פרשה: יתרו · עלייה: שישי (יסוד)

וירד ה׳ על הר סיני, G'd descended on Mount Sinai, etc. According to Sukkah 5 G'd never came closer to earth than ten handbreadths above the Mountain. We therefore have to understand why the Torah uses the expression "on top of the Mountain" when He did not actually descend all the way to the Mountain. Perhaps the Torah wanted to inform us that the שכינה did not descend on the sides of the Mountain although this would have been more than 10 handbreadths above the ground. We had to be told because on other occasions the שכינה descended to other locations on earth which are lower than the top of Mount Sinai. The essential point the sages make is that in keeping with the principle that whereas the Heavens belong to G'd He assigned earth as an exclusive domain for man. We can deduce from the report of the Torah about the wanderings of the Israelites through the desert when the שכינה was present wherever the Israelites made camp, i.e. in places much lower than the top of Mount Sinai, that G'd's presence descends to lower regions above the earth.

We still need to understand why the Torah did not write: "G'd descended on the top of Mount Sinai?" although we find such an expression immediately following the statement that He descended on the Mountain;" Perhaps G'd thought that if He described the descent of the שכינה in these words they could be misunderstood. In order to avoid misunderstandings, G'd is first described as descending on the Mountain, i.e. to within ten handbreadths of the top, whereas later on the exact part of the Mountain G'd's presence descended on is described as "the top of the Mountain."

Another version of what happened is expressed in the Mechilta according to which G'd lowered the upper heavens on to the top of the Mountain. According to this explanation G'd Himself did not descend at all. The word על would refer only to the fact that G'd's position on top of these upper heavens would be lower than it had been previously when speaking in terms of the distance of the heavens from earth.

Another meaning of the verse is that as G'd began to lower His presence onto the Mountain, the Mountain began to shake and rise towards G'd much as a servant runs toward his master when the master approaches. The Torah here did not really tell us to what place exactly G'd descended; the verse was more concerned with informing us that though the Mountain is basically inert matter, in this instance it was transformed into a living creature so that it could rise before G'd would descend to what used to be its top. Afterwards the Torah describes the target of G'd's descent as "the top of the Mountain." The major message of the verse is that the Mountain rose towards G'd before G'd had reached the top of the Mountain during His descent.

פן יהרסו אל ה׳ לראות, "lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze;" The Torah means that people should not think that they would catch a glimpse of G'd though they would die in the process; Psalms 63,4 expresses this thought succinctly when David says: "it is better to experience Your faithfulness than life itself." The people would consider their death under such circumstances as the beginning of their true life. The expression פן יהרסו is to be understood as the people's willingness to lose their lives in order to become part of such an experience as gazing at the glory of G'd. ונפל ממנו רב, "and many of them woul fall;" G'd warns that in such a scenario the people would experience a much greater "fall" than they had bargained for. Alternatively, G'd merely warns that if the people would approach to an area out of bounds to them, He would have to reduce the blinding light accompanying the revelation as otherwise they would die from exposure to this light. This then would be the meaning of פן יהרסו אל השם, they would break through towards His light in order to gain a glimpse. This also tells us that the people would not achieve their aim to gaze upon G'd even if they would break through the barrier. It is part of the meaning of the word פן in our verse. In the event that we would have thought that the people's endeavour to gaze upon something they could not see anyway would have neither positive nor negative consequences, the Torah writes ונפל ממנו רב, that it would have very negative consequences for those concerned. The word רב may refer to the leading members of the people. The Torah would then tell us that even the most spiritually advanced of the people would not be allowed to gaze upon the spectacle but they would be punished severely if they tried.

וגם הכהנים הנגשים אל ה׳ יתקדשו, "And also the priests who approach G'd have to sanctify themselves, etc." Although the priests (the firstborn in the main) are closer to G'd than the people at large, being allowed to perform sacrificial service in sacred locations, they too have to undergo a special sanctification process prior to the revelation. The fact that they normally adhered to strict standards of purity was not enough in this instance. They had to consider themselves as no better than the people at large. The meaning of the word יתקדשו is similar to the meaning of the word ודשנו in Numbers 4,13 where the priests are described as removing the ashes from the altar. The priests too had to remove themselves from the Mountain.

ויאמר משה…לא יוכל העם, Moses said…"the people are unable, etc." What exactly was the distance between Moses and G'd so that G'd had to tell Moses again in verse 24 to descend and warn the people? Why was G'd's previous directive in verse 21 not sufficient? Moses himself tells G'd that there is no need for any new directive, the previous directive having been sufficient to ensure the people would not breach G'd's warning to establish a fence around the Mountain and to sanctify the people.

