{"id":41845,"date":"2018-07-09T18:50:41","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T15:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-70\/"},"modified":"2023-05-30T12:42:51","modified_gmt":"2023-05-30T09:42:51","slug":"wall-70","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-70\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Torah-Exodus-20"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"70","date":"20251204","book":"Exodus","chapter":"20","chapter_main_number":"70","books_group":"Torah","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"41970","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"Exodus 20 - Judy Hammond ","post_title":"Exodus 20 - Judy Hammond","slug":"exodus-20-judy-hammond","old_id":"41970","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"70","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"Exodus 20","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"read by Judy Hammond","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/exodus-chapter-20-read-by-judy-hammond","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"20","chapter_main_number":"70","date":"20251204","wall_id":"70"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"104747","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Are There Two Decalogues? ","post_title":"Are There Two Decalogues?","slug":"are-there-two-decalogues","old_id":"104747","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University in 1974. He has lectured and written extensively on Modern Orthodoxy, and blogs daily at https:\/\/yaakovbieler.wordpress.com ","short_description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"70","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"They were broken after all\u2026\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

It is impossible to properly study the Ten Commandments as they appear in Exodus 20 without comparing them with the text in Deuteronomy 5. One could claim that the two versions reflect the fact that the original tablets were broken by Moses (in Exodus 32:19) allowing for the second ones to be \u201cimproved upon.\u201d But the Tanach gives no indication that the \u201creplacement\u201d tablets, which God also inscribed (see 16; 34:1) were any different from the first.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Perhaps the most profound change is the universalistic rationale for the Shabbat appearing in the first tablets, and the more particularistic one in the second:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

For in six days God made heaven and earth and sea\u2014and all that is in them\u2014and then rested on the seventh day\u2026 (Ex. 20:11)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and your God freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm\u2026 (Deut. 5:15)<\/span><\/p>\r\n

A more subtle disparity is the addition of a phrase in the second rendering of the commandment of observing the Sabbath, and respecting one\u2019s parents, that doesn\u2019t appear in the contents of the first tablets:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

8<\/span> Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy ( )...\u00a0 12<\/span> Honor your father and your mother, ( ) that you may long endure on the land that your God is assigning to you (Ex. 20:8, 12).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

12 Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, <\/span>as your God has commanded you<\/span><\/em>\u2026 <\/span>16 <\/b>Honor your father and your mother, <\/span>as your God has commanded you<\/span><\/em>, that you may long endure, and that you may fare well, in the land that your God is assigning to you (Deut. 5:12, 16).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Even if one is expected to believe that God is capable of simultaneously presenting multiple ideas with regard to His revelation, which human beings cannot, still, why is this particular supplement made specifically in these two commandments as opposed to the others?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rashbam asserts that only keeping the Sabbath, and respecting parents, are positive commandments, compared to the tablets\u2019 other statements, that are all negative.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

You shall have no other gods before me.
\r\n<\/span>You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image\u2026
\r\n<\/span>You shall not bow down to them\u2026
\r\n<\/span>You shall not swear falsely by the name of your God\u2026
\r\n<\/span>Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.
\r\n<\/span>Honor your father and your mother\u2026
\r\n<\/span>You shall not murder.
\r\n<\/span>You shall not commit adultery.
\r\n<\/span>You shall not steal.
\r\n<\/span>You shall not bear false witness \u2026
\r\n<\/span>You shall not covet\u2026<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The commentator asserts that since the term <\/span>tzivcha, <\/span><\/i>\u201ccommanded you\u201d is pertinent only to positive commandments, only for these two can the phrase be applied.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":62945,"alt":"","title":"1kings21-ten commandments","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","width":295,"height":360,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments-246x300.jpg","medium-width":246,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","medium_large-width":295,"medium_large-height":360,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","large-width":295,"large-height":360,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","1536x1536-width":295,"1536x1536-height":360,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","2048x2048-width":295,"2048x2048-height":360,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","post_full_size-width":295,"post_full_size-height":360,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","home_baner-width":295,"home_baner-height":360}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Are There Two Decalogues?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"They were broken after all\u2026","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":62945,"alt":"","title":"1kings21-ten commandments","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","width":295,"height":360,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments-246x300.jpg","medium-width":246,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","medium_large-width":295,"medium_large-height":360,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","large-width":295,"large-height":360,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","1536x1536-width":295,"1536x1536-height":360,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","2048x2048-width":295,"2048x2048-height":360,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","post_full_size-width":295,"post_full_size-height":360,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings21-ten-commandments.jpg","home_baner-width":295,"home_baner-height":360}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"20","chapter_main_number":"70","date":"20251204","wall_id":"70"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"541","name":"Revelation","old_id":"941"},{"term_id":"652","name":"Commandments","old_id":"1052"}]},{"order":3,"id":"104749","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"Commandments ","post_title":"Commandments","slug":"commandments","old_id":"104749","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":44967,"post_title":"Abe Mezrich","slug":"abe-mezrich","old_id":"44967","first_name":"Abe ","last_name":"Mezrich ","description":"Abe Mezrich wants to know what our sacred texts say about our world right now. 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Learn more at www.abemezrich.com.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":101452,"alt":"","title":"-61fd0e6c351e2--61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG.jpg","width":1914,"height":1754,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-300x275.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":275,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-768x704.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":704,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-1024x938.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":938,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1408,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG.jpg","2048x2048-width":1914,"2048x2048-height":1754,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-1200x1100.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1100,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/12\/61fd0e6c351e2-61fd0e6c351e3Abe_Mezrich.JPG-458x420.jpg","home_baner-width":458,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"70","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"\u2026 be like God","post_main_content_content":"

Commandment 2<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Have no idols:
\r\nimages to worship
\r\nof the things of the heavens
\r\n& of the earth
\r\n& of the waters.<\/p>\r\n


\r\nCommandment 4<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Keep the Sabbath
\r\nas God did.<\/p>\r\n


\r\nTogether<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Do not seek out gods.
\r\nBe like God.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

___<\/p>\r\n

Based on ideas of Rav Yehuda Amital and Yonatan Grossman<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":60366,"alt":"","title":"2sam12-thou shalt not","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not.jpg","width":1920,"height":1488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not-300x233.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":233,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not-768x595.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":595,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not-1024x794.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":794,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1190,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not-1200x930.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":930,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not-542x420.jpg","home_baner-width":542,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"Commandments","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"\u2026 be like God","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":60366,"alt":"","title":"2sam12-thou shalt not","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not.jpg","width":1920,"height":1488,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not-300x233.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":233,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not-768x595.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":595,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not-1024x794.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":794,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1190,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1488,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not-1200x930.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":930,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/2sam12-thou-shalt-not-542x420.jpg","home_baner-width":542,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"20","chapter_main_number":"70","date":"20251204","wall_id":"70"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"362","name":"Poetry","old_id":"762"},{"term_id":"384","name":"God","old_id":"784"},{"term_id":"652","name":"Commandments","old_id":"1052"}]},{"order":4,"id":"104744","color":"#f7e9e9","size":"1","name":"What Are The Ten Commandments? ","post_title":"What Are The Ten Commandments?","slug":"what-are-the-ten-commandments","old_id":"104744","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"70","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"That is: we know there are ten. But which is which?\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

