Aseret ha-Dibrot:
The "Ten Commandments"
Level: Intermediate |
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According to Jewish tradition, G-d gave the Jewish
people 613 mitzvot (commandments). All 613 of
those mitzvot are equally sacred, equally binding and equally the word of
G-d. All of these mitzvot are treated as equally important, because human
beings, with our limited understanding of the universe, have no way of knowing
which mitzvot are more important in the eyes of the Creator. Pirkei Avot,
a book of the Mishnah, teaches "Be as meticulous
in performing a 'minor' mitzvah as you are with a 'major' one, because you
don't know what kind of reward you'll get for various mitzvot." It also says,
"Run after the most 'minor' mitzvah as you would after the most 'important'
and flee from transgression, because doing one mitzvah draws you into doing
another, and doing one transgression draws you into doing another, and because
the reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah and the punishment for a transgression
is a transgression." In other words, every mitzvah is important, because
even the most seemingly trivial mitzvot draw you into a pattern of leading
your life in accordance with the Creator's wishes, rather than in accordance
with your own.
But what about the so-called "Ten Commandments," the words recorded in Exodus
20, the words that the Creator Himself wrote on the two stone tablets that
Moses brought down from Mount Sinai (Ex. 31:18),
which Moses smashed upon seeing the idolatry of the golden calf (Ex. 32:19)?
In the Torah, these words are never referred
to as the Ten Commandments. In the Torah, they are called Aseret ha-D'varim
(Ex. 34:28, Deut. 4:13 and Deut. 10:4). In
rabbinical texts, they are referred to as Aseret
ha-Dibrot. The words d'varim and dibrot come from the Hebrew
root
Dalet-Beit-Reish, meaning word, speak or
thing; thus, the phrase is accurately translated as the Ten Sayings, the
Ten Statements, the Ten Declarations, the Ten Words or even the Ten Things,
but not as the Ten Commandments, which would be Aseret ha-Mitzvot.
The Aseret ha-Dibrot are not understood as individual mitzvot; rather, they
are categories or classifications of mitzvot. Each of the 613 mitzvot can
be subsumed under one of these ten categories, some in more obvious ways
than others. For example, the mitzvah not to work on
Shabbat rather obviously falls within the
category of remembering the Sabbath day and keeping it holy. The mitzvah
to fast on Yom Kippur fits into that category
somewhat less obviously: all holidays are
in some sense a Sabbath, and the category encompasses any mitzvah related
to sacred time. The mitzvah not to stand aside while a person's life is in
danger fits somewhat obviously into the category against murder. It is not
particularly obvious, however, that the mitzvah not to embarrass a person
fits within the category against murder: it causes the blood to drain from
your face thereby shedding blood.
According to Judaism, the Aseret ha-Dibrot identify the following ten categories
of mitzvot. Other religions divide this passage
differently. See The "Ten Commandments"
Controversy below. Please remember that these are categories of the
613 mitzvot, which according to Jewish tradition
are binding only upon Jews. The only mitzvot binding upon gentiles are the
seven Noahic commandments.
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1. Belief in G-d
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This category is derived from the declaration in Ex. 20:2 beginning, "I am
the L-rd, your G-d..."
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2. Prohibition of Improper Worship
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This category is derived from Ex. 20:3-6, beginning, "You shall not have
other gods..." It encompasses within it the prohibition against the worship
of other gods as well as the prohibition of improper forms of worship of
the one true G-d, such as worshiping G-d through an idol.
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3. Prohibition of Oaths
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This category is derived from Ex. 20:7, beginning, "You shall not take the
name of the L-rd your G-d in vain..." This includes
prohibitions against perjury, breaking or delaying the performance of vows
or promises, and speaking G-d's name or swearing unnecessarily.
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4. Observance of Sacred Times
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This category is derived from Ex. 20:8-11, beginning, "Remember the
Sabbath day..." It encompasses all mitzvot
related to Shabbat, holidays, or other sacred
time.
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5. Respect for Parents and Teachers
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This category is derived from Ex. 20:12, beginning, "Honor your father and
mother..."