It would appear that originally G'd ordered the people in a general directive neither to ascend nor to touch the Mountain. The Torah also stated in verse 22 that the priests who are normally allowed closer to sacred sites must not approach the Mountain. Subsequently, in verse 24 G'd told Moses that the priests should sanctify themselves. G'd was afraid that the Israelites would apply a method known as דבר שהיה בכלל ויצא מן הכלל ללמד על הכלל יצא, that if something had previously been part of a general rule and was singled out by the Torah by name, the reason is that the special rule now applied to this "something" will also be applied generally forthwith. Initially, both the priests, the people, and even Aaron were included in the prohibition to ascend the Mountain or to touch it. As soon as the priests were mentioned separately such as in 19,22 as being normally permitted to approach G'd, this implied they could at least touch it also in this case. In view of the rule cited above about כל היוצא מן הכלל, the people would now also be allowed to touch the base of the Mountain. While it is true that since the Torah had not been given yet, the rule we quoted was not yet in effect, the fact remains that since the rule is based on logic, some intelligent Jew might have figured it out already before the Torah was actually handed down to the people. Even assuming that no one could have figured out this rule, G'd desires justice and righteousness and He would not apply the death penalty to a person who touched the lower part of the Mountain when his counterpart the priest would not be punished for doing the same thing by reason of his being a priest. In order to prevent such a potential miscarriage of justice, G'd told Moses to descend from the Mountain and warn the people (the non-priests) not to touch any part of the Mountain. The effect of this warning was to invalidate the rule about כל היוצא מן הכלל which we explained earlier. Moses had not understood this immediately because G'd had not yet revealed to him the rule about כל היוצא מן הכלל as well as the other principles which guide us when interpreting the written Torah. Moses thought that the partial relaxation of the prohibition applied only to Aaron and the priests whereas the people were forbidden to touch even the base of the Mountain. He could not understand why such a repeated warning was necessary, seeing G'd had already warned the people not to ascend the Mountain or to touch it. G'd therefore told him that only he and Aaron were allowed to ascend any part of the Mountain. Moses was to warn the people that the very places he and Aaron were allowed to ascend would be out of bounds to the people at large. We see that G'd had to spell out a prohibition where logic would have dictated that there was no prohibition or that such a prohibition had been relaxed.

According to what we have explained, the word הנגשים in verse 22 refers to areas in which the priests were permitted access once the Tabernacle would become operational. In short, G'd told Moses that there would be three different areas on the Mountain. The people could not ascend any part, Aaron could accompany Moses part of the way; the upper regions of the Mountain were accessible to Moses only. The new element in G'd's second warning is that He permitted Aaron to ascend part of the Mountain, something that had been excluded by the wording of the previous warning.

Another reason G'd issued a second warning to the people was that the first warning did not include a time frame, i.e. when it would begin to be effective. Although the Torah had spoken about "three days," those days had not been specifically linked to the restrictions of ascending the Mountain beginning on the third day. This is why G'd told Moses as soon as He had descended on to the Mountain that he should descend and tell the people that the restrictions concerning ascent of the Mountain were effective forthwith. We need to study Moses' reply. Perhaps he had thought that the prohibition of ascending the Mountain became effective already at the moment G'd had issued it seeing G'd had not said specifically: "do not touch the Mountain on the second day," or something similar. He had been wrong on that count, and this explains why G'd now had to send him down to tell the people that the prohibition of which they had been told was now in effect. When G'd had issued the warning the first time He had said that anyone violating it would be stoned to death, i.e. would be punished by a human tribunal. G'd now repeated the warning to make it plain that if someone would violate the prohibition in such a way that no judicial action could be taken against him such a person would nonetheless be punished by heaven. The reason the Torah phrased the potential violation in the plural was that even if all the people would violate the prohibition this would not save them from the penalty G'd would impose.

רד ועלית אתה ואהרון, "descend and then ascend, you and Aaron." Why did G'd say both לך and רד? The word לך meant that Moses was to move, the word רד that he was to descend; perhaps he had to descend as he had previously not stood on a place assigned to him on the Mountain but had stood on the peak. When Moses refused to move G'd may have told him to descend (from that peak) but to ascend again with Aaron. He should know that just as there was a limit to how far Aaron could ascend there would also be a limit to how far he, Moses, could ascend. This is implied when the Torah describes Aaron as ascending עמך"with you."

וידבר אלוקים את כל הדברים האלה, G'd spoke all these words, etc. The reason we find the attribute of Justice, i.e. אלוקים mentioned at this point is that G'd gave the Torah to the Jewish people in His capacity as the attribute of Justice as well as in His capacity as the attribute of Mercy. The words וירד אלוקים reflect the attribute of Justice, whereas the words אנכי השם reflect the attribute of Mercy. By saying אנכי ה׳ אלוקיך, G'd also revealed the mystical dimension of both attributes being part of the same essence, something we repeat twice daily when we recite the first line of קריאת שמע prayer.

We are told in Menachot 41 that an angel criticised Rabbi Ketinah for not having Tzitzit on his nighgown. The latter retorted angrily: "since when does Heaven punish a person for sins of omission?" The angel told him that at a time when a person is being judged for other errors even sins of omission are also accounted against him. We learn from here that ordinarily a person is not punished for neglecting to observe a positive commandment. G'd indicated here that when He exacts retribution this will also include the positive commandments in the Ten Commandments, i.e. the commandment to believe in Him, to observe the Sabbath by sanctifying it, as well as the commandment to honour father and mother. The words וידבר אלוקים are a reminder that the attribute of Justice deals with both positive and negative commandments.

When the Torah writes: את כל הדברים, this is a reminder that one cannot accept Torah piecemeal. Anyone who accepts all of the Torah's commandments bar one is considered as having rejected the whole Torah (Bechorot 30).

