I TORAH PORTION I

The Two Versions Of
The 10 Commandments

RABBI RICHARD C. HERTZ

Special to The Jewish News

T

he Torah portion for
this week is one of the
richest in the entire
five books of Moses, for it con-
tains the 10 Commandments
and the , Sh'ma. But unlike
other portions, this sidrah
begins with an historical
setting.
Moses knows that he will
not be permitted to enter the
Promised Land. He gathers
his people together to give
what has become one of the
most famous farewell ad-
dresses in world literature.
He tells them how he led
them out of Egypt. He tells
them what they need to do in
order to enter the Promised
Land and how they have pro-
ven unworthy.
Because of their lack of
faith, the whole generation of

Shabbat Nachamu,
Parashat
Va'etchanan:
Deuteronomy
3:23-7:11,
Isaiah 40:1-41:26

the Exodus has been con-
demned to die in the
wilderness, including Moses.
Even Moses' own plea to be
allowed to enter the Promis-
ed Land has been rejected by
God. Gathering his people on
the eastern side of the Jor-
dan, where victorious wars
against Sihon and Og had
marked the end of Israel's
wanderings, Moses now
prepares his successor,
Joshua, to lead the people in-
to Canaan.
Moses begins his eloquent
oration summarizing the fun-
damental requirements
which God asks and demands
of His people in every age.
Most people do not know
that there are two versions of
the 10 Commandments in the
Torah. One is in Exodus,
Chapter 20, the other in
Deuteronomy, Chapter 5.
Christianity and Judaism
both regard the 10 Command-
ments as fundamentally im-
portant and the basis of the
moral system of religion. But
in Judaism, the introductory
statement, "I am the Lord
your God who brought you
out of the land of Egypt, out
of the house of bondage" is
considered the first com-
mandment, with the second

Dr. Hertz is rabbi emeritus
of Temple Beth El.

dealing with polytheism and
idolatry.
The Septuagint, the Greek
translation, numbers them
differently. The Greek ver-
sion, "I am the Lord your
God," is an introduction to the
first commandment, "You
shall have no other gods
before me," the second com-
mandment being: "You shall
make no graven images."
All versions deal with
idolatry, profanity, the Sab-
bath, honoring parents,
murder, adultery, theft, per-
jury and covetousness. The ar-
rangement of these com-
mandments, corresponding to
the ten fingers on one's hand,
made it easy for ancient
Hebrews to recall each
commandment.
Note, too, the different ver-
sions between the two
statements, the one in Ex-
odus and the one in
Deuteronomy. In Exodus,
Israel is bidden to imitate
God the creator, who rested
on the seventh day. Similarly,
once a week on the Sabbath,
Israel is bidden to re-enact
that creative process and
honor the Sabbath.
But in Deuteronomy, the
Sabbath is linked not to God
the creator, but to God the
redeemer, who redeemed
Israel from Egyptian slavery.
The duty of rest and worship
on the Sabbath is identified to
recall that all servants of God
are human and were liber-
ated from Egypt.
Thus in Deuteronomy the
Sabbath is based not on
prehistoric creation, but on
the historic creation of God's
people redeemed from slavery,
from human tyranny. The
Decalogue in both Exodus
and Deuteronomy bids Israel
to remember and keep the
Sabbath.
Note, too, that the com-
mandments are dramatically
addressed to the individual.
The pronoun is singular, not
plural. "Thou shalt not kill."
"Thou Shalt not steal." In
this way Judaism is per-
sonalized. The command-
ments are in a form of a direct
address from God, thus singl-
ing out each individual in
Israel as its recipient and the
one who is required to obey.

YI Will Host
Family Program

On Shabbat Nachamu,
Saturday, Young Israel of
Greenfield will have a family
shalosh seudos for its
members. The guest speaker
will be Rabbi Edward
Feigelbaum.

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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

33