The Torah refers to them as Ten Commandments in chapter 34, but how do \u201cthe ten\u201d break up? The verses are as follows:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

(2) I am God your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage: <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>(3) You shall have no other gods besides Me. <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>(4) You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth. <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>(5) You shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I your God am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children, upon the third and upon the fourth generations of those who reject Me, <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>(6) but showing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments.(S)\u00a0 <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>(7) You shall not swear falsely by the name of your God; for God will not clear one who swears falsely by God\u2019s name. (S) <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>(8) Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>(9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>(10) but the seventh day is a sabbath of your God: you shall not do any work\u2014you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>(11) For in six days God made heaven and earth and sea\u2014and all that is in them\u2014and then rested on the seventh day; therefore God blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it (S). <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>(12) Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that your God is assigning to you (S). <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>(13) You shall not murder (S). You shall not commit adultery (S). You shall not steal (S). You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor (S). <\/span>
\r\n<\/span>(14) You shall not covet your neighbor\u2019s house: (S) you shall not covet your neighbor\u2019s wife, or male or female slave, or ox or ass, or anything that is your neighbor\u2019s (S).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

As noted by the (S) above, the Torah breaks after verse 6, 7, 11, and 12. 13 is split into four, verse 14 in two.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Different commentators read this differently. Ibn Ezra reads honor thy parents as the fifth with the first five each using God\u2019s name. This reading follows the Talmud (e.g., Makkot 24a), where verse one is Commandment 1, and verse two is commandment 2.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The iteration of this text in Deuteronomy chapter 5 places breaks for the verses of the commandments the same way as Exodus. Perhaps the Talmud aimed to break up the commandments thematically with the first five being commandments that honor God and the second five honoring people. The commandment to honor parents straddles the two. Perhaps, it is as simple as Ibn Ezra listing the first five using God\u2019s name. Or perhaps the fact that it is unclear further embraces the idea that these ten have no extra significance within the 613 total commandments.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104745,"alt":"","title":"-627b4abc0b37d--627b4abc0b37eex20-ten commandments decalogue.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"What Are The Ten Commandments?","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"That is: we know there are ten. But which is which?","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":104745,"alt":"","title":"-627b4abc0b37d--627b4abc0b37eex20-ten commandments decalogue.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg-300x200.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":200,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg-768x512.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg-1024x683.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":683,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg-1200x800.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":800,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2022\/05\/627b4abc0b37d-627b4abc0b37eex20-ten-commandments-decalogue.jpg-630x420.jpg","home_baner-width":630,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"20","chapter_main_number":"70","date":"20251204","wall_id":"70"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"541","name":"Revelation","old_id":"941"},{"term_id":"652","name":"Commandments","old_id":"1052"}]},{"order":5,"id":"48109","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"2","name":"Jethro: You Have Been As Eyes For Us ","post_title":"Jethro: You Have Been As Eyes For Us","slug":"jethro-you-have-been-as-eyes-for-us","old_id":"48109","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36663,"post_title":"Beth Kissileff","slug":"beth-kissileff","old_id":"36663","first_name":"Beth ","last_name":"Kissileff ","description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (2016 - https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/us\/reading-genesis-9780567381521), and the forthcoming Reading Exodus, and the author of the novel Questioning Return - https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Questioning-Return-Novel-Beth-Kissileff\/dp\/1942134231. \r\nHer journalism appears in many publications; she has taught most recently at the University of Pittsburgh. Visit her online at www.bethkissileff.com. ","short_description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (Bloomsbury\/ T and T Clark, 2016) , a journalist and teacher.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36664,"alt":"","title":"BethKissileff","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","width":3478,"height":3200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-300x276.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":276,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-768x707.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":707,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1024x942.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":942,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1413,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1884,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1200x1104.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1104,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-456x420.jpg","home_baner-width":456,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1028","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Learning from the experience and the wisdom of the nations","post_main_content_content":"

Everyone needs a good pair of eyes.\u00a0Even Moses, the divine seer par excellence, able to see God face to face as no other human can (Deut. 34:10).<\/p>\r\n

Jethro, Moses\u2019 father in law who this portion is named for, is called Moses\u2019 eyes\u00a0in the portion of Beha'alotecha.\u00a0In Numbers 10:31,\u00a0Moses pleads with Jethro not to leave the Israelites in the desert for Jethro has \u201cbeen as eyes for us.\u201d Why does God\u2019s greatest prophet (no other prophet is like him, Deut. 34:10 tells us) need a Midianite priest like his father in law for assistance?\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

There are not too many portions named for non-Jews (Noah, Jethro, Korach and Balak) and not all of these names are admirable characters.\u00a0So why would the portion that contains the revelation at Sinai, the thunder and lightning and an experience so powerful the midrash tells us that even a lowly maid saw more at Sinai than the greatest of prophets, be identified by the name of a non-Jew?<\/p>\r\n

Moses cannot accomplish his mission alone; no prophecy or vision however great or powerful can become actualized and implemented without a plan and a way to put things into action.\u00a0 When Moses begins to implement God\u2019s laws, anyone who \u201cseeks God\u201d (Exodus 18:15) needs to go through Moses as the intermediary and intercessor to God.\u00a0 Jethro tells Moses he will burn out if he continues as he is doing, by saying \u201cyou will wear out, you and the people that is with you, for the thing is too heavy for you, you cannot do it yourself alone\u201d (Exodus 18:18).<\/p>\r\n

Jethro advises Moses on a system of delegation.\u00a0Rulers over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens are suggested (Exodus 18: 21) and put into place (18:25).\u00a0It is only once there is a system for seeking God that the revelation can begin in chapters 19 and 20. The vision and wisdom of Jethro is indispensable to implementing the prophecy that Moses receives.<\/p>\r\n

The example of Moses, seeing his Midianite priest father in law as a source of wisdom and advice, is one contemporary Jews can learn from.\u00a0The image of Jethro as the eyes of Moses guiding the Israelites through the desert came to me when I and members of my New Light Congregation met with Pastor Eric Manning, his family and members of his Mother Emmanuel Church in Charleston, SC over the January weekend which honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.\u00a0Pastor Manning told us that he wanted to give us assistance to the extent that he could and a roadmap for us and the passages we may experience based on his understandings and those of his congregation.\u00a0I, and those who had an opportunity to learn from him, are deeply grateful.<\/p>\r\n

Rashi says of Jethro that he was willing to \u201ccome forth into the wilderness, a place of desolation, to hear words of Torah\u201d (Rashi on Exodus 18:5).\u00a0Revelation occurs in the desert, the place of emptiness, to bring the guidance on how to seek God\u2019s law that makes implementation of it possible.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