I have explained in my introduction to פרשת בראשית that when G'd speaks in His capacity as אלוקים, He utters words which are so exalted that a human mouth cannot utter these words or comprehend them. I postulated that the entire Ten Commandments were a single utterance. There were many such utterances by G'd in His capacity as אלוקים during the directives He gave while creating the universe. We may therefore view the revelation at Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments as a re-enactment of the creation of the universe.

The word לאמור will become intelligible when we examine the format of the Ten Commandments. You will find that sometimes G'd addresses the Jewish people directly, whereas other times, such as in the latter half of verse seven, He speaks of them in the third person, i.e. "the Lord will not hold him guiltless, etc." We find that in the middle of the Sabbath legislation G'd switches from direct speech to "for the Lord created the Heavens and the earth and all that is found therein during six days and rested on the seventh day, etc." Why did G'd switch to indirect speech in those instances?

We have been told in Makkot 24 that Israel was able to comprehend the first two commandments, i.e. their capacity to understand G'd's utterances was enhanced during the time it took to hear this part. Nonetheless, according to the Midrash Shir Hashirim Rabbah section five, the Israelites' souls departed from them when G'd spoke and came to that part and they could not understand anymore. According to the Midrash the remainder of the Ten Commandments remained engraved in fire on top of Mount Sinai until G'd had revived the Israelites with the dew of life. These words then addressed themselves to each one of the Israelites. It is clear then why the first two commandments remained engraved in direct speech, G'd Himself having addressed the Israelites directly. From that point onwards G'd's voice must be perceived as speaking through an angel. It was an angel who said: "it is a Sabbath for the Lord your G'd," or "for during six days He created Heaven and earth, etc.," or "this is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath, etc." G'd's voice was not able to say "it is a Sabbath for Me, etc., or I have made Heaven and earth."

While it is true that the sages in Makkot 23 say that Moses addressed the remaining eight commandments to the people, it is possible that while Moses was able to understand the entire utterance of G'd, he added his voice to that of the angel so that the Israelites heard these eight commandments from the angel and Moses simultaneously. It is quite possible that when we were told in 19,19 that Moses would speak and G'd would respond this was a reference to Moses telling the Israelites the last eight commandments. You will find a comment in Shir Hashirim Rabbah on ישקני מנשיקות פיהו (Song of Songs 1,2), according to which every single utterance was standing on top of each Israelite asking him to be accepted by him. The Israelite would respond positively in each instance. Following this the utterance would embrace and kiss the Israelite and decorate him by placing a crown on his head. If that were so, the word לאמור at the beginning of the Ten Commandments would be amply justified. The words את כל הדברים would allude to the reinforced power of G'd's voice who uttered the entire paragraph as a single utterance. G'd's giving His voice this added power enabled the words themselves to carry on communicating themselves to the Israelites after they had been revived.

There is another element to the meaning of the word לאמור here, similar to the meaning of Deut. 26,18: וה׳ האמירך, i.e. that there was a mutual bond being created between the Israelites and G'd by their acceptance of the Ten Commandments.

We have learned in Tanchuma Toldot that G'd does not associate His name with a person who is still alive because it would be unseemly if such a person were later to become a heretic We know this from Job 15,15 where G'd is described as not even placing His faith in the angels. This was the only reason G'd did not describe Himself as the G'd of Abraham while the latter was still alive. If G'd had not added the word לאמור in our verse it would have appeared as if He associated His name with all of the Jewish people the moment He said: "I am the Lord your G'd, etc." The reason G'd made the Israelites hear His amplified voice was in order to discipline them and to remove the residual pollutants they still suffered from as a result of Adam's sin. Once they were free of this זוהמא, this pollutant, the Israelites became fit to hear G'd's voice and G'd could justify associating His name with the people of Israel.

According to Shabbat 88 where we are told that the Israelites' souls departed from them when they heard the first two commandments, G'd justified associating His name with them as they were no longer alive in the ordinary sense of the word.

Another meaning of the word לאמור is that it refers to secondary messages not spelled out in the text of the actual Ten Commandments. Some of these were in the nature of general rules, others in the form of allusions. We may also perceive the two commandments G'd addressed to the Israelites while they enjoyed a heightened ability to hear and comprehend as the basic roots of all commandments, i.e. the positive and the negative commandments. The commandment commencing with the word אנכי is the basic example of all positive commandments, whereas the commandment commencing with the words לא יהיה לך is the root of all negative commandments. This was the reason G'd was so anxious that all the Israelites should both hear and comprehend these two commandments directly from His mouth. Having heard these commandments from the mouth of G'd would be insurance against the Torah ever being uprooted totally from the Jewish people.

אנכי ה׳ אלוקיך, "I am the Lord your G'd, etc." The reason G'd repeats "who took you out of Egypt, the house of bondage," was to heighten the contrast between then and now. The Israelites had been enslaved in a country which was notorious for not releasing slaves nor letting them escape (compare Isaiah 14,17). The Israelites had two major strikes against them at the time. They were mired deeply in impurity, and they were under the rule of a king notorious for not letting anyone escape.

G'd also referred to His dual role as both the Eternal, i.e the meaning of the tetragram and the supreme authority, i.e. אלוקיך. Anyone who rebelled against G'd's decrees would face retribution. G'd manifested Himself in this dual capacity to remove all doubt about philosophies which inspired idol worship by suggesting that He had partners. G'd's taking the Israelites out of Egypt should have dispelled any such doubts about any opposing deities possessing any power at all. מבית עבדים, from the house of bondage. G'd makes the point that since it was He Who liberated us from one master, He is entitled to demand that we show Him obeisance.

