אנכי ה' אלוקיך, “I am the Lord your G’d.” This is a positive commandment to believe in and feel absolutely certain of the existence of Hashem as a primordial force that preceded any phenomenon which is part of the material universe, and that He is the sole Creator of the entire universe, that He is our G’d, and that we are His people. We are obliged to serve Him, and He has taken us out of bondage in Egypt. The historical fact that He took us out of Egypt serves as eternal proof of His existence and His express desire to guide our fate. It proves that our Exodus was the product of His will. It also proves that He must have been the original cause in this universe, seeing that once the universe, i.e. the laws of nature had been formulated, no radical changes such as the taking out of a completely assimilated nation such as the Israelites from the midst of another nation was conceivable according to what is considered “normal” in our world. The Exodus was not only testimony to His power, but also to His uniqueness. For all the above reasons, G’d did not commence to identify Himself as the One Who had created heaven and earth, but He identified Himself as the One who had taken us out of Egypt, a visible historical fact witnessed by millions. [No one had been around to watch the universe come into existence. Ed.] Some commentators understand the emphasis on the word אנכי here as meant to draw attention to Hashem saying that He is the One Who had already told Avraham “I will also judge the people who will enslave your descendants and they will depart from that country with great riches” (Genesis 15,13) At the beginning of the Decalogue, G’d introduces Himself as the One who had fulfilled that promise of over 400 years ago. The first two commandments of the Decalogue which were addressed to the people in direct speech, i.e. “I have taken you out, etc.,” were distinct from the other eight in which G’d appears to refer to Himself in the third person, were spoken by G’d to the people directly, whereas the others were relayed to the people by Moses. The fact that our chapter commences with the words: וידבר אלוקים את כל הדברים האלה לאמר, “G’d spoke all these words to say,” as well as the verse in Deut. 5,19 את הדברים האלה דבר ה' אל כל קהלכם בהר, “the Lord spoke these words to you at the Mountain, etc.,” certainly gives the impression that the people had heard all the Ten Commandments directly from G’d’s mouth. Moses adds that all these words were inscribed on the two Tablets, which proves that as G’d was saying the words He simultaneously was inscribing them on the Tablets. Nachmanides claims that there is no question that G’d addressed all of the Ten Commandments to the whole people directly. The problem was that the people did not understand what they were hearing. Moses therefore needed to explain the text to the people, with the exception of the first two Commandments which they both heard and understood directly from Hashem without the need of any intermediary. The point in all this is that at that point in time the people were all on the spiritual level of prophets, who have primary knowledge of the uniqueness of Hashem, and the absolute impossibility to relate to anyone else as something Divine.

מבית עבדים, “from the house of bondage.” Although the people did not need to be told this, G’d reminded them that seeing they had been enslaved by a cruel ruler such as Pharaoh, they could certainly not have any objection of trading such a ruler for Hashem. Some commentators see in the words מארץ מצרים the major significance of this line, i.e. seeing that everyone knows that there was no other country in which the Israelites had been enslaved. They therefore stress that the Egyptians being slaves, i.e. being descendants of Cham whose children Noach had condemned to be slaves, had instead become masters over descendants of Shem, had been an especially degrading experience. The fact that G’d had put an end to this geo-politically demeaning situation, deserved especial mention, and therefore the Israelites’ gratitude. [The Egyptians were fourth generation descendants of Cham. (Genesis 10,6-7) Ed.] The Ten Commandments were all formulated in the singular mode, as opposed to the summation of אתם ראיתם, in 20,19 as well as the formulation (plural) אם שמוע תשמעו, “if you will surely hearken, etc.” (19,5). The reason for the variation in the singular and plural mode is to warn the people that they are both individually and collectively obligated to carry out G’d’s instructions, and to refrain from violating negative commandments. G’d wanted to be on record as if He had spoken to every Israelite individually.

לא יהיה לך אלוקים אחרים, “You must not have any other kind of divinity.” Rashi understands this as not maintaining (יהיה referring to something already in existence) any idolatrous image, seeing that there is a separate commandment following immediately afterwards that prohibits the construction of such images. This latter commandment would by itself have been insufficient, as it would have left open the option of preserving or even worshipping existing idols. Concerning this interpretation, Nachmanides writes that if that were so, G’d’s words: לא יהיה לך, while a prohibition, would not have indicated that violating this prohibition carries the death penalty. Furthermore, why would the Torah first tell us about the lesser sin of not destroying an existing idol rather than inform us of the worse sin of constructing a new idol ourselves? Seeing that the Torah spelled out the death penalty in this world [if tried and convicted by a tribunal. Ed.] and in the world to come [if it was impossible to convict legally or carry out the sentence. Ed.] for worshiping idols, we would have thought that maintaining idols was a minor offense. Whereas there is indeed a view expressed in the Mechilta that the maintaining, i.e. not destroying an existing idol is “only” a warning by the Torah, but not an indictable offense, this is the view of a lone sage, and we do not rule in accordance with that view. According to the plain meaning of the text, the פשט, we need to understand the verses as follows: the meaning of the word אלוהים here is similar to והיה לך לאלוהים or to להיות לך לאלוהים, (Genesis 17,7, for instance) where the meaning is that we must not consider any of the celestial forces which have been imbued with some power by G’d as sharing power with G’d, or even as intermediaries. The fact that these forces are called by the name אלוהים on occasion, as for instance vis a vis Pharaoh (compare Exodus 7,1) is not a factor in our relationship to Hashem. If we were to allow such celestial bodies, or the like to substitute or to rank alongside G’d, it would not only dilute, but eventually ruin, our belief in G’d the sole and unique Creator. We must never address such celestial forces as אלי אתה, ”you are a celestial force in my eyes.” Ibn Ezra explains these verses as not viewing anything in nature as a junior partner to the Creator. This warning was necessary as there were theologians or philosophers who, while recognizing the supremacy of Hashem did not recognize His being absolutely exclusive as such. [If there really were such a thing as אלוהים אחרים, “other deities” (plural, as suggested by the plural ending in the word אלוהים), the Torah should have written לא יהיו לך, in the plural, not לא יהיה לך in the singular, i.e. reminding the reader that the idea of other gods is a non-starter. Ed.]