We must always know who can serve as our eyes, prophet or Midianite, and apply their wisdom if a revelatory moment is to become realized.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\r\n

photo by: Brandon Fish<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":48111,"alt":"","title":"beth-yitro-charelston-SC","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321.jpeg","width":1720,"height":998,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321-300x174.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":174,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321-768x446.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":446,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321-1024x594.jpeg","large-width":1024,"large-height":594,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321.jpeg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":891,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321.jpeg","2048x2048-width":1720,"2048x2048-height":998,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321-1200x696.jpeg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":696,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321-724x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":724,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Parashat Yitro 5779","tile_main_caption":"Jethro: You Have Been As Eyes For Us","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Learning from the experience and the wisdom of the nations","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":48111,"alt":"","title":"beth-yitro-charelston-SC","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321.jpeg","width":1720,"height":998,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321-150x150.jpeg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321-300x174.jpeg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":174,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321-768x446.jpeg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":446,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321-1024x594.jpeg","large-width":1024,"large-height":594,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321.jpeg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":891,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321.jpeg","2048x2048-width":1720,"2048x2048-height":998,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321-1200x696.jpeg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":696,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/beth-yitro-charelston-SC-e1548332188321-724x420.jpeg","home_baner-width":724,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1028"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"372","name":"Wisdom","old_id":"772"},{"term_id":"397","name":"Moses","old_id":"797"},{"term_id":"423","name":"Politics","old_id":"823"},{"term_id":"541","name":"Revelation","old_id":"941"},{"term_id":"603","name":"Jethro","old_id":"1003"}]},{"order":6,"id":"42163","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Honoring Parents: Not Only For Children! ","post_title":"Honoring Parents: Not Only For Children!","slug":"honoring-parents-not-only-for-children","old_id":"42163","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37918,"post_title":"Shai Held","slug":"shai-held","old_id":"37918","first_name":" Shai ","last_name":"Held","description":"Rabbi Shai Held, theologian, scholar, and educator, is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar, where he also directs the Center for Jewish Leadership and Ideas. A 2011 recipient of the prestigious Covenant Award for excellence in Jewish education, Rabbi Held has been named multiple times to Newsweek\u2019s list of the 50 most influential rabbis in America. He holds a doctorate in religion from Harvard; Rabbi Held's first book, Abraham Joshua Heschel: The Call of Transcendence, was published by Indiana University Press in 2013; The Heart of Torah, a collection of essays on the Torah in two volumes, was published by JPS in 2017.","short_description":"Rabbi Shai Held is President, Dean, and Chair in Jewish Thought at Hadar,","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37919,"alt":"","title":"shai held","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","width":150,"height":186,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium-width":150,"medium-height":186,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","medium_large-width":150,"medium_large-height":186,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","large-width":150,"large-height":186,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","1536x1536-width":150,"1536x1536-height":186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","2048x2048-width":150,"2048x2048-height":186,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","post_full_size-width":150,"post_full_size-height":186,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/shai-held.jpg","home_baner-width":150,"home_baner-height":186}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"70","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The main thrust of this commandment only kicks in when we ourselves are grown","post_main_content_content":"

The fifth of the Ten Commandments reads: \u201cHonor (<\/span>kabed<\/span><\/i>) your father and mother,<\/span> that you may long endure on the land that the Lord your God is giving to you (Exodus 20:12).\u201d<\/span> Noting that we are commanded to \u201chonor\u201d both our parents and God,<\/span> the Talmud concludes that Scripture equates the honor due parents with the honor due to God (BT Kiddushin 30b). And yet the parameters of the obligation are not obvious: What is required by the commandment, and even: to whom is it addressed?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Patrick Miller writes: \u201cThe commandment was not primarily directed to children, to tell them how to treat their parents, but to adults; this means that this commandment has in mind especially how mature adults are to treat their older or elderly parents.\u201d Caring for the frail and infirm can be exhausting and enervating, and the Torah worries about the all-too-human temptation to abandon them. The fifth commandment thus \u201cfocuses on the mature person, no longer under the control of parents and now probably stronger than they are in every way\u201d (<\/span>Deuteronomy, <\/span><\/i>1990, p. 84).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Walter Brueggemann writes that \u201cthe fifth commandment reflects parents who have by aging lost their productive capacity and therefore their social utility... it comes close to the Sabbath command that affirms that life does not consist in productivity. Sabbath is the celebration of life beyond and outside productivity.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Taken together, then, the obligations to observe Shabbat and honor parents make a powerful\u2014and in our own time, urgently important\u2014point: Our worth as human beings does not derive from our jobs or from how much we produce, but from the simple fact that we are created in the image of God. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":76545,"alt":"","title":"hos12-parents children","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children.png","width":1268,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children-297x300.png","medium-width":297,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children-768x775.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":775,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children-1014x1024.png","large-width":1014,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children.png","1536x1536-width":1268,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children.png","2048x2048-width":1268,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children-1189x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1189,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children-416x420.png","home_baner-width":416,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Honoring Parents: Not Only For Children!","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The main thrust of this commandment only kicks in when we ourselves are grown","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":76545,"alt":"","title":"hos12-parents children","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children.png","width":1268,"height":1280,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children-297x300.png","medium-width":297,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children-768x775.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":775,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children-1014x1024.png","large-width":1014,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children.png","1536x1536-width":1268,"1536x1536-height":1280,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children.png","2048x2048-width":1268,"2048x2048-height":1280,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children-1189x1200.png","post_full_size-width":1189,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/hos12-parents-children-416x420.png","home_baner-width":416,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"20","chapter_main_number":"70","date":"20251204","wall_id":"70"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"428","name":"Parent","old_id":"828"},{"term_id":"652","name":"Commandments","old_id":"1052"}]},{"order":7,"id":"42959","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Yitro - 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In the ancient Near East, a common type of treaty bound a sovereign (called the suzerain) and its vassal. The powerful suzerain would promise protection to the vassal in exchange for their loyalty and the fulfillment of particular obligations. These treaties usually included the following elements:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

1.a preamble introducing the parties to the treaty;
\r\n<\/span>2. a historical overview of the parties\u2019 relationship, focusing on what the suzerain has already done for the vassal;
\r\n<\/span>3. obligations that the vassal must fulfill; and
\r\n<\/span>4. blessings and curses tied to the fulfillment of or failure to fulfill the treaty\u2019s terms.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Decalogue in Exodus 20 headlines the treaty between God and Israel (called <\/span>sefer ha-berit<\/span><\/i>, the \u201cCovenant Code,\u201d in<\/span> Exod 24:7), and includes a number of these elements \u2013 if not always in identical sequence (all translations from NJPS).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

1. An introduction indicating the superior party in the covenant between God and Israel: \u201cI the Lord am your God\u201d (Exod 20:2),<\/span><\/p>\r\n

2. followed immediately by an accounting of what God has already done to benefit Israel: \u201cwho brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage\u201d;<\/span><\/p>\r\n