The reference to the house of bondage also alludes to the souls whom Israel came to rescue during its enforced stay in Egypt. I have explained this at length on Genesis 46,3 in connection with the expression: "I will make you (Jacob) a great nation there." Kabbalists go further and believe that Deut. 4,7: "for who is a great nation whose G'd is close to them, etc.?" is also a reference to the fact that all Jewish souls past, present, and future participated in the revelation at Mount Sinai. Accordingly, G'd repeated the statement concerning the Exodus because it referred not only to the bodies but also to the souls. The many stray souls which had been imprisoned in Egypt as part of the loot captured by the forces of the קליפה after Adam's sin had also been freed at that time.

Yerushalmi Sukkah 5,4 commenting on Psalms 22,4: "You are the Holy One, enthroned, the Praise of Israel," states that G'd prefers the praise of Israel to that of anyone else. Whereas others praise the Lord by referring to Him as "the Lord of the universe," or as "the G'd of the angels," He prefers to be called the Lord G'd of Israel. When G'd says here: "I am the Lord your G'd," this means that He is not happy with being defined in any other way than as the G'd of Israel. By saying this, G'd advertised throughout the celestial regions that Israel was superior. By saying: אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים, G'd advertised that Israel was His favourite on earth, and that He had taken them out of a place which had been considered a prison with maximum security. The statement is to be considered as a compliment to G'd. The best proof of this is to be found when Yitro described the Exodus in Exodus 18,1. He had already realised that the experience of the Exodus had stamped Israel as the choicest of the nations for all times. When G'd continues with the words מבית עבדים, the meaning is that He did not take them out of Egypt while the definition "slaves" still applied to them; rather He made the Israelites into free men at the same time. Had G'd allowed the Israelies to escape from Egypt, for instance, they would still have been considered as slaves, their status would not have undergone a change in legal terms. Their status was changed 1) because G'd had pressured Pharaoh in dismissing them, and 2) after Pharaoh pursued them and he drowned with his army, there were no longer any masters who could have disputed the Israelites' claim to being free men.

Still another reason for the repetition of מארץ מצרים, מבית עבדים is that G'd addressed both bodies and souls separately. He said: "I am the Lord your G'd," in order to make it plain that He was speaking to the souls of the Jewish people. A soul would be able to respond to G'd describing Himself in spiritual terms; it is quite possible that the departure of the souls from the bodies we have mentioned previously took place at the moment when G'd addressed the souls as "I am the Lord your G'd." The souls then recognised their Maker. It is the essence of the souls that once they are no longer within a body they unite with their celestial origin. In Heaven there is no פרוד, separation. When G'd described Himself as "your G'd" (singular), He indicated that the Jewish souls are a single unit even in the terrestrial world which is essentially a world of divisions. This may be what David had in mind in Chronicles I 17,21 where he is quoted as describing the uniqueness of the Jewish people in these words: ומי כעמך ישראל גוי אחד בארץ, "who is like Your people Israel a unified nation even on earth?" Thanks to having been sanctified, the Israelites, like the angels, are all part of one great whole. When addressing the body of the Jewish people, G'd identified Himself in more mundane language, i.e. "Who has taken your bodies out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

The words: "I am the Lord your G'd" also mean that G'd was already our G'd before we came into this world because the Jewish people are considered to be part of the sacred light, i.e. part of G'd Himself as mentioned in Deut. 32,29: "His people are part of G'd Himself." The word "your G'd" always refers to this sanctity which is part of His Light. Kabbalists are quite familiar with this concept. The word אשר means "the reason why." G'd explains the rationale why He took the Israelites out of Egypt, why He made the whole universe tremble at that moment. It had certainly been incumbent upon Him to save remnants of sanctity and to bring them closer to Him.

The expression "I am your G'd" also means that G'd remains our G'd both when He employs His attribute of Mercy in dealing with us and when He employs His attribute of Justice in disciplining us.

We have a tradition that one blesses G'd joyfully when something tragic occurs in one's life (Berachot 60). The reason is that when G'd subjects us to discipline He does so in order to insure that our future will be happier, will be guiltless. G'd alluded to this by saying here that even when He is perceived as "only" אלוקיך, the G'd who exacts retribution from you, He is still השם, i.e. the G'd who deals with you from a feeling of loving kindness seeing He has your ultimate welfare at heart.

The division between the words מארץ מצרים and מבית עבדים may also be deliberate, i.e. the first expression refers to the Exodus which has already taken place, while the last expression refers to the liberation in the future when the Messiah will arrive.

The words "who has taken you out of Egypt" also provide the answer to the question why G'd did not simply replace the Egyptians in Egypt with the Jews and established us as the rulers in that land. Why was it necessary to leave the land, to travel through the desert, etc.? Surely the Israelites would have derived greater satisfaction from such a solution to their problems than to have to march to Canaan and there to dispossess a people which had never done them any harm. Moreover, it would have demonstrated G'd's power if He dispossessed the Egyptians of their land! G'd explained that inasmuch as the very land of Egypt was a בית עבדים, a house of bondage, this would not have been appropriate. We read in Deut. 32,8: "when the Supreme G'd handed out the inheritance to the various nations, He established boundaries for the peoples in relation to Israel's numbers." The Zohar volume 1 page 108 comments on this that G'd handed out certain places on earth to the guardian angels of the various nations, and that the only land He did not assign to such guardian angels was the land of Canaan. G'd had reserved the land of Canaan for Himself. The Torah says מבית עבדים, describing the place as one assigned to one of G'd's servants (the guardian angel of Egypt). G'd did not want for the Jewish people to live in a homeland which "belonged" to the guardian angel of the Egyptians. He wanted the Israelites to reside in a country which was directly under His personal guidance.