אלוהים אחרים, “other deities.” We must not admit that there are such other deities, even if we refuse to pay any tribute to these supposed deities. It is noteworthy that when the Torah forbids the making of such symbols, such images of other supposed deities, it does not dignify them with the title “other gods, or other deities,” but simply tells us not to make אלוהי מסכה, (Exodus 34,17). There is a subtle difference, in that the making for commercial purposes of a symbol to serve others, when such a symbol is known to be serving others as a deity or symbol of such. When making a symbol of one’s own deity the Torah wants it understood, in addition to the examples mentioned in our verse, that even a symbol of our true faith is totally forbidden to be made. If the Torah had not forbidden to make something אחר, something else, something that is not divine, as a symbol of one’s faith, this would be equivalent to admitting that such a notion would be credible, though foolish. The very idea of עושה אלוהים is laughable, as only The Creator could imbue anything created with divine power if He wanted to, not any creature.

על פני, “in My presence.” We find a similar use of the expression על פני when Eleazar and Ittamar are appointed as priests in the presence of their father Aaron (Numbers 3,4). Here too, the meaning is the same as if the Torah had written לפני, “before Me.” This expression is used in all instances when we are reminded that there is nothing that is hidden from the Lord, and though He is not manifest, nothing does not occur in His presence. The reason why the Torah does not warn against prostrating oneself to idols here, is that it had already included this in verse five which is a conceptual continuation of not making idols mentioned in verse four.

לא תשתחוה להם ולא תעבדם, “neither prostrate yourself before them nor worship them.” Any kind of worship even if it does not involve a visible form of obeisance such as prostrating oneself. This is forbidden even if one does not mean thereby to in any way diminish one’s faith and devotion to Hashem.

אל קנא, “a jealous G’d.” We never find the attribute of G’d being jealous in any connection other than with idolatry. He warns us that just as a jealous husband is likely to take revenge on his adulterous wife, so He is going to punish the Israelite who, by breaching the covenant, gives Him cause to display jealousy.

פוקד עון אבות, “Who visits the sin of the fathers, etc.;” according to Ibn Ezra the meaning of the word פוקד here is the same as that of the word זוכר, i.e. “who remembers.” The word is used in that sense in Genesis 21,1 where it means that G’d remembered the fact that Sarah had not yet been blessed with child. In our verse it means that Hashem allows even the wicked time to rehabilitate themselves through repentance before imposing the punishment for the sins which they deserve. G’d hopes that during the time He holds the punishment in abeyance the sinner will sire a child who in turn will be righteous, thus retroactively making the sinner’s life worthwhile. However, if both the sinner’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren continue in the sinful ways of their forbears, G’d will not continue to delay punishment in the hope that this situation will change. Nachmanides challenges this interpretation of our verse, saying that if it were correct G’d would be visiting the sins not on the third generation but on the fourth generation. This would mean that the second and third generation of the father who went unpunished would also go unpunished. If that were so, the Torah should have written: זוכר עון אבות ובנים ושלישים על רבעים, “He will visit (show remembrance) of the sin of the fathers and the sons and the grandsons on the great-grandsons.” Perhaps what Ibn Ezra had in mind was that G’d remembers the sin of the father to the offspring by saying to the sinful offspring: “you as well as your (deceased) father or/and grandfather have been guilty of such and such.” As a result, the string of generations will be punished by that line being wiped out. However, the Torah does not say that all people, i.e. the sins of all fathers will be subject to an identical consideration by G’d. There are various verses in Scripture which indicate that sometimes G’d will exact punishment from the son or the grandson, as for instance we read in Isaiah 27,1 יפקד ה' בחרבו הקשה where the prophet announces that G’d will remember to punish the nations who have subjected Israel to violence, or Isaiah 14,21 הכינו לבניו מטבח בעון אבותם, “prepare a slaughtering block for their sons in retribution of the sins of their fathers, etc.” In both of these examples G’d is not described as waiting for four generations with exacting His vengeance. Sometimes the third generation will experience G’d’s vengeance, compare Deuteronomy 5,9, other times some descendants will experience it a generation sooner than their brothers, although to the uninitiated onlooker there appears to be no difference in conduct between them. When G’d indicated to Avraham that the Emorites were indeed guilty and deserved to be uprooted, He added that their guilt was not yet complete, i.e. the guilt of some of them, until the fourth generation had been reached, hence the descendants of Avraham could not be given their land until then. (Genesis 15,16). Any fifth generation experiencing G’d’s wrath is not being punished for the sins of the first of these five generations.

