exodus 21,17) a penalty similar to that decreed for cursing G-d, (using a euphemism, which is difficult to warn him not to use in this fashion) (Leviticus 24,15) (which because not carried out by human tribunal makes that sin practically unforgivable so that the penalty will be karet, posthumous disbarment as member of the Jewish people.) The death penalty for cursing parents is completely natural, as when cursing one’s parents one automatically curses G-d also, as He is one third partner in any human being, having supplied the soul. (Talmud Kidushin folio 30)

אשר ה׳ אלוקיך נותן לך, which the Lord your G-d is giving you (the soil).[The following Midrash appears in the Pessikta de Rav Kahane chapter 21 on the Ten Commandments, but there the Roman is not Turnusrufus, but the Emperor Hadrianus. In my edition, (Mandelbaum) I have not found it. Ed.] The wicked Roman governor Turnusrufus asked Rabbi Akiva why the name of the Lord is mentioned seven times in the first five of the Ten Commandments, while His name does not appear even a single time in the last five of these Commandments? Thereupon Rabbi Akiva went to the palace of Turnusrufus and showed him where he kept his lance. The next time he went to the dining room of the palace and showed him where he kept his shield. The next time he went to his study and showed him where he kept his armour and his various weapons. When he visited him again and came to his toilet, he found that there was no weapon or defensive shield. Upon asking why this was so, he was told that the Emperor considered it as disgraceful to bring his weapons, etc. to such a place. Thereupon Rabbi Akiva answered him that in the first five of the Ten Commandments the subjects are all sacred or at least honorable. In the second half of the Ten Commandments where the subjects are murder, theft, adultery, perjury, and man’s basic carnal urges, it would not be appropriate that the name of G-d would appear there as if He associated Himself with people guilty of such crimes. An alternate explanation regarding the presence of G-d’s name in the last five of the Ten Commandments. Violation of any of the first five Commandments means sinning against a Being that is infinite, eternal, is permanent, When someone violated one or more of the last five Commandments he only sinned against transient creatures. G-d’s name therefore did not need to be mentioned.

לא תרצח, “do not murder!” The absence of any qualifying adjectives or adverbs means that murder by hand, by speech, or even by silence is equally forbidden. Example: you have obtained information that someone is about to be murdered and you fail to warn the prospective victim. The expression רצח is not applicable unless applied to death caused by illegal means. The expressions מיתה, or הריגה can be applied to death by other means whether legal or illegal.

לא תנאף, “do not commit adultery!” Do not argue that whereas it is forbidden to reduce the number of living human beings through murder, there is nothing wrong with increasing the human population even through sleeping with a woman who is someone else’s wife. The same prohibition also applies to all other prohibited sexual relations.

לא תחמוד אשת רעך, “Do not lust after your fellow man’s wife!” Do not scheme to how bring about her divorce so that you can marry her. The translation of lo tachmod cannot be that you shall not kidnap her or otherwise force her to sleep with you. This prohibition was already included in the prohibition to commit adultery. The first five commandments were all in the category of לא מבעיא, there being no question of their being necessary. The need to accept G-d as Israel’s Master hardly had to be spelled out. Neither did the commandment not to worship competing deities or the need not to swear an oath by any other deity, or to observe the Sabbath, seeing that G-d Himself had observed a Sabbath; nor was there a need to decree to honour one’s parents. Every gentile does so without having been ordered to do so by G-d. Even the last five of the Ten Commandments did not need to be legislated as universal disregard of either of these commandments results in complete anarchy and the destruction of the human race by itself. In most of the Ten Commandments we find two cantillation marks per word (as opposed to only one on a word.). The symbolism that is represented by that fact is a reminder that we have two versions of the Ten Commandments in the written Torah. When the Torah is read in public on the festival of Shavuot, which is the anniversary of the revelation on Mount Sinai, we read the second commandment לא יהיה לך as well as the whole commandment commencing with the word: זכור using the major cantillation marks in order that each one of them be understood as a single verse. The 6th - 9th commandments are read on that occasion by using the minor cantillation marks, in order to understand them as separate verses. The reason is that although we never find a verse that has only two words, in this instance the Rabbis decided to remind us that we are dealing here with separate commandments. When the Torah is read on an ordinary Sabbath in the month of Sh’vat, however, and the Ten Commandments are read as part of the portion known as Yitro, we read the entire Ten Commandments using the minor cantillation marks as a result of which we make four verses of each one of them. The reason why on Shavuot we read the first and second commandment with the major cantillation marks is to remind us that they were uttered by G-d as a single continuous verse. [The author had explained there that these two Commandments were heard by all of the people from G-d’s mouth without Moses acting as an interpreter. Ed.] [In the second version of the Ten Commandments where the 7th - 10th commandments are linked to one another by the prefix letter ו, it is clear that they are to be treated as separate commandments each. Ed.][The author proceeds to spell this out in greater detail. Readers familiar with the significance of each cantillation mark will be able to check this themselves. Ed.]

וכל העם, “And all the people;” from here on as far as verse 23, לא תגלה ערותך עליו, “you must not reveal your nakedness while on it (the altar),” the sequence of the way in which the Torah has been written is unusual, as the words: ולשומרי מצותיו, “and to those who observe His Commandments,” should have appeared at the end of verse 6. The reason why they do not appear at that point is in order not to interrupt the sequence of the Ten Commandments.