לא יהיה לך אלוקים אחרים על פני, "Do not have any other gods before Me." Having first commanded us to demonstrate faith in G'd, something which is basically a matter of the heart, G'd adds that it is also important to divest oneself of idolatrous thoughts, even if one does not verbalise them. G'd added the word לך to include the command that one must not even think such thoughts to oneself. We find that such thoughts are culpable (Kidushin 39) based on Ezekiel 14,4-5: "who will bring up his idols to his heart. Thus I will hold the House of Israel to account for their thoughts, etc." We have a tradition that one cannot impose capital punishment on a person unless the warning of such a penalty is spelled out in the Torah. Our verse is the source for this penalty (compare Zevachim 106).

The word לך also implies that whereas idolatry practiced by Gentiles is reprehensible, it is not nearly as reprehensible as idolatry by a Jew. When a Gentile serves idols this does not make such an idol into a deity. The object of the Gentile's worship remains unaffected. If a Jew were to turn to idols, however, this would have far greater effect because of the Jew's standing with G'd. It would confer deity status on such an idol, at least in the eyes of the Gentiles.

The word יהיה implies that an Israelite having idolatrous thoughts would invent such a deity.

According to Jeremiah 2,19 "that your evil will discipline you," it is the idol you have created which will become the instrument of your punishment.

As soon as a Jew makes an additional deity for himself he automatically cannot relate to G'd as the only G'd anymore. This is so even if he has no intention of serving the deity he has made. The Torah speaks of לא יהיה in the singular while concluding the sentence in the plural, i.e. אלהים אחרים, other deities (pl). The meaning is: "there will no longer be a single deity as soon as you have additional deities." Another meaning of this combination of singular and plural is simply that once a person adopts an additional deity this is bound to lead to a variety of other deities he is apt to worship. Sanhedrin 102 illustrates that the Israelites used to worship a large variety of deities proving the point we have just made.

על פני, before Me. We can understand this expression in connection with what Maimonides writes in chapter nine of his Hilchot Yessodey Hatorah that a prophet established credibility as a true prophet if, when he asks the people to disregard one of G'd's commandments on a temporary basis only, that commandment is not one involving idolatry. Anyone tampering with any law involving idolatry automatically disqualifies himself as a prophet. The word על פני means "at any time." Inasmuch as G'd is eternal there would be absolutely no time frame during which the prohibition of idolatry could be suspended.

Another meaning is that G'd is angry at those who idolise anyone else. Some people would have argued that inasmuch as serving one of G'd's agents such as the sun should not anger G'd seeing the worshiper is well aware that the sun is only His agent, the Torah wants to correct that impression. G'd spells this out even more clearly at the end of verse seven where He refers to His jealous nature.

The words are also a warning for the people not to give in to the natural desire to see their G'd. Since G'd is invisible, they are not to substitute some image to symbolise the invisible G'd.

Another meaning is the warning that Israel would forfeit their image amongst the nations as being G'd's people bearing the name of the Lord (compare Deut. 28,10 "all the nations on earth will see that the name of the Lord is proclaimed over you").

לא תעשה לך פסל, "Do not make a graven image for yourself, etc." Seeing that G'd had already outlawed even entertaining idolatrous thoughts on pain of death, why would He have to prohibit the making of an idol? If the Torah referred to making an idol for someone else, why did it add the word לך "for yourself?" Besides, if only the construction of an idol as a piece of art is meant, the Torah did not need to add the words: "do not bow down to them" in verse 5! Why does the Torah employ the expression פטל instead of אלוהים אחרים? Why did the Torah have to repeat the words ה׳ אלוקיך in verse 5? G'd had already described Himself as a "jealous G'd," etc.! Why did G'd have to give a reason for the prohibition by saying: "because I am a jealous G'd," etc.? Does He have to justify His objection to the Israelites serving idols?

Apparently, the Torah speaks about a prohibition of idol worship over and above that which was mentioned in verse 3. It may well refer to the person who believes in the One and only G'd but, who, due to G'd's invisibility, desires to remind himself of His existence and all-pervasiveness by means of a symbol such as a picture or a sculpture. When such a person offers up a prayer he feels more comfortable if he can concentrate on a visual image of sorts; hence he constructs for himself such an image in order to pray more intensely to our One and only G'd. Or, such a worshiper may feel embarassed to bother G'd Himself with all his little problems, but he feels at ease speaking of these problems to someone whom he considers merely a subordinate of G'd. Most of the idol worshipers have fallen victim to this error. Originally, they knew very well that they did not bow down in front of a deity but only in front of one of G'd's servants whom they had decided to adopt as a symbol. The reason that the Torah refers to such a sculpture as פסל and not as אלוה is precisely because that is all the sculpture meant to the person who fashioned it. The word is closely connected to פסולת, refuse, something to be discarded; as such it reminds a person that it has no intrinsic value or power. Another reason the Torah may call it פסל is that it is liable to become worthless as soon as G'd decides to rob it of its value because someone had idolised it. We find something along these lines in Eycha Rabbati chapter 2 where the people of the generation which perished during the deluge [in my edition this seems to apply to the generation of the time of Jeremiah, Ed.] are described as making use of G'd's celestial forces to overcome their enemies. G'd outmanoeuvered them by changing the names of these various forces so that people could not make improper use of their knowledge of the powers invested in these celestial forces. At any rate, G'd said: "Do not make a פסל for yourself (of anything representing celestial forces) even if you are fully aware that it has no intrinsic value." G'd then continued to describe what purpose such a פסל was meant to serve, i.e. to bow down to it.

