Today’s parashah contains the ten commandments, the sh’ma and V’ahavta -- “You shall love the Lord your G-d with all your heart” -- and many other recognisable passages. It’s like a greatest hits album: “Now that’s what I call Torah!”
The ten commandments are particularly fascinating. In the Torah, these are the only laws publicly proclaimed to all Israel; the rest were given only to Moses. Whilst its not clear in Exodus if the people heard G-d’s words or just thunder, in today’s portion Moses recalls, “The LORD spoke to you out of the fire; you heard the sound of words but perceived no shape—nothing but a voice.”
As Jews, we consider these “the first ten commandments;” Maimonides laid out the other 603. At the time of the Talmud, the ten commandments were considered part of the sh’ma and read aloud at every service. However, as Yael Shahar wrote in Haaretz, “The sages of the Talmud argued against giving the Ten Commandments special prominence, so as not to give ammunition to heretics who claimed that only the revealed law was important, and the man-made amendments were not.” As a result, Jews were encouraged to recite the ten commandments at home, but they were only read out in shul three times per year: two Torah readings and at Shavuot.
The term “ten commandments” is problematic. Exodus 34:28 uses the term, Aseret ha-D'varim, which is more accurately translated as “ten sayings.” Had the Torah meant Ten Commandments, it which have used Aseret ha-Mitzvot.
The Aseret ha-D'varim are thus understood to be classifications, and all other mitzvot -- which are of equal importance -- fit into these ten categories, some more obviously than others. For example, all mitzvot around holidays fall under “keep the Sabbath holy” because holidays are in some sense a Sabbath. The mitzvah not to stand aside while a person's life is in danger fits under “you shall not murder,” but the mitzvah not to embarrass a person is also characterised as murder, because embarassment causes the blood to drain from your face.
Even the number “ten” is problematic, because there are actually 12 sayings! We combine the first two -- “I am the LORD your G-d” and “You shall have no other G-ds beside Me.” -- and the last two -- “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife” and “You shall not crave anything that is your neighbor’s.” -- to fit into ten.
Judaism teaches us the first five commandments are duties to G-d, while the second five are duties to other people. The fifth commandment, though, is to honour your father and your mother, which would seem to be about people. However, the sages argued that our parents are our creators, and disrespect to our biological creators is an insult to the Creator of the Universe.
We’re also told if one must choose between an obligation to G-d and an obligation to a person, then the obligation to a person should be fulfilled first, because people need our help while G-d does not. This is drawn from Genesis 18, when Abraham is convening with G-d but rushes out to welcome the three strangers
Next, consider how the ten commandments are represented, not only in art but at synagogues. The Torah only states “two stone tablets,” but they are usually depicted as semi-round on the top. According to Zvi Brettler in “The Ten Commandments in American Life,” this is a medieval Christian tradition, based on the diptych, and would have been unknown in the ancient Near East. It is much more likely they would have been rectangular.
No biblical tradition states that the commandments were split evenly, five and five. Moshe Weinfeld, a biblical scholar at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, argued that ancient Near Eastern treaties were typically copied in duplicate, with each party keeping one copy. Since this was a covenant between G-d and and the Israelites, it seems likely both tablets contained all ten commandments.
These depictions also ignore what is explicitly written in Exodus 32:15: “tablets inscribed on both their surfaces: they were inscribed on the one side and on the other.” Obviously, if you’re carrying around a stone tablet, you’re not going to leave half of it blank!
As I said, the ten commandments are clearly presented as a covenant between G-d and the Israelites. It starts with, “I the LORD am your G-d who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” It was directed at male upper-class property owners. It was never presented as a universal system of ethics, applicable to all humanity, like the seven Noahide laws.
In fact, as an ethical system it has some serious flaws. As religioustolerance.org notes, “You shall have no other G-ds beside Me.” is fine for a personal covenant, but applying it universally would effectively ban freedom of belief, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, etc “Visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children” is profoundly immoral, as is requiring children to honour their parents even if their parents abuse or neglect them. The last commandment treats women as chattel and condones slavery!
The King James Bible interprets the 7th commandment as, “Thou shalt not kill” but the Hebrew word, lo’ tirtzach, is more accurately translated as, “murder.” Killing that is sanctioned, either by law -- capital punishment -- or by the government -- such as war -- is not only okay, it’s enthusiastically promoted throughout Torah.
In early Christianity, Paul argued the new “Jewish Christians” were no longer bound by Mosaic law and, according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “the Ten Commandments had no particular importance in Christian tradition until the 13th century.”
Between 1265 and 1274 CE, Thomas Aquinas wrote Summa Theologica. In the section on “The moral precepts of the old law,” he identified three types of biblical laws: moral, ceremonial, and judicial. He held that moral laws -- such as the ten commandments -- were permanent, while ceremonial laws -- such as kashrut and circumcision -- were not.
The Catholic church incorporated the ten commandments into confession, and in the 16th century Protestants incorporated them as a fundamental part of religious training. (They still rejected the “ceremonial” aspects, such as how to observe the sabbath, or even which day to observe it on.)
Today, Christians embrace the Ten Commandments as their own. In the US, they argue they transcend religion and underpin all of Western culture. They want to post them in schools, public buildings and courthouses, and believe it is part of the common Judeo-Christian heritage.
The problem is, most Christian denominations consider “I am the LORD your G-d” to be a preface, not a commandment, and exclude it. Catholics consider coveting property to be separate from coveting a spouse, while Protestants consider the prohibition against idolatry to be separate from the prohibition against worshipping other G-ds.
Thus, by choosing one version, they are elevating one religion over another, and by referring to them as "THE Ten Commandments" (as though they were the only ones) they are teaching a message that Judaism considered and rejected long ago.
So once again our sages were wise and foresaw that something that seems to unite can ultimately divide, and that by minimising the role of the first ten commandments, we can open ourselves to all 613. (Number 12 is, “To learn Torah and to teach it.”)
Shabbat shalom.
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