On the first day of the third month after departing from Egypt (Sivan), the Children of Israel arrive at the foot of Har Sinai. God reminds Moshe, as he approaches the mountain, how he freed them from bondage. God reminds Moshe that he wishes the Israelites to become a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation”. This would happen if the children of Israel obeyed all of God’s commandments.
Moshe relays this message to the people and they respond “All that the Lord has spoken we will do”. The people were to prepare themselves for three days, after which, God would appear to them in a thick cloud atop Har Sinai and they would be given God’s Law (the Torah).
After three days, thunder and lightning cover the mountain, and Moshe is summoned to the summit. The Israelites were told not to come any closer. God spoke from the cloud and every man, woman, and child heard the divine commandments:
1. I am the Lord, your God who delivered you from the land of Egypt…
2. You shall have no other gods before Me…
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God in vain…
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy…
5. Honor your father and your mother…
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house…
There is a wonderful tale about Rabbi Mendel of Kotsk. One day, a man came to the Chassidic Master with a problem. “Rabbi, how can I convince my children to learn Torah?” Rabbi Mendel answered, “If you want your children to study Torah, first you must go and learn. They will then follow your example.”
How many times have we, as parents, told our children to “do as I say, and not as I do”. As a teacher, I have spoken with parents whose child cheated on a test, were upset, and later I find out that they themselves routinely cheat on their income tax. Parents who come home from work boasting about how they ran the competition out of business and then getting upset if their child shows no trace of empathy or morality.
There is a disturbing story about a young boy who was watching his mother clean the dishes after dinner. When she accidentally drops a dish, the boy yells, “You clumsy idiot! Can’t you do anything right.” His father quickly reprimands him, “That’s no way to speak to your Mother”. The boy sincerely replies, “But daddy, that’s how mommy yells at grandma when her hands shake and she drops something.”
We all want what is best for our children. We especially don’t want them to make the same mistakes that we did. We want them to “listen” and to “do what we ask”. Sometimes, it seems like we are talking to a wall as the indifferent response makes us frustrated.
Consider now the Israelites. After having been physically liberated
from Egyptian bondage, they wearily make their way through the desert
to Mount Sinai. They whine and complain almost every day. Moshe, like
a frustrated parent, complains to God about this “stiff necked
people”.
The Talmud states that the redemption from Egypt came in two phases.
The first was “physical” and completed when the army of
Pharoah was drowned in the Sea of Reeds. The second phase was ‘spiritual”.
This aspect would be completed with the giving of the Ten Commandments.
The sages state that there are fifty levels of purity and fifty levels
of iniquity. The Children of Israel had sunk to the forty-ninth level
of iniquity while in bondage. It would therefore take them forty-nine
days to purify and prepare themselves to receive the Torah. When God
descended on Mt. Sinai and asks if the people are ready to receive
His Law they respond in unison, “Na’aseh v”Nishmah”,
“we will do and we will listen”. The sages comment that
the Israelites responded in unison with positive action. Namely, first
they will accept God’s Law; then they will study, listen, and
understand.
What does this phrase come to teach us? We learn that Judaism demands
action and deeds as well as study and learning. We have all heard
the cliche , “Actions speak louder than words”. The Mishnah,
in Pirke Avot, states: “If a person’s wisdom exceeds his
deeds, then his wisdom will not endure. However, if his deeds exceed
his wisdom, then his wisdom will endure.”
The word nishma, we will listen”, relates to the word neshamah
or “soul”. The Talmud states that there are two aspects
to the Jewish soul. The word nefesh refers to the physical or material
aspects of the soul (the need to eat and survive) while neshamah refers
to the spiritual needs. Thus, by declaring their loyalty to God with
the phrase “na’aseh v’nishma”, the Israelites
were committing botht heir body and soul. The physical action of na’aseh
(doing), and the spiritual action of v’nishma, show the unity
of the two halves of a Jew. The physical inclinations are typified
by the yetzer hara and the spiritual goodness by the yetzer tov (the
bad and good inclinations respectively). We need both to survive physically
and spiritually. Before the torah could be given at Har Sinai, the
souls of the Children of Israel needed to be purified in the desert
and cleansed from the stench of bondage. We celebrate the mattan Torah,
the giving of the Torah on the Festival of Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks
forty nine days after the first day of Pesach). The word Shavuot can
also mean “oaths”. On the sixth of Sivan, the Jewish people
took a solemn oath to uphold God’s Law.
Striving for positive actions, doing mitzvoth, performing acts of
kindness and charity, are the hallmarks of being a Jew. But why are
there Ten Commandments? In fact, the sages derive 613 mitzvot from
the Torah and not just ten. The sages relate the Ten Commandments
(or Ten Utterances) to the ten utterances of God during the creation
in Bereshit. Ten is symbolized by the letter yud, which is the smallest
letter but the foundation of all others in writing. It represents
God and the “pintele yid”, that divine spark of Jewishness
(Yiddishkeit) that resides in all of us. The sages state that when
the Torah was given on Mt. Sinai, all Jews, from every generation
stood there as well.
The Ten Commandments can be divided into two groups of five. The first
group involves the relationship between God and the Jewish people.
The second group concerns the relationship between Man and his fellow
(see parsha Mishpatim). It is interesting to note that when the Ten
Commandments are restated in the book of Devarim, Moshe lists the
fourth commandment as “shamor” instead of “zachor”.
The original word in our parsha means “remember”, while
shamor means to “guard”. It may be easy to remember something,
but guarding it involves a higher level of responsibility. Someone
who is hired to be a “shamor” for an object has a greater
duty than one asked to simply “watch this for me” or “hide
this somewhere and remember where it is”. We have a duty to
not just remember the seventh day of creation, but to guard it like
a treasure!
The mitzvah of kibud av v’aym or “honor your father and
mother” is a powerful commandment to include. It comes right
after the commandment to observe the Sabbath. Why? The sages state
that whoever honors his parents , honors God as well. The Rambam states
that “if you do not respect your parents, then your children
will not respect you.” This returns us to our first story about
children learning by example. It is never too late for any of us to
learn!