The reason one is not to bow down to it is the jealous nature of G'd, i.e. He objects to this even if it is not only not meant to offend Him, but to enhance the worshiper's relationship with his G'd. In order to better understand this element of "jealousy" it is worthwhile to look at Numbers 5,14 where the Torah discusses the "jealousy" of a husband who has reason to suspect his wife of marital infidelity. The Torah writes: "and a spirit of jealousy over- comes him (the husband)." There are times when a father has reason to be jealous of his son, or a master of his servant, or a husband of his wife. You know that Israel's status vis-a-vis G'd is like that of a bride to a husband. This theme has been developed at length by Solomon in his Song of Songs. If Israel were to make some other deities for themselves even while they do not deny G'd or rebel against His commandments seeing that He is the Supreme G'd, the "husband" would still be entitled to become jealous. Imagine the wife of a king who falls in love with one of his servants and who would display this affection by paying extra attention to the requirements of this servant. Would the king not become jealous when he observed this and would ultimately stab his wife to death? Our relationship with G'd has to be viewed in a similar light. If one examines the many areas in which the relationship between Israel and G'd is special, one will not have any difficulty in accepting that G'd is "jealous" of preserving this special relationship. This is why He stresses : "I am the Lord YOUR G'd," i.e. our relationship is special. Moses underlines this once more in Deut. 4,19 when he refers to the intermediaries G'd has assigned to looking after the interests of the nations of the world as opposed to Israel who do not need such intermediaries.

G'd therefore warns Israel "do not make a פסל for yourself," i.e. do not destroy yourself by disqualifying your special relationship with G'd. The sin of idolatry brings in its wake a loss of the צלם אלוקים, the image of G'd in which man has been created. We know this from Psalms 39,7: אך בצלם יתהלך־איש, "man can walk upright only as long as he possesses the mark of having been created in the image of the Lord;" The Psalmist means that celestial beings will not take any notice of man once he forfeits his צלם אלוקים. We find a similar thought expressed in Kings II 3,14, when the prophet Elisha tells king Yehoram (the idolator) that "if I had not beheld (respected) the face of King Yehoshaphat king of Yehudah, I would not have even looked at you" the two kings were allied against Moav, Ed.]

פקד עון אבות, "Who remembers the sins of the fathers, etc." Having stated that G'd is "jealous," and knowing that in our world anyone who is jealous reacts promptly against the person he is jealous of, G'd might have been expected to react similarly. We know from many thousands of years of history, that people who have given G'd ample reason to be "jealous" appear to enjoy an undisturbed life. Where then was G'd's "jealousy?" Are we, G'd forbid, to assume that G'd was either unaware of these sinners or unable to punish them? The Torah therefore states that if we observe the very opposite of jealousy in G'd's apparent relationship to these sinners, the reason is that though it is His nature to be "jealous," He is also פקד, remembers things, i.e. He does not exact retribution immediately. His patience may extend for up to the fourth generation after the sins committed by the original sinner. G'd vows that His patience does not extend beyond the fourth generation. The reason why G'd practices this patience is that if He were to punish everybody immediately mankind would cease to exist. This is the only reason that G'd appears to turn a blind eye to the sins committed by people. He waits until the sinners' children grow up hoping that these children will pursue a lifestyle more to His liking. When the children of sinners do this it has a positive effect on their parents' standing in the hereafter (Sanhedrin 104). Should the children of the sinner continue the evil ways of their fathers, G'd considers this when He punishes the second generation; or, He may wait for an improvement of the third generation before He includes the sins of the fathers when He punishes that generation for its own sins. He will not defer punishment past the third generation as by that time the family of the original sinner has become so deeply rooted in the domain of the קליפה that there is no hope for rehabilitation by their own efforts. When G'd's "jealousy" finally is displayed against such a family it is much more destructive than had it been displayed already against the original sinner. On no account must we assume that G'd makes a rule of deferring punishment until the fourth generation. As far as G'd's timetable is concerned even punishment meted out in the fourth generation is considered "immediate." Three generations are considered three hundred years, whereas a day in G'd's terms is one thousand years in our terms. This is implied in the Torah saying: על, ועל instead of merely saying that G'd's patience would extend עד דור רביעי, until the fourth generation as the Torah says concerning the reward which will be paid לאלפים "up to two thousand generations."