רואים את הקולות, “were seeing a visual image of the thunder.” The plain meaning of the verse is that even phenomena normally not subject to being seen, had become visible during the revelation. [In our time: “sound waves had become visible to the naked eye.” Ed.] Kohelet 7,27 already used the verb ראה “to see,” when he said: “see this is what I have found;” he referred to something that no one else before him had been able to find, (with his eyes). Or, compare Exodus 32,1 וירא העם כי בושש משה, “the people saw that Moses was tarrying.”

דבר אתה עמנו ונשמעה, “you speak with us and we will listen (obey)” They said this as they were afraid of the thunder and lightning.

אתם ראיתם כי מן השמים דברתי עמכם, “You have seen that I spoke with you from the heavens. G-d points out that although He spoke to them from the heavens they still did not see any image of His glory. Moses makes that same point again in Deuteronomy 4,15, where he relates what transpired at Mount Sinai to the new generation. Seeing that this is so, you are also not to make an image symbolising Me, as you never saw an original that you could have made a copy of. Even if you were to use precious metals such as silver and gold, this would not do justice to Me.

לא תעשון אתי, “you are not to make in addition to Me.” (some kind of symbol out of either silver or gold)” in verse 4 the pronoun לך, “for yourself,” had followed this commandment, whereas here the pronoun אתי is used. If you were to ask how you could possibly serve Me in practice when all these restrictions apply, the answer is that I require only a simple earthen altar upon which you can present your offerings to Me. Slaughtering the appropriate animals on such a structure is all that is required.

מזבח אדמה, “an altar of earth which does not lend itself to carve images upon, is what you should erect for Me;

וזבחת עליו, “you will slaughter upon it;” not literally upon it, but “thereby;”

את עולותיך ואת שלומיך, “your burnt offerings and your peaceofferings;” the burnt offering must be presented on the northern section of the altar and the peaceofferings on its southern section. Whence do I know that only the northern half of the altar is suitable for the performance of these presentations? We derive this from Leviticus 14,13: ושחט את הכבש במקום אשר ישחט את החטאת ואת העולה, “he is to slaughter the sheep on the place where he will slaughter the burnt offering and the sinoffering.” (Compare Mechilta “bachodesh” chapter 11) What precisely did the Torah mean when writing: במקום הקדש, “on the place that is sanctified?” These words are to teach that any part of the altar‘s surface that is in the northern section of it is acceptable.

וזבחת עליו, “you are to slaughter upon it” Why are these words necessary? To teach that even an ordinary Israelite, not only a priest, may perform that part of the service, as we accept the principle that the act of slaughtering an animal sacrifice is acceptable even when performed_by a non priest. (Talmud tractate B’rachot, folio 31.) Any step commencing with the placing of the animal’s blood into a special receptacle is reserved for the priests, According to the Talmud in Yuma folio 27, non priests were allowed on the area immediately surrounding the altar. [We are speaking of the copper altar situated outside the Temple building. Ed.] In the Talmud Sukkah, 45, it is stated specifically that on the festival of Sukkot, the people at large walked around that altar carrying their aravot, willow branches.

בכל המקום, “on any place,” seeing that the Tabernacle, after the Israelites had crossed the river Jordan was to stand at different periods in Gilgal, Shiloh, Nov and Giveon, before being moved to Jerusalem, we know that the presence of G-d’s glory was not limited to a single area in the Holy Land. From the above words the sages derived this principle, as the Torah did not bother to spell out the names of any specific place.

ואם מזבח אבנים, “And if an altar made of stones, etc.” Rashi comments on these words, (quoting Rabbi Yishmael of the Mechilta) that everywhere in the Torah where the word: אם appears, what follows is something voluntary, as opposed to mandatory, with the exception of three times, our verse being one of these three. Our author warns us that if someone were to raise the question that the line in Exodus 21,30: אם כופר יושת עליו, “if ransom is laid upon him,” this is not something voluntary, this is not something mandatory, as the Torah in that paragraph does not describe events that are bound to occur, and the verse only deals with the consequences of such events after they have occurred. The meaning of our verse is that if it is your desire to build an altar out of stones, (instead of only earth) you are free to do so provide that these stones have not been touched with metal tools when being shaped. [The Torah considers “stones” as included in the definition of “earth.” Ed.] You must use whole stones to build an altar. The reason follows, i.e.

כי חרבך, “for your sword, etc.;” the word כי, here is used as an alternate proposition for the word אם. “if.” The altar is meant to promote peace and life, whereas the sword is used to shorten life. Something that had been shaped by the same material as that used to shorten life, could not serve as a symbol of peace and life, (Talmud Midot chapter 3 Mishnah 4)ותחלליה, “and you have profaned it.“ We have been told about the penalty for violating this commandment without having previously been informed of the prohibition. The Torah rectifies this by spelling out the prohibition not to use metal tools in hewing the stoned for such an altar in Deuteronomy 27,5: לא תניף עליהם ברזל, “do not wield an iron tool over them.

ולא תעלה במעלות על מזבחי, “and do not ascend My altar by steps.” The word עליו restricts this prohibition to taking big steps to the altar, not including the manner in which you can walk in the Temple itself. (Mechilta בחדש, section 11)