The Ten Commandments are more famous than understood. The greatest difficulty for the human mind is probably Commandment Number 1. "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the Land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Ex. 20:2) - what sort of commandment is that?

The fact is that it doesn't need to be a commandment at all if we go by the Hebrew title, "Aseret HaDib'rot" (Ten Words, Ten Principles). Nonetheless Maimonides includes this first statement in the list of commandments, though he admits that if a person believes in God no commandment is needed and if they do not believe, no commandment helps. Belief can not be imposed or legislated. You can order me to believe, but you are wasting your time unless my heart and soul have already freely chosen to believe.

We can defend Maimonides, however, if we move to the second part of the verse. "I am the Lord your God" is not saying, "Believe in My existence", but "Believe that it was I who brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt". The question is not whether God exists - that is axiomatic from page 1 of the Bible - but whether He relates to His creation.

The sages said that a Roman noblewoman asked, "What has your God being doing since the six days of Creation?" In other words, "Is God only in the background or does He do anything for His world?" The rabbi to whom she posed the question said that God busies Himself making marriages, i.e. He concerns Himself with relationships. We believe not just that He is, but that it is He who is in charge of the world.


PRIESTS OR PROPHETS?

In the Bible there are two ways of being a religious leader. One can be a kohen, a priest concerned with rituals and practices, or a prophet who preaches the word of HaShem.

Today's portion defines Israel as a people of priests - "mamlechet kohanim v'goy kadosh" - "a kingdom of kohanim, a holy people" (Ex. 19:6). We all minister to God in His sanctuary, not merely in the official house of worship but in the home (the "mikdash m'at", the "miniature temple"), the factory, office, school and street. We have prayers to say, kashrut to maintain, Sabbaths and festivals to honour. Every day of the year, every stage in life has its rituals to observe. That might be called the particularistic dimension of Jewish identity: we are Jews "far zich" - "amongst ourselves".

From the example of Moses (Deut. 34:10) we also learn that we are a people of prophets with a universalistic mission amongst mankind. As prophets we belong to the world. Alenu, the great concluding prayer of every Jewish service, written by Rav in the 3rd century CE, sums up our two dimensions: particularism in the first paragraph, universalism in the second. The prophetic role begins with Judaism but is capable of being shared by other peoples.


NO OTHER GODS?

To read about this, click on the following link


For more of Rabbi Apple's insights on Parashat Yitro, visit the OzTorah website

Shabbat Shalom!