פוקד עון אבות על בנים, “remembering the sins of the fathers to the children.” Ibn Ezra says that the grandchildren are included in the term בנים in this verse. This is the reason why the Torah mentions both third and fourth generations in one sentence, without bothering to mention the second generation at all, seeing that the second generation was already included in the mention of בנים. Nachmanides disagrees with this reasoning, stating that what is referred to as שלשים, is in fact the third generation commencing with the fathers, i.e. the grandchildren of the sinful father. The fourth generation described as רבעים here are the great grandchildren, and the same applies to the list in Exodus 34,7, where G’d reveals to Moses thirteen of His attributes. This is also why Moses, in connection with the sin of the spies, (Numbers 14,18) refers to בנים, שלשים, רבעים. What he meant was that the grandchildren are the third generation. This is also why our sages say that G’d extends goodness to more generations than vengeance, i.e. whereas the sins of the former generations may not be forgotten for 4 generations, their good deeds are rewarded for as long as 2000 generations (verse 6).

לשונאי, “to those who hate Me.” If the member of that generation is a wicked person and he hates the Lord, previous sins of former generations will also be held against him, whereas if the present generation are righteous none of the sins of former generations will be held against them.

לא תשא את שם ה' אלוקיך לשוא, “Do not mention the name of the Lord your G’d in vain;” according to our sages what is meant is to swear an unnecessary oath, confirming the truth of something universally known as true, by using the name of the Lord According to the plain meaning of the text what is also included is that the holy name of the Lord must not be mentioned in vain even if it is not part of an oath. The use of one’s mouth or lips for speaking is referred to on occasion as נשיאות קול, raising one’s voice. The reason why this commandment follows on the heels of the prohibition to engage in anything related to idolatry is to remind us that just as it is forbidden to accord any part of the reverence, respect, etc., due to the Lord, the Creator to any other phenomenon, so we must not bandy about His name for our own purposes, thereby demeaning it, and making use of Him instead of serving Him. Using G’d’s name in order to confirm one’s own words as true, is as if saying that just as He is truth incarnate, so our words are truth incarnate, a real desecration of His Holy Name. Because this is considered such a serious offense, the Torah warns that this sin is beyond G’d’s willingness ever to forgive completely. Punishment for committing this offense deliberately, just like that of idolatry, may drag out through four generations.

זכור את יום השבת, “to remember the day of the Sabbath.” Having first commanded us to believe with absolute faith in the uniqueness of Hashem, His power, etc., and the fact that He alone is the Creator, and that He knows what is going on in any part of the universe, including what goes on in our hearts, the outward symbol of this belief of ours is to be demonstrated in our observance of the Sabbath as the day which bears the stamp of G’d’s creative power. Now G’d commands that we observe the Sabbath day as a weekly reminder of His stature, by emulating certain of the attributes He demonstrated when He created the universe. In the first version of the Tablets the formula chosen to refer to this reminder is the word זכור, a positive act of remembering, whereas in the second version of the Tablets, as recorded in the Book of Deuteronomy, the word is שמור, “guard, observe, by not violating,” the negative aspect of emulating G’d’s “repose,” abstention from creative activity on that day. Our sages say that when pronounced by G’d on Mount Sinai, both words were said by Him simultaneously. Although the sages could have made this point about a number of changes between the wording of the Decalogue in the Book of Exodus, as opposed to the one in Deuteronomy, which was formulated by Moses himself, they did not bother to draw attention to this, as only in this instance might Moses be perceived as having changed what sounded like a positive commandment to something which sounds like a negative commandment. They were anxious not to portray Moses as having taken liberties with G’d’s revealed word. When G’d commanded the observance of the Sabbath to Moses, having in mind Moses’ exceptional stature, He formulated the commandment primarily as a positive commandment, i.e.זכור לקדשו. When Moses relayed the same commandment to the next generation who had not stood at Sinai, He warned him to present first and foremost the negative aspects of this commandment, i.e. the work prohibitions, etc. Actually, the observance of the Sabbath, i.e. worshipping the Lord by observing the Sabbath, includes service of the Lord from overriding feelings of love, אהבה, the positive aspect of the commandment, as well as the observance of the law out of considerations governed by awe, by reverence, i.e. by יראה. The latter is expressed by not violating the prohibitions associated with observing the Sabbath. This is also the reason why, in halachah when observance of a positive commandment conflicts with the simultaneous observance of a negative commandment, as a rule, the observance of the positive commandment takes precedence and even displaces the observance of the negative commandment. The word זכור was written in the first version of the Ten Commandments in the written Torah, as it refers primarily to the Sabbath as a remembrance of the מעשה בראשית, G’d’s having created the universe, something concerning which the Torah writes elsewhere זכור ימות עולם, “remember the history of the universe,” (Deut. 32,7) whereas the word שמור was the one written in the second version of the Ten Commandments, as the second aspect of the Sabbath is its commemoration as an historical event experienced by the Israelites with both their bodies and their souls. Nachmanides writes that he is not sure if the word שמור in Deuteronomy was spoken by G’d Himself at all, seeing that it was not written on the Tablets [after all the Book of Deuteronomy, according to tradition was composed by Moses, the text being approved by G’d afterwards. Ed.] He concludes that it is even possible that the word שמור appeared on the original set of Tablets, the word זכור being substituted on the second set of Tablets. It was Moses who told the people that the word שמור had been said to him simultaneously, when he was told what was written on the first set of Tablets, the ones he had smashed. This, in Nachmanides’ view is what the sages had in mind when they said זכור ושמור בדבור אחד נאמרו, “the words zachor and shamor were said as a single utterance.”