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6. Prohibition of Physically Harming a Person
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This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not murder."
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7. Prohibition of Sexual Immorality
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This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not commit
adultery."
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8. Prohibition of Theft
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This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not steal." It
includes within it both outright robbery as well as various forms of theft
by deception and unethical business practices. It also includes kidnapping,
which is essentially "stealing" a person.
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9. Prohibition of Harming a Person through Speech
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This category is derived from Ex. 20:13, saying, "You shall not bear false
witness against your neighbor." It includes all forms of
lashon ha-ra (sins relating to speech).
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10. Prohibition of Coveting
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This category is derived from Ex. 20:14, beginning, "You shall not covet
your neighbor's house..."
Judaism teaches that the first tablet, containing the first five declarations,
identifies duties regarding our relationship with G-d, while the second tablet,
containing the last five declarations, identifies duties regarding our
relationship with other people.
You may have noticed, however, that the fifth category, which is included
in the first tablet, is the category to honor father and mother, which would
seem to concern relationships between people. The rabbis teach that our parents
are our creators and stand in a relationship to us akin to our relationship
to the Divine. Throughout Jewish liturgy, the Creator is referred to as Avinu
Malkeinu, our Father, our King. Disrespect to our biological creators is
not merely an affront to them; it is also an insult to the Creator of the
Universe. Accordingly, honor of father and mother is included on the tablet
of duties to G-d.
These two tablets are parallel and equal: duties to G-d are not more important
than duties to people, nor are duties to people more important than duties
to G-d. However, if one must choose between fulfilling an obligation to G-d
and fulfilling an obligation to a person, of if one must prioritize them,
Judaism teaches that the obligation to a person should be fulfilled first.
This principle is supported by the story in Genesis 18, where Abraham is
communing with G-d and interrupts this meeting to fulfill the mitzvah of
providing hospitality to strangers (the three men who appear). The Talmud
gives another example, disapproving of a man who, engrossed in prayer, would
ignore the cries of a drowning man. When forced to choose between our duties
to a person and our duties to G-d, we must pursue our duties to the person,
because the person needs our help, but G-d does not need our help.
In the United States, a controversy has persisted for many years regarding
the placement of the "Ten Commandments" in public schools and public buildings.
But one critical question seems to have escaped most of the public dialog
on the subject: Whose "Ten Commandments" should we post?
The general perception in this country is that the "Ten Commandments" are
part of the common religious heritage of Judaism, Catholicism and Protestantism,
part of the sacred scriptures that we all share, and should not be controversial.
But most people involved in the debate seem to have missed the fact that
these three religions divide up the commandments in different ways! Judaism,
unlike Catholicism and Protestantism, considers "I am the L-rd, your G-d"
to be the first "commandment." Catholicism, unlike Judaism and Protestantism,
considers coveting property to be separate from coveting a spouse. Protestantism,
unlike Judaism and Catholicism, considers the prohibition against idolatry
to be separate from the prohibition against worshipping other gods. No two
religions agree on a single list. So whose list should we post?
And once we decide on a list, what translation should we post? Should Judaism's
sixth declaration be rendered as "Thou shalt not kill" as in the popular
KJV translation, or as "Thou shalt not murder," which is a bit closer to
the connotations of the original Hebrew though still not entirely accurate?
These may seem like trivial differences to some, but they are serious issues
to those of us who take these words seriously. When a government agency chooses
one version over another, it implicitly chooses one religion over another,
something that the First Amendment prohibits. This is the heart of the
controversy.
But there is an additional aspect of this controversy that is of concern
from a Jewish perspective. In Talmudic times, the rabbis consciously made
a decision to exclude daily recitation of the Aseret ha-Dibrot from the liturgy
because excessive emphasis on these statements might lead people to mistakenly
believe that these were the only mitzvot or
the most important mitzvot, and neglect the other 603 (Talmud Berakhot 12a).
By posting these words prominently and referring to them as
"The Ten Commandments," (as if there weren't any others, which
is what many people think) schools and public buildings may be teaching a
message that Judaism specifically and consciously rejected.
© Copyright 5762-5767 (2002-2007), Tracey
R Rich
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