TORAH PORTION

Commandments Reveal
Several Basic Precepts

RABBI MORTON F. YOLKUT

Special to The Jewish News

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42

FRIDAY JUNE 5 1992

he first sedra in the
Book of Bamidbar (In
the Wilderness) is
always read in the synagogue
on the Sabbath before
Shavuot, the zman matan
torateinu, the festival mark-
ing the giving of our Torah at
Sinai.
That the 'Ibrah was given in
the wilderness has elicited
numerous interpretations in
our sacred literature. One in-
terpretation suggests that
God chose to give the Torah in
a no-man's land to indicate
that it is extra-territorial and
thus not limited to one people
or one land. The message of
the Torah is universal; it was
offered (according to the
Midrash) to all nations, but
only Israel accepted it fully
and without reservation.
The revelation itself is
described in great detail in
the Torah (Exodus 31:18). The
tablets are familiar to all of
us: they represent the
religious, ethical and moral
values of Judaism. A
reproduction of these tablets
is found in almost every
synagogue — but the
representation may be a
misleading one. For, from the
appearance of these tablets,
we might tend to conclude
that they are equal in con-
tent, that the commandments
on the first tablets are
equivalent in length and
style to those on the second.
A cursory examination
shows that such is not the
case. The first five command-
ments are, in fact, quite long
with great detail and explicit
examples. In contrast to this
detailed exposition is the curt
language of the command-
ments on the second tablets:
Do not murder. Do not steal.
Do not covet. Short, une-
quivocal and succinct.
This stylistic differece is
meant to convey an important
lesson in itself. The com-
mandments engraved on the
first tablets delineate the
mitzvot bain adam l'makom,
the commandments regu-
lating man's relationship to
God. The second contain the
mitzvot bain adam l'chavero,
commandments which regu-
late man's relationship to his
fellow man.
The latter are clear, ra-
tional and require no further
elaboration. Indeed the basic
principles regulating our in-

Morton Yolkut is rabbi at
Congregation B'nai David.

terpersonal relationships
should be simple and succinct
— "do not do unto others what
you would not have them do
unto you." With this as a
basis, there is little need for
detailed explanations or fur-
ther elaboration. Simple
mentchlechkeit alone should
serve as our guide when it
comes to relationships with
our friends and neighbors.
Not so simple, however, is
the relationship between God
and man. God is removed
from us and we cannot in-
tuitively know what is re-
quired in the divine-human
encounter. Hence, it is im-
perative that He carefully
and explicitly set forth for us
what it is that governs the
God-man relationship.
It is also significant that in
this initial revelation to the
Jewish people, God instructs
them in both categories of
mitzvot, those that pertain to

Shabbat Bamidbar:
Numbers 1:1-4:20
Hosea 2:1-22.

piety and devotion and those
that must govern our deal-
ings with others. Judaism-
makes no distinction between
those two categories. They
both come under the rules of
our faith, of our Torah and of
our legal system. Neither can
exist independently.
Our sages point out that the
word tablets in the Torah —
luhot — is spelled chaser
(without the pluralizing vov)
and thus can be read luhat,
which is singular. The lesson
is that both tablets and both
categories must be united in-
to one. Man must worship
God in all of his dealings, not
only in religious ritual, but in
the ethical sphere as well.
The approach will be different
in each case — just as the
style of the commandments
varies — but the goal is the
same: to find favor in the eyes
of God and man.
It is precisely this synthesis
of the religious and ethical
realms that makes Torah not
just a parochial or specialized
text, but a true Torat Hayim,
a Torah of life.

❑

Israel has no formal con-
stitution, but certain "Basic
Laws" have been enacted to
eventually form the basis of
such a constitution. In addi-
tion, many Ottoman and
British Mandate laws which
existed on 14 May 1948 re-
mained in force after the es-
tablishment of the state.

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