זכור, “to remember.” Rashi, in commenting on the infinitive mode of the word זכור used here instead of the imperative mode zechor!, as in Deuteronomy 32,7, comments that the commandment means that the memory of the Sabbath day must be foremost in the mind of Israelites not only on the Sabbath day itself, but must be something that we also think of during the six days of the work week. The practical way in which we are to do this is illustrated when the Talmud tells of Rabbis, who, whenever they came across some delicious food item during the week, bought it immediately, with a view to serving it on the Sabbath. Nachmanides, in commenting on that paragraph in the Talmud, (Beytzah 16) in which Shammai and Hillel respectively are described as fulfilling this requirement in slightly different ways, says that the plain meaning of the Torah’s text is that the reason why we must remember the Sabbath day everyday is to ensure that we do not observe the wrong day of the week as the Sabbath. [after all, in nature there is no visible difference between the Sabbath and the other days. It is not distinguishable by seasonal factors nor by the position of the moon in the sky, for instance. Ed.] By thinking of the importance of the Sabbath on an ongoing basis, we will not forget the debt of gratitude we owe the Creator, Who has given us this sign as a gift, reminding us of the dignity of being a creature instead of the product of a mindless act of natural forces. [my choice of words. Ed.] It is a most potent symbol strengthening our faith in Hashem. The meaning of the word לקדשו in our verse, i.e. “to sanctify it,” is that the existence of this special day be constantly present in our minds, that we think of the day as a sacred day, meaning that on that day we refrain from our mundane concerns which preoccupy us during the other six days of the week. We are to devote this day to enhance the spiritual concerns which we are capable of enjoying, and which we are bidden to devote our attention to. Included in this meaning of לקדשו are such activities as visiting our Rabbis, our spiritual mentors, and listening to their words of enlightenment and cheer, by means of which they improve our capacity to enjoy a day of “rest.” The farmer who asked his wife –not knowing that their son had died-why she was visiting the prophet on a day that was neither the Sabbath nor the New Moon, shows clearly that the Sabbath was used as a day on which the ordinary Israelite recharged his spiritual batteries by interacting with the spiritual elite of the nation (compare Kings II 4,23) The reason why the sages declared that observance of the commandment to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy, and not to violate the work prohibitions on that day is equivalent to all the other commandments in the Torah, is precisely this function of the Sabbath to renew our spiritual batteries. We are taught in the Mechilta that part of the sanctity of the Sabbath is that we do not count the days of the week as do the gentiles, but we relate each day to its position vis a vis the Sabbath, as for instance “today is the first day after the Sabbath, today is the second day after the Sabbath, etc.” Our sages, taking a cue from the word לקדשו, “to sanctify it,” tell us that this is why we must recite the sanctification of the day over a cup of wine before both the evening meal and the main meal on the Sabbath day. This ”sanctification” is known as kiddush. (compare Maimonides hilchot Shabbat chapter 29) Whereas the sanctification of the Jubilee year every fifty years requires a court of sages to declare it holy, the Sabbath is sanctified by every individual Jew every week. Remembering the Sabbath and sanctifying it are two separate aspects of Sabbath observance

ששת ימים תעבוד, For six days you will work (for your livelihood).” The word עבודה refers to activities not performed because of bodily needs, such as tilling the soil. The Torah says that such activities as tilling the earth, or similar type of activities should be performed for six days during the week. On the other hand, the words:ועשית כל מלאכתך, refer to activities which are needed to maintain the body in healthy condition, and activities designed to make life more comfortable and enjoyable. The Sabbath is a day on which neither of these two kinds of activities is to be performed. The prohibition extends to male and female adults as well as their children even while they are minors. It includes even the slaves in a Jewish household who have been circumcised and have undergone the ritual immersion and have thus become subject to the prohibitions applicable to the Sabbath. This is spelled out specifically in the second version of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy Actually, it could be argued that such people deserved to be addressed by G’d directly, just as the Israelites, in order to commit them more deeply to this commandment. However, seeing that the slaves are subject to constant directives by their masters, their employers, the Torah preferred to inform them of their duties via their masters who are in the habit of giving them instructions as to what to do and when, all the time. Furthermore, seeing that at the time when G’d addressed the Ten Commandments to the Jewish people they did not have any slaves, it would have been impractical to orchestrate a special revelation for such slaves at a later time in history.

וגרך אשר בשעריך, “and the proselyte within your midst.” According to the plain meaning of the text, whenever mention is made of a גר, literally “a stranger,” in connection with the word שער the gate to your cities, it is assumed that the reference is to a גר תושב, a resident gentile, who has obligated himself to observe the seven Noachide commandments. Seeing that this is so, he is not included in the category of people to whom certain activities known as melachah in halachic terms are prohibited. After all, he is not part of a Jewish household described as applying to האזרח והגר, “the natural born Jew or the stranger who underwent basic conversion.” He is allowed to do for himself what he is not allowed to do on behalf of a Jew. As to the verse which speaks of וינפש בן אמתך והגר, “and the son of your maidservant as well as the stranger, shall recuperate, catch his breath as it were,” (Exodus 23,12) this refers to the fully converted gentile, who is subject to all the laws of the Torah from the moment he has converted. However, our sages in the Mechilta, understand the meaning of the word גר on each of these occasions, exactly in the reverse order. They understand the words וגרך אשר בשעריך as applying to a one time gentile who has fully converted, whereas the word וגר in Exodus 23,12 they understand as referring to a גר תושב, a resident stranger, i.e. one who has embraced the seven Noachide laws. Seeing that this latter stranger is an uncircumcised person, he has been compared by the Torah to the beast mentioned in the same verse as entitled to physical rest, וינפש on that day, and just as beasts must not perform work for Jews on the Sabbath, neither must resident strangers. The resident stranger is free to pursue his own agenda on what is the Sabbath for Israelites.