3. a list of requirements (Exod 20:2-14), some of which include<\/span><\/p>\r\n

4. an attached blessing (Exod 20:6, \u201cshowing kindness to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments\u201d; 20:12, \u201cthat you may long endure on the land that the Lord your God is assigning to you\u201d) or curse (Exod 20:5, \u201cFor I the Lord your God am an impassioned God, visiting the guilt of the parents upon the children\u2026\u201d; 20:7, \u201cfor the Lord will not clear one who swears falsely by His name\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The use of treaty language to frame the relationship between God and Israel takes the cognitive and sensory overload of the theophany at Sinai and sets it within parameters that would make sense to a people living within the ancient Near Eastern world. God and Israel\u2019s relationship is mapped onto a well-known political model, a model that can guide Israel through the otherwise incomprehensible divine-human interface and that also makes clear the sense of requiredness and the foreboding conditionality accompanying Israel\u2019s position of privilege (Exod 19:5-6).<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104774,"alt":"","title":"-627c22e0774a6--627c22e0774a7ex20-covenant treaty hammurabi.png","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627c22e0774a6-627c22e0774a7ex20-covenant-treaty-hammurabi.png.png","width":624,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627c22e0774a6-627c22e0774a7ex20-covenant-treaty-hammurabi.png-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627c22e0774a6-627c22e0774a7ex20-covenant-treaty-hammurabi.png-98x300.png","medium-width":98,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627c22e0774a6-627c22e0774a7ex20-covenant-treaty-hammurabi.png-333x1024.png","medium_large-width":333,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627c22e0774a6-627c22e0774a7ex20-covenant-treaty-hammurabi.png-333x1024.png","large-width":333,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627c22e0774a6-627c22e0774a7ex20-covenant-treaty-hammurabi.png.png","1536x1536-width":499,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627c22e0774a6-627c22e0774a7ex20-covenant-treaty-hammurabi.png.png","2048x2048-width":624,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627c22e0774a6-627c22e0774a7ex20-covenant-treaty-hammurabi.png-390x1200.png","post_full_size-width":390,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627c22e0774a6-627c22e0774a7ex20-covenant-treaty-hammurabi.png-137x420.png","home_baner-width":137,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Book Of The Covenant","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"God and Israel\u2019s relationship is mapped onto a well-known political model","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":104774,"alt":"","title":"-627c22e0774a6--627c22e0774a7ex20-covenant treaty 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Law","old_id":"867"},{"term_id":"539","name":"Israel","old_id":"939"}]},{"order":9,"id":"41991","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Forbidden Idols ","post_title":"Forbidden Idols","slug":"forbidden-idols","old_id":"41991","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"70","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"From the collection of George Blumenthal","post_main_content_content":"

\"\"<\/p>\r\n

This sculpture of El, the head of the Canaanite pantheon, was found at Megiddo during excavations led by the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. The statue, which dates to the end of the Late Bronze Age (13th century BCE), is made of bronze with a gold overlay. The prohibition on manufacturing and worshipping divine images in Exodus 20 likely has these sorts of statues in mind.<\/p>\r\n

Illustration:\u00a0Oriental Institute Museum, courtesy of George Blumenthal<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Forbidden Idols","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"From the collection of George Blumenthal","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":41992,"alt":"","title":"exodus20_image","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/exodus20_image.jpg","width":690,"height":1034,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/exodus20_image-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/exodus20_image-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/exodus20_image-683x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":683,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/exodus20_image-683x1024.jpg","large-width":683,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/exodus20_image.jpg","1536x1536-width":690,"1536x1536-height":1034,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/exodus20_image.jpg","2048x2048-width":690,"2048x2048-height":1034,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/exodus20_image.jpg","post_full_size-width":690,"post_full_size-height":1034,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/exodus20_image-280x420.jpg","home_baner-width":280,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Oriental Institute Museum","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"20","chapter_main_number":"70","date":"20251204","wall_id":"70"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"},{"term_id":"555","name":"Archaeology","old_id":"955"}]},{"order":10,"id":"48130","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Yitro - The Ten Commandments (A Bimbam Video) ","post_title":"Yitro - The Ten Commandments (A Bimbam Video)","slug":"yitro-the-ten-commandments-a-bimbam-video","old_id":"48130","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":37754,"post_title":"BimBam","slug":"bimbam","old_id":"37754","first_name":"","last_name":"BimBam","description":"BimBam sparks connections to Judaism through digital storytelling for learners of all ages.","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":37755,"alt":"","title":"bimbam","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","width":218,"height":217,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","medium-width":218,"medium-height":217,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","medium_large-width":218,"medium_large-height":217,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","large-width":218,"large-height":217,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","1536x1536-width":218,"1536x1536-height":217,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","2048x2048-width":218,"2048x2048-height":217,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","post_full_size-width":218,"post_full_size-height":217,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/bimbam.png","home_baner-width":218,"home_baner-height":217}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1028","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Overworked? Got no time for friends or family? Take a tip from Parshat Yitro. In this week\u2019s parsha hashavua, Leah Jones shares with us some wisdom from Moses\u2019s (Moshe\u2019s) non-Jewish father-in-law that pretty much changes the course of Jewish history.\r\nThis particular Parashat haShavua (\u05e4\u05b8\u05bc\u05e8\u05b8\u05e9\u05b7\u05c1\u05ea \u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05b8\u05bc\u05c1\u05d1\u05d5\u05bc\u05e2\u05b7 or \u201cweekly Torah portion\u201d) video is Episode 17 from Parshat Yitro (\u05d9\u05b4\u05ea\u05b0\u05e8\u05d5\u05b9 \u201cJethro\u201d Exodus 18:1\u201320:23).","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/UabwIKpxDe0","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Written and Narrated by: Leah Jones","tile_main_caption":"Yitro - The Ten Commandments ","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A Bimbam Video","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/UabwIKpxDe0","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1028"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"},{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":11,"id":"42038","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Freedom of (Bad) Choice ","post_title":"Freedom Of (Bad) Choice","slug":"freedom-of-bad-choice","old_id":"42038","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33859,"post_title":"Avidan Freedman","slug":"avidan-freedman","old_id":"33859","first_name":"Avidan","last_name":"Freedman","description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. He is an activist advocating for moral limits on Israeli arms exports, and on behalf of African refugees, and a proud husband and father of 5. He received his rabbinical ordination from Yeshivat Chovevei Torah in New York, and from the Israeli chief rabbinate.","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Rabbi Avidan Freedman is the Rabbi of Hevruta, the Shalom Hartman Institute's post high school program for Israelis and North Americans, and an educator in the institute's high school. ","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33860,"alt":"Avidan Freedman","title":"Avidan Freedman","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","width":856,"height":1024,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-251x300.jpg","medium-width":251,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-768x919.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":919,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-856x1024.jpg","large-width":856,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","1536x1536-width":856,"1536x1536-height":1024,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365.jpg","2048x2048-width":856,"2048x2048-height":1024,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-800x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Avidan-Freedman-e1532029306365-351x420.jpg","home_baner-width":351,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"70","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"We can learn just as much from the tests we fail as we do from those we pass","post_main_content_content":"

