Aseret HaDibrot
Read Exodus 20:1-14
Read Deuteronomy 5:6-18
(28) And he was there with the Eternal forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water; and he wrote down on the tablets the terms of the covenant, the Ten Commandments. (aseret hadibrot)
(11) You came forward and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was ablaze with flames to the very skies, dark with densest clouds. (12) The Eternal spoke to you out of the fire; you heard the sound of words but perceived no shape—nothing but a voice. (13) God declared to you the covenant that He commanded you to observe, the Ten Commandments (aseret hadibrot) ; and God inscribed them on two tablets of stone.
- How are the Aseret haDibrot different from the other mitzvot in Torah?
- What is the effect of them being given at Sinai, while the others are given at different times and different settings?
- Why do we call them "Ten Commandments " when bible calls them Aseret haDibrot?
(15) R. Joshua b. Levi said also: "When Moses ascended to heaven, the ministering angels said to the Holy One, praised be God 'Sovereign of the universe, what has one born of a woman to do among us?' 'He has come to receive the Torah,' was the Divine answer. 'What!' said they to God 'Are You about to bestow upon frail man that cherished treasure which has been with you for nine hundred and seventy-four generations before the world was created? What is mortal man that You are mindful of him, and the son of the earth that You visit him? O Eternal God, is not Your name already sufficiently exalted in the earth? Confer Your glory upon the heavens! (Ps. 8, 2-5).' The Holy One called upon Moses to refute their objection. Whereupon Moses pleaded, 'Sovereign of the universe, I fear lest they consume me with the fiery breath of their mouths.' God told Moses to take hold of the throne of the Divine Majesty: as it is said (Job 26, 9.) He lays hold of the face of His throne and spreads His cloud over him. Concerning this R. Nachum said: 'This is intended to inform us that the Almighty spread the brightness of the Shechina, and beclouded Moses with encouragement.' Moses then said unto God: 'Sovereign of the universe, what is written in the Torah which you are about to give me.' 'I am the Eternal your God, who brought you out of Egypt' (Ex. 20, 2), was the reply. Moses then said to the angels: "Did you go to Egypt and serve Pharaoh? Of what use can the Torah be to you? Further, what else is written in it? You shall not have other Gods before me. Are you living among nations who are worshipping idols [that you need this]? Furthermore, what else is written in it? Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Are you doing any work that you need rest? Again what is written there? Honour your father and your mother. Have you a father and a mother? And again, what is written in it? You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal. Does jealousy exist among you? Does an evil impulse exist among you?' The angels at once confessed that the Holy One was right, for it is written (Pr. 8, 10.) O God, how excellent is Your name in all the earth, and no longer is written Confer Your glory upon the heavens. Soon after this, every one of them became so befriended with Moses, that each of them disclosed to him some useful secrets, for it is said. You ascended to Heaven; you captured the spoils; you received gifts because they have contemptuously called you man, And even the Angel of Death revealed something to him, for it is written (Num. 17, 13) And (Aaron) put on the incense and made atonement for the people, and it is said "And he stood between the dead and the living. If the Angel of Death did not disclose this secret to Moses, how did he know [so that he could tell Aaron that such a thing would stop the plague]?"
(2) "And all the people saw": the sounds of sounds and the flames of flames. How many sounds were there and how many flames were there? The intent is that each heard according to his power (to absorb what he experienced), ... When they all stood at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah, there were no blind ones among them, . "And all the people saw." And whence is it derived that there were no mutes among them? From (Exodus 19:8) "And all the people answered together." And whence is it derived that there were no deaf ones among them? From (Ibid. 24:7) "All that the Eternal has spoken, we shall do and we shall hear."
"And said: The Eternal came from Sinai" (Deut 33:2): When God revealed Godself to give the Torah to Israel, it is not to Israel alone that God was revealed, but to all of the nations. First God went to the children of Esav, and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? He answered: "Do not murder." (Shemot 20:13). They answered: Master of the Universe, our father's whole essence is murder, as it is written (Bereshit 27:22) "And the hands are the hands of Esav" -- and his father promised him (Gen. 27:40) "And by your sword shall you live." God went to the children of Ammon and Moav and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? God answered "Do not commit adultery." They answered: Master of the Universe, forbidden sexual relations are in our essence, as it is written (Gen 19:36) "And the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father." God then went and found the children of Ishmael and asked them: Will you accept the Torah? They asked: What is written in it? He answered: "Do not steal." They answered: Master of the Universe, our father was a bandit! '(Gen 16:12) "And he shall be a wild man, his hand against all." God went to every single nation, knocking at their doors to ask whether they would be willing to accept the Torah, as he says, (Psalms 138:4) "All the kings of the earth will acknowledge You, God, for they heard the words of Your mouth." Might they really have accepted it?? That is why it is written (Ezekiel 33:31) "And you did not do them." And it says (Michah 5:14) "And with anger and wrath will I take revenge of the nations because they did not hear." Indeed, they couldn't even sustain commitment to the seven commandments that the sons of Noach had taken upon themselves so much so that they eventually divested themselves of them and ceded them to Israel...
(7) "And God spoke to Moses in the Sinai Wilderness" (Numbers 1:1). Why the Sinai Wilderness? From here the sages taught that the Torah was given through three things: fire, water, and wilderness. How do we know it was given through fire? From Exodus 19:18: "And Mount Sinai was all in smoke as God had come down upon it in fire." How do we know it was given through water? As it says in Judges 5:4, "The heavens dripped and the clouds dripped water [at Sinai]." How do we know it was given through wilderness? [As it says above,] "And God spoke to Moses in the Sinai Wilderness." And why was the Torah given through these three things? Just as [fire, water, and wilderness] are free to all the inhabitants of the world, so too are the words of Torah free to them, as it says in Isaiah 55:1, "Oh, all who are thirsty, come for water... even if you have no money." Another explanation: "And God spoke to Moses in the Sinai Wilderness" — Anyone who does not make themselves ownerless like the wilderness cannot acquire the wisdom and the Torah. Therefore it says, "the Sinai Wilderness."
(1) זכור — This word REMEMBER which opens this commandment here and שמור “observe” which opens it in Deuteronomy (5:12) were spoken in one utterance.
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