YITRO - Exodus (18:1-20:23) part 2, Torah Lesson Plan, or YHVH Homepage
The Ten Commandments as given to us; Two columns starting from the right column, “I am…”, and then the left:
Not Kill I am Hashem...
No Adultery There Shall not be...
Not steal Do not use the name in vain...
No false witness Remember the Shabbat...
Not to covet Honor father and mother...
These Commandments where given on two tablets as one. What does this mean?
That one side reflects on the other.
He who kills, it is as if he is killing God Himself. He who goes to
idols, it is as if one commits adultery. He who uses Hashem’s Name in
vain, steals. He who denies the Shabbat and the 6 days of creation, lies
about God. He who does not honor his parents but rather another. Covets.
At Mattan Torah (the giving of the Ten Commandments at Sinai) the Torah
informs us; “And Hashem spoke all these words, saying…” The commentators
dwell upon the meaning of the double expression, or superfluous insertion
of the word “leimor - saying, or, to say.” Whenever the Torah uses this
expression, leimor, it implies to repeat, or convey those words to the
people of Israel who did not hear them at the time. But when the Torah
was given all Jews were present and all heard. So, in this verse, what
could the word leimor possibly imply?
The Maggid of Mezhirech explains in Or Torah, that mattan Torah served to
unite and infuse the Aseret Hadibrot (Ten Commandments ) of the Torah into
the Asarah Ma’amarot (Ten Utterances of Creation). The Zohar interprets
the double expression of the word “ten” in the verse of Numbers 7: 86;
“each spoon weighing ten, ten shekels after the holy shekels” to indicate
that the Asarah Ma’amarot (Ten Utterances) correspond to the Ten
Commandments. Thus we find in our text “Vayedaber… leimor” (And Hashem
‘spoke…. Saying…), to infuse the Vayedaber (spoke, an allusion to the Ten
Commandments) into the leimor (saying, an allusion to the Ten Utterances).
Within the understanding of Avodah Hashem (our service to God) this means
that the light of Torah, the Ten Commandments, must be made to radiate
even in our worldly matters, in the Ten Utterances (that which brings the
physical to manifestation).
There are those amongst us who perceive Torah and Creation as two separate
entities. In a Torah environment they will conduct themselves according
to the Torah - such as in synagogue, funerals, our amongst Torah scholars,
but in a worldly environment they will act according to the perceptions
and practices of the world. In truth, however, all his affairs, even
those relating to the world, must follow the premises of the Torah. Here,
we are not discussing things which are forbidden. After all, that which
is prohibited is out of the question. Rather, even in the sphere of
things permitted one must not be guided by the perspectives of the world
at large, but rather by Torah premises.
For it is within the permitted actions where we can infuse kidushah
(holiness - separateness), and elevate it above and beyond the derech ha’aretz
(the
ways of the world).
This idea illuminates the verse in Tehillim (Psalms 42:4); “My tears were
sustenance for me, day and night, when it is said to me all day long
‘Where is your God?’ “ ‘My tears were sustenance for me, day and night:’
he is so embittered that his tears have replaced all other nourishment,
and as known, bitterness of the heart and soul has the effect of removing
any feeling of hunger (desire). And the verse explains the cause for this
depression, ‘when it is said to me,’ (from above in the form of a demand)
“Where is your God all day long?”
The term used for “Your God” in our verse of Psalms above is “Elokecha.”
Elokecha alluding to the physical attribute of God, His manifested
strength. Hence in our verse it is phrased as “’Your’ God - Your Strength
and your life force.” Who is Elokecha? That which is Above it,
Hashem, the Divine Name, Y-H-V-H, the One Who is above time and space, the
One Who transcends the process of the creative development which leads
down to the manifestation of Elokecha. He is Elokecha, your strength and
your life force. Anochi Hashem Elokecha (the first of the Ten
Commandments) - I am Y-H-V-H Elokecha - I am Hashem your God. Anochi (I
am) stands for Anochi mi sheAnochi, I am who I am, the One that is not
alluded to by any letter of jot, He is Elokecha, your strength and your
life force.
This then is the demand from above: Where is Elokecha all day long?
Where is your awareness of the Anochi Y-H-V-H Elokecha all day long? The
first of the Ten Commandments.