Seeing is what the people asked for, and seeing is just what they received. God speaks, but nowhere does the Torah say that the people hear. Rather, they <\/span>see<\/b><\/span> God's voice, an overwhelming, terrifying visual experience that words are unable to describe, and that the people are unable to sustain. They come to Moses asking that <\/span>he<\/b> speak to them so that they will be able to hear. The visual revelation of the Divine they requested is simply too intense; they need to retreat from it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God doesn't say \"I told you so,\" but we can nevertheless appreciate the opportunity we missed by insisting on revelation on our own terms. As with the manna, greedy eyes that wanted more end up getting less. We're used to relating to the Ten Commandments as a unit with special status, but it was only the Jewish people's protests that stopped revelation at that point. In God's original plan, He would have relayed all of the laws directly to the people. In fact, this remains a possibility even after changing the medium of revelation, it's just a much more difficult one to tolerate for the people. This, perhaps, is the test Moses refers to. Can the Jewish people rise to the challenge their own choice presents them?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The answer is no, but we can learn just as much from the tests we fail as we do from those we pass. In this case, two fundamental messages emerge from the experience of revelation. The first, that creating a covenant means allowing for the wrong decisions to be made, for the sake of the primary value of freedom of choice. But on the flipside, being given the freedom to dictate the conditions in our relationship with God doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. A relationship to God on our own terms is the root of idolatry, a god we create in our own image. The approach to God is ideally one defined by humility, by sacrifices offered on an altar of earth.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":68897,"alt":"","title":"is66-choice","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice.jpg","width":1920,"height":1483,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-768x593.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-1024x791.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":791,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1483,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-1200x927.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":927,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-544x420.jpg","home_baner-width":544,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Freedom of (Bad) Choice","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"We can learn just as much from the tests we fail as we do from those we pass","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":68897,"alt":"","title":"is66-choice","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice.jpg","width":1920,"height":1483,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-768x593.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-1024x791.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":791,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1483,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-1200x927.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":927,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is66-choice-544x420.jpg","home_baner-width":544,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"20","chapter_main_number":"70","date":"20251204","wall_id":"70"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"443","name":"See\/hear","old_id":"843"},{"term_id":"541","name":"Revelation","old_id":"941"},{"term_id":"609","name":"Test","old_id":"1009"}]},{"order":12,"id":"42036","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Does Our Culture Cultivate Covetousness? ","post_title":"Does Our Culture Cultivate Covetousness?","slug":"does-our-culture-cultivate-covetousness","old_id":"42036","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34011,"post_title":"Jeremy Benstein","slug":"dr-jeremy-benstein","old_id":"34011","first_name":"Jeremy","last_name":"Benstein","description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English. He is one of the founders of the Heschel Center for Sustainability. He writes the MiliMiliM - Hebrew Corner on the site, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Dr. Jeremy Benstein is the managing editor of 929-English, and is the author of a book about the Hebrew language, \"Hebrew Roots, Jewish Routes: A Tribal Language in a Global World\" (Behrman House, 2019). ","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34232,"alt":"","title":"Jeremy Benstein","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Presentation1-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"70","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"Advertising and the 10th commandment","post_main_content_content":"

A multi-billion dollar industry whose purpose was to get you to murder, commit adultery, steal, or perjure yourself\u2014would be immoral, if not downright illegal. These are commandments 6, 7, 8 and 9. Regarding #10, though, there is just such an industry\u2014the advertising industry. It is designed to get you to want things you don\u2019t have, to covet. And yet the captains of this industry are handsomely rewarded, and the \u2018products\u2019 of this industry (ads) are evident in every corner of our social, cultural and even private spaces.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThou Shalt Not Covet.\u201d It sounds so Puritan. An old-fashioned word perhaps, but the psychic state of continually wanting more, of perennial dissatisfaction with what we have, and therefore with who we are (for the two have become pathologically connected), is the driving force of our consumer society. Once, greed was bad; avarice, cupidity \u2013 these were vices to be rooted out. They threatened social relations, the common good, and the spiritual well-being of the individual. But the advance of the free market economy, based on the profit motive coupled with \u2018the invisible hand\u2019, marked a sea change: act solely for your own material betterment, and the mechanisms of supply and demand will insure benefit for all. Greed has been rehabilitated, and in the guise of \u2018enlightened\u2019 self-interest is now quite respectable. Covetousness is nursed and cultivated by our consumptive culture.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To be sure, the Biblical injunction expressed in the tenth commandment \u201c<\/span>lo tachmod\u201d<\/span><\/i> is framed as an individual precept condemning coveting the property of one\u2019s neighbor. But what does that mean? Does the mandate here concern inward feelings or outward behavior? It seems unreasonable to legislate desire or its avoidance, but the improper actions that stem from covetousness, theft and adultery, have already been proscribed in previous commandments. Maimonides explains that coveting here refers to the active scheming to get the desired object, putting undue pressure on the owner to sell\u2014even if you end up paying full value. The actual act need not be illegal, but the intention and the method of its implementation are flagged as immoral and destructive.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

We see this in advertising. Social historians note a change in American advertising after World War I, from the conveying of product information to the manufacturing of desire. The American public was too frugal; they weren\u2019t consuming enough. To rev up the engines of the economy, people had to start buying more. Products were associated with images, glamour, personal identity, and not just the functions they performed. Marketing moved from fulfilling needs to creating them.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In our consumer society, coveting goods, that is to say, keeping up with the Jones\u2019s, doesn\u2019t mean robbing them, just buying as much as them. \u00a0In a densely populated world such as ours, the simple act of (continually) wanting more is destructive of self, other and the world. In fact, if the entire world were to adopt the lifestyle of the average American, we would need four more planets just to get by.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Greco-Jewish philosopher of antiquity, Philo, in fact generalizes \u201c<\/span>lo tachmod\u201d <\/span><\/i>to apply to all forms of covetousness, including greed for money, hunger for honor, sexual lust, hedonism, and gluttony. He re-emphasizes the emotional states associated with insatiable desires and the importance of spiritual work. This inner work is a necessary first step towards the ultimate goal of transforming society, from its obsession with quantity to striving for quality, from outer acquisition to inner disposition, and from merely having to truly being.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":42159,"alt":"","title":"ex20-coveting","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex20-coveting.jpg","width":498,"height":426,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex20-coveting-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex20-coveting-300x257.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":257,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex20-coveting.jpg","medium_large-width":498,"medium_large-height":426,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex20-coveting.jpg","large-width":498,"large-height":426,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex20-coveting.jpg","1536x1536-width":498,"1536x1536-height":426,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex20-coveting.jpg","2048x2048-width":498,"2048x2048-height":426,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex20-coveting.jpg","post_full_size-width":498,"post_full_size-height":426,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/ex20-coveting-491x420.jpg","home_baner-width":491,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"Does 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on The Bench: Decalogue: Read Across, Not Down ","post_title":"Bible on The Bench: Decalogue: Read Across, Not Down","slug":"bible-on-the-bench-decalogue-read-across-not-down","old_id":"41988","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"70","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

https:\/\/youtu.be\/f6RXCwLUyDU<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Bible on the Bench","tile_main_caption":"Chapter 20: The Decalogue: Read Across, Not Down","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"with Adam Mintz and guest commentator, Benny Lau (founder, 929-Israel)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/f6RXCwLUyDU","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"20","chapter_main_number":"70","date":"20251204","wall_id":"70"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"},{"term_id":"652","name":"Commandments","old_id":"1052"}]},{"order":14,"id":"42375","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Shabbat and Creating Time Affluence ","post_title":"Shabbat And Creating Time Affluence","slug":"shabbat-and-creating-time-affluence","old_id":"42375","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36663,"post_title":"Beth Kissileff","slug":"beth-kissileff","old_id":"36663","first_name":"Beth ","last_name":"Kissileff ","description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (2016 - https:\/\/www.bloomsbury.com\/us\/reading-genesis-9780567381521), and the forthcoming Reading Exodus, and the author of the novel Questioning Return - https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Questioning-Return-Novel-Beth-Kissileff\/dp\/1942134231. \r\nHer journalism appears in many publications; she has taught most recently at the University of Pittsburgh. Visit her online at www.bethkissileff.com. ","short_description":"Beth Kissileff is the editor of the anthology Reading Genesis (Bloomsbury\/ T and T Clark, 2016) , a journalist and teacher.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36664,"alt":"","title":"BethKissileff","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","width":3478,"height":3200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-300x276.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":276,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-768x707.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":707,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1024x942.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":942,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1413,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1884,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-1200x1104.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":1104,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/BethKissileff-e1533157952224-456x420.jpg","home_baner-width":456,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"70","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The joy that comes from the inside","post_main_content_content":"