The concept of G'd not displaying His jealousy against the sinners is something very confusing, especially so when such sinners keep piling new sins upon old ones and enjoy success (in their terms). Once one comprehends the fact that G'd may limit such success to four generations the fact that G'd sometimes appears to punish a particular family who do not appear to have been especially sinful becomes acceptable. This is what Assaph had in mind in Psalms 73,17 when he said "I will understand this in light of their eventual fate." He referred to people who were at the tail end of four generations of sinners and now experienced G'd's "jealousy." Whereas G'd never includes sins committed five generations ago in the punishment of a particular generation, the reverse is true of reward. Reward for good deeds may be extended for up to two thousand generations.

ועשה חסד לאלפים, "and Who performs deeds of loving kindness even to thousands." The main point is that even when G'd pays a reward He does not pay the entire reward in one generation but chooses the installments of such a reward in such a way that it maximises enjoyment of it over many generations. In a certain sense the reward is a form of protection against harmful experiences in store for subsequent generations. Shemot Rabbah 44,3 explains that if G'd had paid all the reward that Abraham was entitled to while he was alive, how (by what merit) would his descendents have been able to secure their livelihood? [how could G'd have found sufficient merit to forgive their descendants the sin of the golden calf? Ed.]

ולשומרי מצותיו, and to those who observe His commandments. According to Sotah 31 these words are not connected with the words "to thousands of generations." People who serve the Lord because they are afraid of punishment cannot expect subsequent generations to draw on their unexpired portion of reward for longer than one thousand generations, whereas the unexpired portion of the reward of people who served the Lord because of love for Him may remain valid for up to two thousand generations. The Talmud derives this from Deut. 7,9 where the Torah speaks about a reward extending for one thousand generations.

לא תשא את שם ה׳ אלוקיך לשוא. "Do not utter the name of the Lord your G'd in vain." There is a tendency for people to believe that if they include the name of G'd in an unnecessary oath no harm is done as the very mention of G'd's name is proof that they revere the Lord's name and this adds to His glory. Besides, they argue that as long as the one to whom such an oath is sworn is unaware that the oath is false, how could G'd's name have been desecrated? All the second party knows is that the G'd mentioned in the oath is the G'd of the person swearing it. So what harm is done? G'd replies to such thoughts by saying: לא תשא "do not (even) elevate the name of the Lord your G'd, etc. Even if you have the intention of conferring honour upon My name, do not do it; G'd will not let anyone get away with such use of His name." The reason is that His name was used falsely or needlessly.

Another reason why using G'd's name to make a lie believable is out of the question is because by doing so the person swearing the oath loses his צלם אלוקים, the image of G'd he has been created with and is known by. Such a person will become known instead as שוא, vain, false, worthless. G'd's name is "truth." Anyone associating that name with a lie, makes the name of G'd "fly away," seeing the person doing so has chosen something vain. An apt translation of this verse would be: "do not remove from yourself the name of the Lord your G'd on account of the pursuit of something that is vain, worthless."

There is also an allusion here that a Jew should not bandy about the name of G'd giving the impression to all and sundry that he is a true servant of the Lord whereas in reality in his heart he does not serve the Lord. This is why the Torah chose the expression לשוא, i.e. creating a false impression. It is a warning not to pretend to be G'd-fearing. G'd will not allow such people to go unpunished.

זכור את יום השבת לקדשו, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." The meaning is that one should remember the Sabbath from the first day of the week. The Torah mentioned the seventh day before it mentioned the six days previous to the Sabbath in order to drive home the point that the Sabbath must be uppermost in our thoughts already prior to the six days preceding it. Were this not so the Torah would have written: "perform your work during six days and remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy."

The expression לקדשו also implies making preparation such as the sages explained in Beytzah 16 that one should prepare for the Sabbath from the first day of the week onwards.

An additional reason why the Torah tells us to remember the Sabbath day is mentioned in Midrash Tehilim 92. Adam was created on the sixth day and sinned on that day. Along came the Sabbath and acted as advocate for Adam in front of G'd. He pleaded with G'd saying: "no human being has ever been killed; why should it fall to my lot to be the first day on which a human being is killed?" As a result of the Sabbath's plea Adam was saved from death at that time. When Adam realised this he composed this Psalm, singing the praises of the Sabbath. The Torah asks us to remember the Sabbath as the day which saved Adam's life because this fact also insured our own existence and that of all of mankind. It behooves us therefore to accord special honour to the Sabbath. The Sabbath proved to be our very life-saver. When someone experiences a miraculous escape on a certain day he will forever treat that day as special year after year on the anniversay of that event. In this instance the miracle did not only occur on the Sabbath day, but the Sabbath itself was the life-saver. It is appropriate therefore that we remember this every week. The Torah wishes us to remember that the Sabbath day is to be in a totally different category from all the other six days of the week.

The Torah says: זכור את יום השבת, that we must remember the day by name. We sanctify the Sabbath by remembering it by name. You may appropriately translate this verse as follows: "Remember the day; what are you to remember? Sabbath." The reason that we are to sanctify it is because G'd's name is also Sabbath. Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai states in his Zohar volume 2 page 88 that the name of G'd is Sabbath. Afterwards the Torah amplifies which of the seven days of the week is called Sabbath by writing: "during six days you shall perform all your work and on the seventh day is Sabbath;" this teaches that the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week. [You will note that the word "Sabbath" did not occur in the Torah's description of the creation. Ed.]