For a person to sense this attribute of Hashem at times of contemplation,
study or prayer is not enough. That is not the true ultimate intent, for
that could be achieved even with angels or with the souls above as they
are under the Throne of Glory. The purpose of the soul’s descent into a
body is to purify the body and the animal soul - and all the wonderful
plates which it is served (the events which we are confronted with on a
daily basis). The soul by itself is not in need of any tikun (mending) at
all, as our Tanya relates in chapter 37. Man must be conscious of the
principle of Elokecha all day long, when he eats, drinks, conducts
business, and converses with others, even as he understands and senses
this principle at the time of prayer and Torah study.
To expand further on this, there are those who claim that the teachings of
the esoteric, Kabbalah, or Chassidut, belong to the realm of the esoteric,
the hidden, and thus should not be studied, Heaven forbid. The reponse to
this is as follows:
At the time of mattan Torah (giving of the Ten Commandments) the whole
Torah was given, both the revealed Torah, and the esoteric, hidden Torah.
In fact, the revealed Torah, the Five Books of Moses - Torah - Bible, was
then concealed within the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments consist
of 620 letters, this alludes to the 620 mitzvot, the 613 mitzvot of the
written, revealed Torah, and the 7 Rabbinical Mitzvot [1. The recitation
of the Halel prayer at appropriate times, 2. The reading of the Scroll of
Esther on Purim, 3. The lighting of the Chanukah lights. 4. The lighting
of the Shabbat lights. 5. The ritual washing of the hands before eating
bread. 6. The recitation of blessings before partaking of food, mitzvot,
or permissible material pleasures. 7. The requirement of an eruv to permit
certain actions on the Sabbath and Holidays.]. Thus, all mitzvot were
given in the Ten Commandments, all 620 of them, but only by allusion and
in a concealed form. The hidden part of Torah became more manifest at the
time when all of Israel saw there Ma’aseh Merkavah (The workings of The
Chariot) [as alluded to in the verse “The Chariot of God… thousands of
shinan… in holiness at Sinai (Psalms 68:18). The word Shi-N-A-N is an
acronym for; Shor (ox), Nesher (eagle), Aryeh (lion), and the final letter
‘nun’, or “N” stands for the face of man - all of this explaining Ezekiels
vision of The Chariot (Ezekiel 1:10)]. This is the very substance of the
hidden Torah.
Those who are opposed to the study of the hidden Torah generally use two
arguments: One: If this study were essential, why was it not done before?
If, for so many years, we were able to do without Chassidut, obviously it
is not really essential. Two: This kind of study leads to a nullification
of the manifested physical world, a nullification of all matter and
empirical substance - which means pure negation [with no apparent positive
elements].
The response to this is as follows:
The Rambam notes that just as there are diseases and cures relating to the
body, so too, there are diseases and cures relating to the soul. Thus it
follows that much can be learned from physical diseases and cures with
regard to the diseases and cures of the soul. Disease, may Hashem the
Merciful spare us from such, generally means a defect or disorder in a
certain part of the body. There is, though, a disease where the body does
not lack anything, but is in fact added to by a growth of new tissue. One
might say ‘who cares that there is an extra growth, since nothing is
missing from those parts that should be present?’ Nonetheless, this is
clearly seen as a disease. In fact, this may be a disease much more
serious than if there had been a defect in the body, indeed so serious
that people avoid calling it by its name. The extra growth is damaging to
that part where it is and may, Heaven forbid, spread ever further. Just
as the disease differs from all others, so, too, is its cure different
from all others. With other cures one “adds” something to the body. The
cure for this disease, however, is to destroy the additional part, and
that is how the patient’s health may be truly restored. The cure for
this disease was discovered only a few generations ago. The ways to use
this cure was discovered still later, and research continues in that field
in the hopes of perfecting it.
Someone may refuse to use this cure because; One: the purpose of medicine
is to expand and strengthen the body and not destroy it, and; Two: for
generations after generations no one used that technique, and thus he
refuses to listen to those new doctors with their new cures. He is
conventional and will follow the traditional way. Surely everyone can see
the self evident fallacy of these arguments.
Strengthening and expanding applies only to the healthy parts of the body,
but not to the growth which must be destroyed as it is altogether
extraneous and harmful to it.
It the past this disease was not as known and prevalent as it is now.
Thus there was little research in that field and, most significantly,
Providence did not furnish the appropriate cure. Lately, however, as the
disease has become more pronounced, may Hashem spare us, the Holy One,
blessed is He, “created a healing before the disease”, and provided us
with the cure. For the Torah teaches us that no problem exists without
first manifesting the solution.
All physical entities derive from their roots and counterparts in the
spiritual realm. This applies also to the disease and cure discussed
above. The fact of its greater prevalence in our times, within our
present generation is related to the spiritual counterparts in our present
generation as well.
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