כי ששת ימים עשה ה' את השמים ואת הארץ, “for Hashem made heaven and earth during six days, etc.” Here the whole concept of the Sabbath is linked to the creation, as opposed to the version in Deuteronomy where it is linked to the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt. In other words, seeing that the slave does not enjoy a day of rest during the week, the Torah underlines that a by-product of the redemption from Egyptian bondage was the entitlement to a weekly day of rest, a day free from the claims on our time and skill by human masters. It is also possible that the reason that the wording of the Decalogue in Deuteronomy is so materially different, when it comes to providing the rationale, is to caution us not to treat our own servants in a manner comparable to the way we have been treated while in bondage in Egypt, but to ensure that our servants enjoy a day of rest per week just as we do..

ברך ה' את יום השבת ויקדשהו, “Hashem blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it.” To make it a blessed day and a sacred day by means of mentioning its holiness and by pronouncing it holy and abstaining from all the activities which have been categorized as מלאכה. Ibn Ezra writes that it is G’d Who blessed the day and sanctified it as He conditioned it so that man’s body can host an additional soul on that day, a soul that enhances his spiritual capacity.

כבד את אביך ואת אמך, “Honour your father and your mother.” After G’d had completed the list of duties we have vis a vis Him, He begins a list of primary obligations we have concerning our fellow man. He begins the list with an obligation to honour one’s biological father, as the father is G’d’s partner in the creation of any new human life. Whereas Hashem is mankind’s original father, the biological father is his final, most recent father. It follows that just as G’d commanded us in His capacity as our Creator, our father is entitled to a commensurate degree of honour and respect, as he fulfilled this role on earth. [It goes without saying that man’s mother is the third partner in the creation of every human being after the first pair of humans. Ed.] The Torah does not go into specifics of how such respect is to be shown to one’s parents. A major component of such honour accorded to one’s father is to publicly acknowledge him as such, just as the basic honour we accord G’d is that we publicly acknowledge Him as the Creator. We must not accord similar honour to other males in order to be recognized as the heirs of another male, for instance, for the sake of reaping some other benefit by such recognition of someone who is not our biological father as such. If one swears by the life of one’s father, one must not portray someone else as one’s father, for instance. Our sages have furnished us with a list of other activities the performance of which is considered proof of our observing this commandment. Our sages, in stressing the importance of this commandment, have compared the parents’ claim to be honoured by their children to G’d’s claim to be honoured by His creatures. They derive this, for instance, from the use of the attribute Hashem in this commandment, an attribute which does not occur during any of the last five Commandments, the reason being that those concern inter-personal relations, not man’s relations with his Creator. Seeing that in essence, the performance of the commandment to honour one’s parents concerns itself with issues of relevance in our lives on this earth, the Torah, in its promise of reward also describes this reward in terms of advantages to be enjoyed in our life on this earth, i.e. long life in the land of our forefathers. Our sages say that the promise of the reward is to be divided into two separate promises. 1) Long life; 1a) life in the land of Israel. These two aspects of the reward speak about the terrestrial world, whereas 2) the word יאריכון in itself speaks of a domain in which time is unlimited, the world to come in the celestial regions in the words of the sages: בעולם שכולו ארוך, a world which is not bound by time. Moses elaborates on this further in Deuteronomy 5,16 by adding the words ולמען ייטב לך, “and in order that it will be good for you.” Seeing that there was no obvious need to append the letter ן in the word יאריכו, our commentators see in this a hint that the mother is included in all that is written here.