ששת ימים תעבוד, "During six days you shall labour, etc." Seeing that the Torah also speaks about "and you shall do all your work," what exactly did G'd mean when He said: "you shall labour during six days?" We may have to understand this in terms of Leviticus 25,20-21. The Torah quotes the Jewish farmer who has been asked to observe the Shmittah year as asking in the seventh year: "what shall we eat?" The Torah there answers that G'd will command the earth to supply sufficient harvests during the sixth year to last for three years. This is exactly what G'd alludes to here. When the Torah commanded us to keep the Sabbath holy this means that no profane matters are to be performed on the Sabbath. If so, seeing that most people perform enough work on one day to feed themselves on that day, what are they to eat on the Sabbath? G'd answers: "you shall labour for six days and do all your work." The clear implication is that the amount of work you perform on the six days will produce your needs also for the Sabbath. G'd assures those who keep His commandments that they will not suffer any hardship as a result.

Another aspect of the phrase ששת ימים is that once the Sabbath arrives you are to feel that the work week is over; you are not to think about work you have not been able to complete last week and have to continue next week, etc. The domain called ששת ימים and the domain called שבת are mutually exclusive. The author refers the reader to a story related in Shabbat 150 of someone who imposed a penalty on himself for having contemplated repairing a fence which had collapsed on the Sabbath. As a result of his decision not to repair the fence and thereby to expose himself to serious financial loss, a miracle happened and in the place where the break had occurred a caper bush grew which provided him and his family with an adequate income forthwith so that he did not need to restore the breach in the fence.

ויום השביעי שבת, "and the seventh day is Sabbath, etc." The verse means that "by observing the seventh day as Sabbath you confirm that the Lord is your G'd." This is why Shemot Rabbah 25 describes the Sabbath as equal to the entire Torah in importance. Perhaps there is another allusion in the very word שבת which suggests that it is equal to the entire Torah. We know that the commandments which the Israelites heard from the mouth of Moses totalled 611. The other two commandments i.e. the first two of the Ten Commandments they heard directly from the mouth of G'd. The first of these was a positive commandment, the second a negative one. We know that the positive commandments are perceived as originating with the attribute of Mercy seeing it is these for which we receive a reward. The negative commandments are perceived as originating with the attribute of Justice, seeing violation results in punishment. When you look at the numerical value of the tetragram י־ה־ו־ה plus the name א־ד־נ־י you obtain a total of 91. When you add 611, i.e. the commandments Israel received through an intermediary you get the numerical value of the word שבת, =702.

We also have a statement in Shabbat 118 that if someone observes the Sabbath meticulously his sins will be forgiven even if they included idolatry of the type Enosh was guilty of. When the Torah writes: "and the seventh day will be Sabbath for the Lord your G'd," the word "your G'd" must be understood as "the G'd who is your exclusive G'd," i.e. you have thereby indicated that you have accepted Him as your only G'd. This is derived from reading the words: ויום השביעי שבת לשם אלוקיך, "and on the seventh day you demonstrate by keeping the Sabbath that you are committed only to the Lord your G'd."

The words שבת לשם are to teach us that if one observes the Sabbath as a day on which one recharges one's physical batteries, this is not what the Sabbath is all about. Unless one demonstrates that the Sabbath is the day of the Lord, one has not observed it in the true meaning of the word.

The conjunctive letter ו which connects the words תעבוד ויום השביעי suggests that far from not having any work to perform on the Sabbath, you are to perform work of a different nature. On that day the work you perform is for G'd instead of for yourself. Only מלאכתך, your work, is not to be done on that day.

וינח ביום השביעי, He rested on the seventh day, etc. The Torah cleverly forbids among the 39 categories of forbidden work also such activities which do not involve something causing fatigue. Moving an object from a private domain to a public domain or vice versa does not represent any "work" in the regular sense of the word. There are other such activities (writing two letters of the alphabet for instance) all of which are nonetheless prohibited on pain of death. A person may say to himself that since such acitivities do not involve physical effort why should there be a death penalty for performing such activities on the Sabbath? The Torah answers that the work prohibition is not related to the amount of effort involved. If G'd rested on the seventh day it was certainly not because He had become tired of creating the universe and needed a rest. Isaiah 40,28 puts it succinctly: "He never grows faint or weary." The word מנוחה in the sense of rest as we use it, i.e. rest in order to recover from exhaustion, is quite inappropriate when applied to G'd. Any activity to which the term מלאכה is applicable is prohibited regardless of the physical or mental effort involved.

The words כי ששת ימים עשה also mean that G'd created the world in order for it to endure for six days. It follows that He has to "renew" creation i.e. to issue a directive for the universe's continued existence every single day. The means He uses is the soul of the day called Sabbath which He created by "resting." The fact that G'd desisted from creative activity after the sixth day resulted in the Sabbath coming into existence. Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 10,9 indicate that prior to the Sabbath the world was in a constant state of turmoil. When the Sabbath came the world calmed down. Compare also what I have written on Genesis 2,2.

למען יאריכון ימיך, "so that your days will be long, etc." The expression יאריכון implies that this will be a natural consequence; it is not a reward by G'd. Had it been intended as a reward, The Torah would have had to write something like: "I will lengthen your life, etc." The Torah may have taught us that the miraculous feature which attends performance of honouring father and mother is that persons doing so will enjoy long life. There are several commandments which are associated with miraculous phenomena; in all such cases this is not part of the reward for performing them.