The Sabbath is one of the most basic of Jewish values, as enmeshed in the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 as it is in the creation narrative in Genesis 1. This version of the command to \u201cRemember the Sabbath\u201d rather than the one in Deuteronomy 5:12-15 is the one enshrined in the liturgy as part of the blessing of the wine for the Sabbath day<\/span> Kiddush<\/span><\/i> (sanctification). The explanation given here for the Sabbath is tied to God\u2019s creation of the earth (Exodus 20:11) whereas Deuteronomy ties it to slavery in Egypt and redemption from that (5:15). <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Sabbath here is explained as part of the order of creation, that there is work and there is rest. Time is sanctified. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The truth is there is more to it than that. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Sabbath cultivates a sense of what researchers call \u201ctime affluence\u201d the valuing of time over money. <\/span>Research by Ashley Williams and Elizabeth Dunn, quoted in an<\/span> article by Adam Sternbergh<\/span><\/a> about a course on the psychology of happiness, shows that people \u00a0who value time over money have a \u201cmuch higher level of overall happiness in other areas of life.\u201d \u00a0I believe that the rationale for the Sabbath, that we have to control our time, and create intervals for cessation and relaxation as well as for productive work, can enable us to be happier. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

The Sabbath, and the underlying rationale to stop creating one day out of seven, cultivates a sense that joy comes from inside, is all internal rather than external. Withdrawing from many aspects of the external modern world, slowing down, not using electronics, enables humans to pay attention to our internal lives and desires in a way different from that done at the speed of the other six days. The Sabbath makes it possible for each observer to perceive that no matter how much work you accomplish or do not the rest of the week, you are deserving of Sabbath rest for no other reason than because you are a human being. <\/span><\/p>\r\n

Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote in his noted book on the Sabbath, \u201cIt is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation; from the world of creation to the creation of this world.\u201d \u00a0I believe that captures part of what the joy of refraining from work one day out of seven, the attempt to create something eternal rimmed in and stymied by this physical world we live in. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":75672,"alt":"","title":"ez46-time 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And Creating Time Affluence","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The joy that comes from the inside","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":75672,"alt":"","title":"ez46-time 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People to Body Politic ","post_title":"From People To Body Politic","slug":"from-people-to-body-politic","old_id":"42040","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33923,"post_title":"Jonathan Sacks","slug":"rabbi-lord-jonathan-sacks","old_id":"33923","first_name":"Jonathan ","last_name":"Sacks","description":"An international religious leader, philosopher, and award-winning author of over 35 books, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks served as the International President of 929.\r\nRabbi Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth years between 1991 and 2013, and was knighted by Her Majesty The Queen in 2005 and made a Life Peer. Rabbi Sacks passed away on 7th November 2020, aged 72. He was one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, who bridged the religious and secular world through his ground-breaking canon of work.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z\"k (1948-2020) was the former Chief Rabbi of the Commonwealth, and the International 929 president.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":36222,"alt":"","title":"JSacks","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","width":437,"height":548,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-239x300.jpg","medium-width":239,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-768x448.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":448,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-1024x597.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":597,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","1536x1536-width":437,"1536x1536-height":548,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","2048x2048-width":437,"2048x2048-height":548,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594.jpg","post_full_size-width":437,"post_full_size-height":548,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/JSacks-e1532858712594-335x420.jpg","home_baner-width":335,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"70","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The covenant at Mount Sinai was where the Israelites became an edah, a body politic, as opposed to an am, a people with shared ancestry and history","post_main_content_content":"

[T]he covenant at Mount Sinai was where the Israelites became an <\/span>edah<\/span><\/em>, a body politic, as opposed to an <\/span>am<\/span><\/em>, a people with shared ancestry and history. Their assent to the covenant turned them into a nation under the sovereignty of God whose written constitution was the Torah. Indeed, we find just this idea in the early rabbinic sources:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u2018I am the Lord your God\u2019 (Ex. 20:2) \u2013 this tells us the merit of Israel. \u00a0When they all stood at Mount Sinai to receive the Torah they resolved, as with a single mind, to accept the kingdom of God with joy. And not only this, but they pledged themselves, each for the other. Nor was it for overt acts alone that the Holy One, blessed be he, intended to reveal himself to them in order to make a covenant with them, but also the secret deeds. But they said to him, \u2018For overt acts we will make a covenant with you, but not for the secret ones, lest one of us should sin in secret and the whole community be held liable\u2019, as it is said, \u2018The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and our children\u2019 (Deut. 29: 28. R. Judah the Prince, in the halachic midrash to Exodus, \u00a0Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael, Yitro, 5).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At Mount Sinai, the Israelites accepted the principle of mutual responsibility, with one proviso, that liability was restricted to acts committed in public or, at least, generally known. The logic is straightforward. If I know that you are engaged in wrongdoing, I may reasonably be expected to try to stop you. If I do not know, how can I be held responsible? Thus, according to R. Judah, for overt sins there is collective responsibility; for sins committed in secret, only personal responsibility.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Excerpted from: \u201c<\/span>To Heal a Fractured World\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From People To Body Politic","tile_main_caption":"The covenant at Mount Sinai was where the Israelites became an edah, a body politic, as opposed to an am, a people with shared ancestry and history. ","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The limits of collective responsibility","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"20","chapter_main_number":"70","date":"20251204","wall_id":"70"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"354","name":"Rabbi Sacks","old_id":"754"},{"term_id":"363","name":"Midrash","old_id":"763"},{"term_id":"395","name":"Covenant","old_id":"795"},{"term_id":"421","name":"Peoplehood","old_id":"821"},{"term_id":"423","name":"Politics","old_id":"823"}]},{"order":16,"id":"48117","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Shabbat With a Schmear: Yitro - Proud Particularism While Embracing the Universal ","post_title":"Shabbat With a Schmear: Yitro - Proud Particularism While Embracing the Universal","slug":"shabbat-with-a-schmear-yitro-proud-particularism-while-embracing-the-universal","old_id":"48117","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":38102,"post_title":"929-English","slug":"929-english","old_id":"38102","first_name":"","last_name":"929-English","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":38333,"alt":"","title":"\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","width":1513,"height":860,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-300x171.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":171,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-768x437.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":437,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1024x582.png","large-width":1024,"large-height":582,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","1536x1536-width":1513,"1536x1536-height":860,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5.png","2048x2048-width":1513,"2048x2048-height":860,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-1200x682.png","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":682,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/\u05dc\u05d5\u05d2\u05d5-739x420.png","home_baner-width":739,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1028","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