לא תרצח , “Do not commit murder.” The order in which the Torah lists the following prohibitions needs to be understood as follows: The Torah, implies that the listener (reader) has appreciated that first and foremost G’d had insisted that He be recognized as THE Creator of the universe and all that there is in it. Next, He had commanded that the parents be accorded honour and respect seeing they are partners in the creation of new human life. It follows that you, human being, must not do things which directly result in your undoing what I had done. First and foremost do not shed the blood of a human being who was created in order to honour Me. You would deprive Me of the honour due to Me by My creatures. The prohibition against committing adultery is similarly motivated, as violating the wife of your fellow man not only is a serious injury, affront to the contractual bond between that wife and her husband, but it undermines the whole principle of enabling children to know who these parents are to whom they are duty-bound to show respect. It introduces lies as something normative into this world, whereas G’d stands for truth, and we are to emulate Him if we claim to be His partners. Stealing, i.e. kidnapping, preventing human beings to live the kind of life G’d wishes them to live, similarly deprives G’d of the worship of Him by the kidnapped person held prisoner. Similar considerations are at the core of the laws not to testify falsely nor to plan to deprive others of their rightful possessions. Such actions proclaim the lie as an acceptable means to achieve one’s ends, the opposite of G’d’s outstanding attribute of אמת, “truth,” the attribute we are to emulate if we really want to be His partners. The first three negative commandments refer to actions performed with one’s body, i.e. with one’s external organs, such as stealing, followed by sins committed with one’s mouth (testimony) and with one’s heart (coveting). In the next portion the Torah deals with a long list of משפטים, violations of the norms of inter-personal relations which need to be judged by a court. As long as one violates only the commandment not to covet without taking action to illegally or even legally acquire the desired object no judges will be involved. In commenting on the sequence of items coveted, described in the Tenth Commandment, Ibn Ezra says that the reason that the house of your fellow man is mentioned first, even before the taking of your fellow man’s wife, is that any intelligent person makes certain that he has suitable accommodation to offer a woman before he asks her to marry him. Only after he has acquired a wife does he acquire man and woman servants to assist in the household chores. The reason why this order is reversed in the version of the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy is that there the Torah addresses young men, who, in their urge to find a mate to marry, do not have the patience to wait until they are economically well established. It is also possible that there Moses talks about someone, who because he lusts after a woman forbidden to him, makes her the focus of all his desires. Nachmanides writes that the first 5 Commandments are designed to honour the Lord, the Creator, the fifth doing so indirectly seeing that in honouring parents one does so as they are the nearest link to the Creator that we have. In honouring them, we indirectly honour Him. All the remaining 5 Commandments are designed to enhance the dignity of the individual person. In some of the Commandments the consequences of observing it or not are spelled out, such as that G’d is jealous and will demand an accounting from those who slight Him, or that He will not easily forgive someone who uses His name in vain, or that the reward for honouring father and mother, though almost a natural in most instances, will be extremely worthwhile. On the other hand, most of the Commandments are not accompanied by promises of reward if observed or threats of retaliation if ignored. This may be explained in that acceptance of the first Commandment and non violation of the second Commandment are really two sides of the same coin, i.e. he who does refrain from all that is forbidden in the second commandment has in fact observed the first Commandment without lifting a finger. The absence of a warning of specific penalties for violations, or the mention of any reward, is also because Sabbath observance, i.e. recognition of G’d as the Creator both by sanctifying the day and by abstaining from work performed as a duty on the six days of the week is actually a way of fulfilling both the first and the second Commandment. The first 5 Commandments appear on the first of the Tablets, whereas the second five appear on the second Tablet [although if the numbers of words or letters were to be matched evenly the arrangement would have at least the fifth Commandment on the second Tablet, Ed.] This is to remind us that the Commandments on each of the Tablets correspond to one another. The Commandment not to commit murder parallels the Commandment of believing in the Lord the Creator, as murdering G’d’s creature undoes some of His work, diminishes His stature. The Commandment not to be disloyal to one’s wife or husband is parallel to the Commandment not to make or serve other deities. We are under oath to the One and Only Creator. The commandment not to use the name of the Lord in vain is parallel to the Commandment not to steal. Eventually, every thief will commit false testimony when he denies the accusation of having stolen. The Commandment to honour father and mother parallels the Commandment not to covet one’s neighbour’s wife, for if he does so successfully and illegitimate children are born from such a union, these children will eventually curse their parents instead of honouring them.

וכל העם רואים את הקולות, “The whole nation was able to see the sounds, etc.” This is not the only time that the term “seeing” is used instead of “hearing.” Another such instance is found in Genesis 42,1 where Yaakov is described as “seeing” that there was food for sale in Egypt, a distance of hundreds of kilometers from where he was at the time. What was meant is that he had heard about it, from returning travelers. Our sages understand the verse literally, i.e. that during these exalted moments the people actually saw the sounds, the words. Nachmanides writes that our verse does not describe what the Israelites had seen during the revelation, but what occurred later, and that this is what Moses referred to in Deut.5,20 ותקרבון אלי וגו', “you approached me, etc.” They told Moses at that time that they could no longer endure the voice of G’d and were afraid to die unless Moses from then on would act as their interpreter. Personally, Nachmanides’ opinion is not acceptable to me, considering the fact that the Torah quotes the Israelites as saying words of a similar nature already in our paragraph immediately after the conclusion of the Decalogue. At that point nothing was said about the Israelites being afraid to die as a result of the overwhelming impact of what they had experienced. Furthermore, Moses is already telling the people: “אל תיראו, “do not be afraid (that you will die).” G’d had already commented that the people had done well in requesting that Moses be their interpreter of G’d’s words. (Deut. 5,25) I believe that the chronological sequence of what is reported in these paragraphs is as follows: the paragraph commencing with the words וכל העם (20,15) reports something which had preceded the actual giving of the Ten Commandments. As an introductory preamble, the Torah, i.e. Moses relates all the instructions he had received concerning the fencing off of the Mountain, followed by the proclamation of the Ten Commandments. Now Moses reviews what the Israelites had been saying to him in the course of this whole procedure, reminding them that from the moment they saw thunder and lightning they had trembled, retreated backwards, and taken up a position quite some distance from the bottom of the Mountain, way beyond the security fence Moses had erected. The secret to understanding all this lies in the fact that from early morning on the day of the revelation there were continuous explosion-like sounds of thunder, tremendous flashes of lightning, all of which preceded the manifestation of G’d’s presence. The people reasoned, understandably, that the intensity of these phenomena was likely to increase still further once the Shechinah began to manifest itself. Moses, in order to demonstrate to them that they had nothing to fear, led them closer to the bottom of the Mountain, a location from which the descent of the Shechinah to the top of the Mountain could be observed as a spectacle resembling the smoke arising from a crucible (19,18) all the way to heaven. The very Mountain started trembling, as if they were experiencing a major earthquake. David, in Psalms 114,4 describes the mountains of the Sinai range as dancing like rams. Seeing that, as reported, the sound of the shofar instead of receding, continued to become ever louder, the people reacted accordingly. The description by David in Psalms is not allegorical, just as the description of the sea fleeing from G’d at the time He split the Sea of Reeds, (Psalms 114,3) is not allegorical, but is a factual description of what had occurred. At that point, the people turned to Moses in awe, begging him to become their interpreter. They were willing or even eager to skip the experience of hearing the Lord address them directly. They had not even wanted to respond to Moses’ encouraging overtures to approach the Mountain somewhat closer to the edge of the fence. They observed Moses approach the thick cloud within which the presence of the Shechinah was concealed. He did however, not enter it. At that point, G’d began to recite the Decalogue. The Torah, at this juncture does not report at all what the elders had been saying to Moses, i.e. the recollection of events as presented in Deuteronomy to the new generation, shortly before he himself was to die. At this juncture the Torah’s major concern was to begin to elaborate on all the commandments, primarily the ones dealing with inter-personal relations that are set out in the portion called משפטים in chapters 21-23. In the Book of Deuteronomy, however, Moses does relate that all the leaders of the people after the revelation approached him, expressing their profound fear that if they were to be exposed to more mind-boggling experiences like these they would not be able to endure this. The reason they approached Moses at that time was that they thought G’d would address all the Commandments to them in the manner experienced at the Mountain. They therefore gave Moses their leader carte blanche to accept all these Commandments on their behalf committing themselves to observe any and all of these Commandments they had not been informed of as yet. G’d agreed with the feelings the Israelites had expressed. It had been His intent all along that the people would only hear the Decalogue from His mouth directly.

