Download January 29, 2015 Sermon Itró The Ten Com[...]

The Ten Commandments
Parashat Yitro B´nei Israel, 2016
Rabbi Dario Feiguin
The Ten Commandments represent an ethical and spiritual foundation, not only for
Judaism, but for all the revealed religions, including Christianity and Islam. For us,
these few verses that we will read from the Torah tomorrow are a starting point.
Today I would like to briefly touch on them.
As the commentaries note, the first three involve the relationship between Man and
His G-d.
The first, in fact, is not even a commandment; instead, it is the recognition that the
World and History have direction. G-d is the G-d of history, who took us out of
Mitzrayim, who acts in the here and now, in our lives, with our families, and in
everyday life. This is not a philosophical or metaphysical description. G-d is a
direction, a purpose, one that remains unexplained, as part of a mystery that we
cannot comprehend.
The second commandment speaks about idolatry, how we are not to have idols or
false gods – nothing to take the place of that direction.
Nothing material, and nothing imagined by the human mind.
We could speak for a long time about our contemporary idolatry and how we prostrate
ourselves before and worship invented gods, even going so far as to call them Adonai,
Elohim, Hashem or Tzevaot.
The third commandment is to not take G-d’s name in vain.
If there is anything that darkens our lives, it is dishonesty. It is especially the case
when we lie to ourselves, before we talk about others. These are lies before G-d,
before the One that for some reason, we do not want to or cannot acknowledge.
We cannot use G-d as an excuse, not even when we think we are doing good.
The fourth commandment is a hinge, a pivot. It is the one that refers to Shabbat. Up
to this point, the commandments dealt with the relationship between Man and his Gd. From the fifth commandment forward, the focus shifts to the relationship between
Man and his neighbor, introducing the concept of the “other;” here begins the ethical
dimension, which deepens the content of the first commandments, those that speak
to monotheism, by imbuing them with the horizontal aspect of the relationship
between Man and Man.
As I mentioned, the fourth commandment, which refers to Shabbat, is a sort of pivot.
It appears to be a commandment related to G-d, but it also has a major social
component. First, it underlines the value of work, clearly stating, “Six days you shall
work…” and then it recognizes the importance of rest on the seventh day, in
remembrance of creation (text in Exodus) and the exodus from Egypt (text in
Deuteronomy).
The “pivot” carries the clear message that all of us rest on Shabbat. We are equals in
that regard. All of us have the obligation to sanctify Shabbat by our relationships, not
only the vertical one, but by those that include other people. For this reason, Shabbat
is so central and essential to Jewish practice. In the words of Achad Ha’am, “More
than Jews have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the Jews."
The fifth commandment is concerned with respect and honor for parents. It is the only
one that has a specific reward – longer life. The sages understood this to mean that
we should be “continuers,” to make our lives more than just a limited time period.
Do not kill,
do not commit adultery,
do not steal,
do not bear false witness or lie to your neighbor,
and do not covet that which belongs to your neighbor,
are five commandments that clearly deal with ethics, or the relation between Man and
Man.
If you ask me what the purpose of Judaism is, I think I would respond by saying that it
is to live an ethical life, trying to do right by our neighbors, our surroundings, our
history, based on the idea of monotheism that makes us all brothers/sisters, and
equals.
And one more thought. In his commentary on the parashah, Arnie Eisen, Chancellor of
the Jewish Theological Seminary, says that the Ten Commandments make clear that
Judaism is more than a religion. They are not restricted to G-d; in fact, they are
principally focused on human beings.
And I would like to add something else. It is not possible to be a Jew alone, even alone
with G-d. There have to be ten people for a minyan, which is required to read the
Torah. It is essential to come together in family for Shabbat and Pesach. We have to
give the mitzvot that deal with the relationship with G-d a human and social
dimension.
We are not just a religion. We are a people, composed of individuals, with history,
traditions, folklore, language and national identity, the Land of Israel, common destiny,
and the ethical mission of improving and transforming the world (not only the Jews)
and making it more livable.
The Ten Commandments plant the seed of what would become the predominant
rabbinical vision expressed in the Midrash and the Talmud, that we are G-d’s partners
in the as-yet incomplete work of creation.
We need Him, but He needs us as well. Not for Himself, but for us.
This is why we work together to build a Synagogue, day-by-day, so that we can live
ethical monotheism and vibrant Judaism, in community. We know it cannot be any
other way, because even when outside forces push us toward confrontation and
discord, we turn to our belief in sharing, in the gestalt of the collective, and the
transformative power of the minyan.
We need to re-focus. We need to once again believe that a birth, a Bar Mitzvah, a
chuppah, and even mourning, acquires a special dimension when the community is
present and responsive. This year, for me, this is the message of the Ten
Commandments.
Despite the inevitable mistakes that come with action, it should be everyone’s
intention to give, to support, to contribute to the building that is for the benefit of one
and all. To contribute is to do, give, work, participate, make a commitment, not just
criticize.
Let us give it a try, and even if once in a while we get a little lost, may we be able to reencounter ourselves in the joy of being Jewish, in community.
Translated by Phil Gelman