Shabbat With a Schmear: Beshalach - Putting Your Toe in the Water<\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/qQRxbmUe4bU","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Shabbat With a Schmear","tile_main_caption":"Yitro - Proud Particularism While Embracing the Universal","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Adam Mintz with Meredith Berkman (ShabbatMom)","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/qQRxbmUe4bU","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1028"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"369","name":"Visual Arts","old_id":"769"}]},{"order":17,"id":"48124","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Mount Sinai and the Birth of Freedom ","post_title":"Mount Sinai And The Birth of Freedom","slug":"mount-sinai-and-the-birth-of-freedom","old_id":"48124","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":42813,"post_title":"Covenant & Conversation","slug":"covenant-conversation","old_id":"42813","first_name":"","last_name":"Covenant & Conversation","description":"Covenant & Conversation: Family Edition is a new and exciting initiative from The Office of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Written as an accompaniment to Rabbi Sacks\u2019 weekly Covenant & Conversation essay, the Family Edition is aimed at connecting older children and teenagers with his ideas and thoughts on the parsha. Each element of the Family Edition is progressively more advanced; The Core Idea is appropriate for all ages and the final element, From The Thought of Rabbi Sacks, is the most advanced section. Each section includes Questions to Ponder, aimed at encouraging discussion between family members in a way most appropriate to them. We have also included a section called Around the Shabbat Table with a few further questions on the parsha to think about. The final section is an Educational Companion which includes suggested talking points in response to the questions found throughout the Family Edition.","short_description":"Covenant & Conversation: Family Edition is a new and exciting initiative from The Office of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":42814,"alt":"","title":"CCfamilylogo-693x457","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","width":693,"height":457,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457-300x198.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":198,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","medium_large-width":693,"medium_large-height":457,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","large-width":693,"large-height":457,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","1536x1536-width":693,"1536x1536-height":457,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","2048x2048-width":693,"2048x2048-height":457,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457.jpg","post_full_size-width":693,"post_full_size-height":457,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/CCfamilylogo-693x457-637x420.jpg","home_baner-width":637,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"1028","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

The\u00a0parsha\u00a0<\/em>of\u00a0Yitro\u00a0<\/em>(Jethro) is divided into two episodes. In the first (chapter 18), Israel receives its first system of governance \u2013 delegated to leaders of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens \u2013 at the advice of Jethro, Moses\u2019 father-in-law, whose name the\u00a0parsha\u00a0<\/em>bears. In the second episode (chapters 19-20), Israel receives its eternal constitution (a set of principles enshrined in law that guide the way a nation is governed) by way of covenant with God. A brief summary of its key ideas is given by the voice of God Himself in the form of the Ten Commandments (or Utterances).<\/p>\r\n

Family study materials on Parashat Yitro from \"Covenant and Conversation\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

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Receiving the ten commandments (or \u2018utterances\u2019) was one of the most theatrical and awesome moments in Jewish history: the Jewish people experienced thunder and lightning, next to a smoking Mount Sinai enveloped in a thick cloud, with the sound of the shofar ringing in their ears. The ultimate 4d experience!\u00a0This week\u2019s\u00a0parsha<\/em>\u00a0Yitro is filled with much more for the whole family to enjoy. Learn with Reuven Margrett and\u00a0The Sound of Silence Interactive Parsha Experience<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

And if you have older kids or teens, be sure to check out our\u00a0Parsha Discussion<\/a>\u00a0for a more mature conversation.<\/p>\r\n

To receive an Interactive Parsha Experience weekly email please subscribe with Pardes\u00a0today<\/a>!<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":45256,"alt":"","title":"pardes cover image","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Interactive Family Study Materials","tile_main_caption":"Yitro: The Sound of Silence","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Download the study guide","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":45256,"alt":"","title":"pardes cover image","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/pardes-cover-image-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Numbers","chapter":false,"chapter_main_number":false,"date":false,"wall_id":"1028"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"368","name":"Parasha","old_id":"768"}]},{"order":19,"id":"42034","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Ten Commandments ","post_title":"The Ten Commandments","slug":"the-ten-commandments","old_id":"42034","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":36669,"post_title":"Yakov Azriel","slug":"yakov-azriel","old_id":"36669","first_name":"Yakov ","last_name":"Azriel","description":"Yakov Azriel, who lives in Israel, has published five books of poetry in the USA and hundreds of poems in journals and magazines. 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Engraved on huge basalt boulders
\r\nAtop the highest volcanoes
\r\nOn the first planet of Alpha Centauri,
\r\nTwenty-meter high letters declare:
\r\nI Am The Lord Your God<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\r\n

On every beach of every island
\r\nIn every archipelago
\r\nOn the second planet of Antares,
\r\nInscribed in the sand:
\r\nYou Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\r\n

In the unending, thick jungles
\r\nOn the fourth planet of Pollux,
\r\nStrips of land have been deforested
\r\nAnd replaced with fields of peonies that spell out:
\r\nObserve The Sabbath, To Keep It Holy<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\r\n

In every oasis found in all the red, ferric deserts
\r\nThat cover every inch
\r\nOf the fifth planet of Vega,
\r\nPalm trees have been planted as words that declare:
\r\nHonor Your Father And Your Mother.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\r\n

On every moon: You Shall Not Murder.
\r\n<\/i>On every comet: You Shall Not Commit Adultery.
\r\n<\/i>On every asteroid: You Shall Not Steal<\/i>.
\r\nOn the bottom of the blue oceans
\r\nThat envelop the surface
\r\nOf the ninth planet of Deneb,
\r\nHuge coral reefs have been placed that read:
\r\nYou Shall Not Bear False Witness.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\r\n

Chiseled in the ice
\r\nOn all the glaciers
\r\nThat dominate the frozen continents
\r\nOn the tenth planet of Bellatrix:
\r\nYou Shall Not Covet.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\r\n

And here on earth,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>In the chromosomes of every virus and germ,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Every insect, fish, reptile, mammal and bird,<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>Is encrypted and encoded:<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>You Shall Not Take The Name Of The Lord Your God In Vain<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":94162,"alt":"","title":"job13-night sky man cosmos knowing","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job13-night-sky-man-cosmos-knowing.jpg","width":1920,"height":1067,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job13-night-sky-man-cosmos-knowing-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job13-night-sky-man-cosmos-knowing-300x167.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":167,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job13-night-sky-man-cosmos-knowing-768x427.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":427,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job13-night-sky-man-cosmos-knowing-1024x569.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":569,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job13-night-sky-man-cosmos-knowing.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":854,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job13-night-sky-man-cosmos-knowing.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1067,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job13-night-sky-man-cosmos-knowing-1200x667.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":667,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job13-night-sky-man-cosmos-knowing-756x420.jpg","home_baner-width":756,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"929 Poetry Corner","tile_main_caption":"The Ten Commandments ","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Universal, cosmic commands... 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20:14 - \u201cLo tachmod<\/em>\u201d You shall not covet your neighbor\u2019s house: you shall not \u201ctachmod<\/em>\u201d covet your neighbor\u2019s wife, or his male or female slave, or his ox or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor\u2019s.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The key word of the 10th commandment is tachmod<\/em>, \u201ccovet.\u201d There is much discussion among commentators regarding what exactly this word means (<\/span>see here <\/span><\/a>for some explication). But linguistically this word is interesting, because of its built-in ambivalence. On the one hand, this is the tenth, and some would say, climactic statement of the Big 10 - it\u2019s a very serious prohibition, with very negative connotations. The abstract noun form is chamdanut,<\/em> \u201cavarice, cupidity\u201d and the person who is guilty of that particular sin, chamdan<\/em>- is not very nice!<\/span><\/p>\r\n