וינועו, “they trembled.” Our sages (compare Rashi quotingMechilta)) understand the word as related to זיע, It appears in a similar sense in Isaiah 24,20 נוע תנוע ארץ כשכור, “the earth wobbles like a drunk.” People retreated from that spectacle out of fear.[the word poses many problems even in the Mechilta de Rabbi Yishmael, compare Torah Shleymah, Rabbi Menachem Kasher Ed.] According to the followers of the plain meaning of the text, the פשט, the word is related to תנועה, motion, i.e. the people moved away from this spectacle.

לבעבור נסות, “in order to test, etc.” Rashi, basing himself on the word נס, a banner, something one looks up to, understands the meaning of the line as “in order to elevate you, to grant you greater stature.” Nachmanides understands the meaning to be: “to get you used to supernatural manifestations in order to strengthen your faith.” People who have been granted such revelations will have their belief transformed into knowledge. As a result, they will cling more closely to their Creator.

ובעבור תהיה יראתו על פניכם, “and in order that the awe of Him shall be on your faces.” When you realize that He alone is G’d in heaven and on earth, you will be appropriately respectful. This would recall their fiery vision on that occasion. Alternately, the meaning could be related to נסיון, familiarity, being used to something from experience. Compare: לא נסיתי ללכת באלה, “I am not used to wear these.” (David declining King Saul’s armour or uniform before battling Goliath Samuel I 17,39). Maimondes explains the words בעבור נסות אתכם, to mean that “when I want to test you by sending you a false prophet, I steeled you against being misled by allowing you to witness the revelation as a safeguard against any claims by false prophets in the future.” The experience you had at the revelation at Mount Sinai will enable you in all future to be able to resist the lure of the promises that a false prophet is liable to make to you. In addition to this Nachmanides writes that the word refers to a real test, in the constructive manner of the term, and when David declined Shaul’s armour, he meant by saying לא נסיתי ללכת באלה, that seeing he had not had the proper training in handling such garments, he would not want to risk his life by wearing it without first having tested it. When a master assigns a difficult task to a servant in order to see if the servant is equal to the task, the intent may be to bolster the servant’s self-confidence, when he sees that the master expects him to be able to carry out such an assignment. The revelation at Sinai, in a manner of speaking was a compliment by our Master, Hashem Who demon-strated His faith in our being able to endure such a test.

ויעמוד העם מרחוק, “The people stood at a distance.” Even though we have read this statement before (19,15), the Torah repeats it to tell us that due to the overwhelming impact of the spectacle they had seen and heard, they had retreated even further from their original position and taken up a new position still further away from the base of the Mountain. Moses meanwhile performed what they had initially been supposed to do themselves.

לא תעשון אתי, “Do not make (images) of what is with Me;” our sages understand this to mean that we must not reproduce images of phenomena we see in the skies, i.e G’d’s primary domicile.

אלוהי כסף ואלוהי זהב לא תעשון לכם, “gods of silver and gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.” Nachmanides writes that after the Israelites had seen that Hashem spoke to them from the heavens and that He is Overlord in the heavens, do not assign anything to Him as a partner, i.e. such as silver or gold. The message of our verse is that the Jewish people have no need for additional external help such as is provided by material wealth represented by silver and gold. The reason why the expression לא תעשון, “do not make, construct,” is repeated twice in the same verse, is because the first time it refers to the faith people have in such values, whereas the second time the warning is not to make visible symbols of such faith in material goods. The Torah also separately forbade the making of a hewn deity which represents an abstract belief. (Verse 4) Ibn Ezra explains that G’d uses the fact that He spoke to the people directly, without intermediary at Mount Sinai as proof that the people have no need to revert to intermediaries, neither astrology nor material goods in this terrestrial world to assure their well being and to deify such values as the source of their good fortune. Idolaters are foolish enough to expect such images representing what they perceive to be independent values to intercede on their behalf with the Creator.