On the other hand, it\u2019s a very positive root: \u05d7-\u05de-\u05d3, ch-m-d<\/em>, is the root of \u05e0\u05d7\u05de\u05d3, nechmad<\/em>, exactly \u201cnice, desirable.\u201d Likewise, the root of \u05d7\u05de\u05d5\u05d3, chamud<\/em>, \u201ccute, attractive\u201d (a common Israeli endearment). Two very positive things are described as chemdah<\/em>: Shabbat is chemdat yamim,<\/em> the most desirable of days, and Israel is eretz chemdah<\/em>, the desirable of lands.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

In Arabic, the cognate root means \u201cpraise, bless\u201d and so the name Muhammad means \u201cblessed one,\u201d while the Arabic equivalent of baruch hashem<\/em>, praise God, is hamdulelah<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And the actual verb, chamad<\/em>, the precise word used in the commandment, is used in the most positive of contexts in the line: eileh chamda libi<\/em>, \u201cthese [God\u2019s teachings] my heart desires.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

True, like many yetzarim<\/em>, inclinations or lustful feelings, one can \u201cdesire\u201d good or bad things, have legitimate or illegitimate objects of desire. Interestingly, a similar word is added to this one in the second version of the ten commandments in Deuteronomy 5:18: \u201cYou shall not covet ...You shall not crave - lo titaveh\u201d,<\/em> from the word ta\u2019avah,<\/em> \u201clust.\u201d This pairing, by using the very same terms serves to connect the idea of coveting to the ur-story of wanton wanting, Eve and Adam and the forbidden Trees (Gen 3:6): \u201cWhen the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a \"taavah<\/em>\" delight to the eyes, and that the tree was \"nechmad<\/em>\" desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate.\u201d This root, ch-m-d<\/em>, is indeed at the root of much of human experience.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

*For a different take entirely on the meaning of this verb - see Joel Hoffman's blog<\/a> on the subject.\u00a0<\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":104751,"alt":"","title":"-627b56154dcc1--627b56154dcc2ex20-milim tachmod covet.jpg","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627b56154dcc1-627b56154dcc2ex20-milim-tachmod-covet.jpg.jpg","width":960,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627b56154dcc1-627b56154dcc2ex20-milim-tachmod-covet.jpg-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627b56154dcc1-627b56154dcc2ex20-milim-tachmod-covet.jpg-300x225.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":225,"medium_large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627b56154dcc1-627b56154dcc2ex20-milim-tachmod-covet.jpg-768x576.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":576,"large":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627b56154dcc1-627b56154dcc2ex20-milim-tachmod-covet.jpg.jpg","large-width":960,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627b56154dcc1-627b56154dcc2ex20-milim-tachmod-covet.jpg.jpg","1536x1536-width":960,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627b56154dcc1-627b56154dcc2ex20-milim-tachmod-covet.jpg.jpg","2048x2048-width":960,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627b56154dcc1-627b56154dcc2ex20-milim-tachmod-covet.jpg.jpg","post_full_size-width":960,"post_full_size-height":720,"home_baner":"https:\/\/cetwpuploads.blob.core.windows.net\/wp929\/uploads\/2018\/10\/627b56154dcc1-627b56154dcc2ex20-milim-tachmod-covet.jpg-560x420.jpg","home_baner-width":560,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"MiliMiliM - 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The Ten Commandments in Jewish Space versus the Public Square<\/span><\/a>, by Lisa Levenberg: How has the Jewish people\u2019s relationship to the Ten Commandments evolved over time?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Synesthesia and Sinai \"The medium is the message,\u201d<\/span><\/a> by Menashe Wolf: Exploring the mingling of senses at moments of revelation. <\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Go deeper into the chapter....","tile_main_caption":"Sefaria Source Sheets - Exodus 20","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Click to get links to learning resources","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":42232,"alt":"","title":"sefaria-words-sunburst","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","width":608,"height":395,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst-300x195.png","medium-width":300,"medium-height":195,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","medium_large-width":608,"medium_large-height":395,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","large-width":608,"large-height":395,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","1536x1536-width":608,"1536x1536-height":395,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","2048x2048-width":608,"2048x2048-height":395,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","post_full_size-width":608,"post_full_size-height":395,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/sefaria-words-sunburst.png","home_baner-width":608,"home_baner-height":395}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"Sefaria word sunburst visualization","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"20","chapter_main_number":"70","date":"20251204","wall_id":"70"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":23,"id":"115665","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Points To Ponder: Exodus 20","post_title":"Points To Ponder: Exodus 20","slug":"points-to-ponder-exodus-20","old_id":"115665","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":false,"related_cahpter":"70","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"

    \r\n\t
  1. Who knows 10?<\/em> It\u2019s not that simple to get ten clear commandments from this text (try for yourself). But ten is the accepted number. Why? Since the days of the Tanakh it was common to see in this list \u201cten devarim<\/em>\u201d (Exodus 34:28; Deut. 4:13, and more).<\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Two tablets<\/em>. We\u2019ll meet the actual tablets further on, but it\u2019s generally accepted to see the ten commandments as the content of what\u2019s written on them. Two tablets - five commandments on each one. The first focuses mainly on relations with God (and parents), and the second, negative commandments that deal with ethical issues.<\/li>\r\n\t
  3. A jealous God<\/em>. From among the legalistic formulations, there appears a relationship that from the emotional point of view is more like a couple: without loyalty, there is jealousy: \u201cYou shall not bow down to them or serve them. For I the LORD your God am an impassioned \/ [jealous] God\u201d (verse 5).<\/li>\r\n\t
  4. So that your days may be long (verse 11).<\/em> It is only the commandment to honor one\u2019s parents that presents what is meant to happen if it is fulfilled. But to whom will it happen? Is it referring to a personal reward to one who honors their parents, or is it referring to collective stability? The rest of the verse hints at an answer: \u201cthat you may long endure on the land that the LORD your God is assigning to you.\u201d What do you understand by this?<\/li>\r\n\t
  5. Why, actually?<\/em> Why is the very first law after the Decalogue specifically the law regarding the altar, how to build it and what is allowed near it?<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"The Daily Summary","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder: Exodus 20","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Torah","book":"Exodus","chapter":"20","chapter_main_number":"70","date":"20251204","wall_id":"70"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/41845"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41845"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}