מזבח אדמה תעשה לי, “an earthen altar you shall make for Me.” Some commentators see in this verse a message not to decorate the altar with any artwork on its walls, etc., and this is why the verse is followed by the injunction that if the altar is made of stones these stones are to be smooth, without engravings of any kind, either recessed into the stone or protruding from the stone. Other commentators understand the whole verse as G’d telling us that He does not expect us to erect fancy buildings for Him, buildings made of gold or silver, but to erect the most simple structure for Him which He will be happy to take up residence in on earth, the only condition being that we will offer our sacrifices to Him, exclusively. Nachmanides writes that Ibn Ezra means that the entire verse is to be understood in conjunction with the report in Parshat Mishpatim (chapter 24) where Moses is described as erecting an altar (central) and 12 smaller altars, one for each tribe, called מצבה, on which the priests, i.e. the firstborn offered meat-offerings to Hashem, most of these animals being consumed by their owners. These offerings represented the sealing of the covenant entered into by the people with G’d at the revelation. Assuming that the Torah reports the events surrounding the revelation in chronological order, the sequence is as follows: G’d tells Moses to remind the people (20,20) that they have seen visual evidence that Hashem spoke to them from the heaven in His capacity, as the attribute י-ה-ו-ה. On the one hand, you must not make beside Me silver or golden gods (material values which you revere as if they were gods), but I do permit you to erect altars made of earth, or of smooth stones in order to offer sacrifices to My attribute of Hashem, be they burnt offerings or meat-offerings, and these may be offered without restriction of location. I will bless you at these sites wherever they are. These blessings will be both of spiritual and material dimensions. The Torah writes: ואם מזבח אבנים תעשה לי which creates the impression as if the building of an altar is a voluntary thing, entirely up to you, although it is, of course, a precondition to the offering of sacrifices. The meaning of the line is: “if and when the time comes when you will inherit the land and a Temple is to be built, when the altar will be a solid structure, it must not be decorated with pictures, etc., but the stones must be perfectly smooth. There must not be any steps by which to ascend it. Seeing that the subject of the altar came up, mention is made here already of details of the altar, although we would have expected to hear about it much later, either when the Tabernacle’s furnishings are discussed, or in the Book of Kings when Solomon constructs his Temple and all of these details are recorded for posterity.

בכל המקום אשר אזכיר את שמי, “wherever I permit My name to be mentioned.” According to Ibn Ezra the line means “at any site where there is some memory of My presence to be recorded.” When, in the future, you will have occasion to visit such a site, I will make a point to also bestow My blessings on you there.

חרבך הנפת עליה, “you have raised your sword over it.” This verse forbids contact of iron tools with the altar. Elsewhere this is spelled out as:אבנים שלמות תבנה, לא הניף עליהם ברזל, “you shall construct it of whole stones, stones which have not been worked on with iron.” (Joshua 18,4) The Torah uses the word ברזל and חרב interchangeably, as the sword is made of iron. A sword is an instrument meant to kill, an altar is a means to foster peaceful relations between man and G’d, and between man and man. Ibn Ezra offers another reason for this legislation, i.e. the Torah is concerned that part of the holy altar (the parts of the stone chiseled off when making smooth surfaces), should not wind up in the garbage container, whereas the other part of the same stone has become sanctified. Alternately, the Torah does not want people to scoop up these stone chips and to make out of these remains an altar for idolatrous practices. Nachmanides queries both the aforementioned commentaries, pointing out that the Torah did not forbid the altar to be made of hewn stones, it only opposes the use of iron when hewing these stones. This point is made explicitly not only here, but also in Deut. [not quite. Ed.] Accordingly, not only the legendary shamir’s glandular secretions are acceptable as tools to shape the stones for the Temple, but so are tools made of silver of copper. Our sages (Mechilta) see the reason for this injunction in the desire of the Torah to fulfill the positive commandment of building an altar in the most perfect manner, bearing in mind that the task of the altar is to become an instrument to lengthen our lives on this earth. How does it look when we use as tools to achieve this objective instruments that are designed to shorten man’s life? My personal feeling (Nachmanides writing) about this commandment is that the reason that a חרב is called by that name, i.e. something that is מחריב, destructive by nature, and something that was Esau’s primary tool, he being a destroyer, so much so that in blessing him his father Yitzchok expressed the hope that he would at least use the word to lengthen his own life and not die in fruitless battles. The sword’s power extends beyond the terrestrial spheres to the celestial regions for during the ascendancy of the planet Mars, the red planet, the planet that alludes to blood, warriors are notoriously successful. In consideration of all this, neither the Tabernacle nor the Temple built by Solomon contained anything made of iron, the material swords are made of. The only things made of iron that had any function in either the Tabernacle or the Temple were the knives used to slaughter the sacrificial animals. [even these were not used inside the structure itself but in the courtyard where the altar for meat offerings was situated, and where the slaughtering of such animals took place. Ed.] The Mechilta draws attention to the fact that the Torah writes concerning the use of stones hewn with iron tools, that they must not be used in building the altar, i.e. they were permitted to be used in building the Sanctuary and the Holies of Holies. However, Solomon applied a more stringent interpretation of the underlying concept, and did not use such tools in the construction of the Temple itself either.

לא תעלה במעות, “you must not ascend by means of steps, etc;” this legislation was for the honour of the altar itself. Seeing that the altar is the means by which the sins of the Jewish people are atoned for, it is appropriate to treat it not only with courtesy but to accord it honour. [If I understand the thoughts of the author correctly, the emphasis is on the fact that the altar stands “only” in the courtyard. Whereas it does not need special legislation to demand a dress mode inside the Temple which does not reveal any flesh not engaged in the actual performance of the Temple service, one might have thought that the rules pertaining to the altar which was outside the building, would be less stringent. Therefore the Torah wrote a special verse telling us that the sanctity of the altar is equivalent to that of the furnishings inside the structure, the היכל and the קדשי קדשים. Ed.]