Skip to main content

Thought for the Day: Aseres HaDibros -- Instructions for Eternity

I have had many conversations with my children.  I said many, many things that should not have been said.  I am also confident that there conversations I should have had, but didn't.  There is one conversation that I didn't have, however, that I am confident that there will be no complaint against me in heaven.  Here's the conversation that I didn't have with any of my children:
Thank you, dear child, for meeting with me today.  You are going out into the world soon and I feel an urgent need to give you my feelings on certain matters.  I appreciate that you prepared, as I asked, and have come today with all due seriousness to have this life critical conversation.  My dear child, I do not want you to be a murderer.
I did not have that conversation because it never in my wildest imagination even occurred to me  that I needed to have that conversation.  I mean, if a parent needs to have that conversation, perhaps there are other conversation and/or interventions that need to happen.

Yet, that's precisely what seems to have happened at Har Sinai.  The Creator/Author of reality invited His treasured nation to prepare for three days for the meeting that will determine whether reality will continue to exist.  Moshe Rabeinu running back and forth with messages and replies in preparation and anticipation.  Finally the moment arrives and the Ein Sof -- using the title "Elokim" (midas haDin) to emphasize that this is not philosophy, this is serious business that carries with it severe punishment for non-compliance -- proceeds to tell them, "Thou Shalt Not Murder!"

Rashi tells us that the entire Aseres haDibros was said with one dibur, then HaShem repeated them one at a time with explanation.  The Targum Yonason expands to say that besides the obvious exhortation and injunction, each actually meant to foster a society built on the positives in such a way that the negatives couldn't even happen.  The S'porno says that each dibur included all of it's "toldos"; murder includes embarrassing someone in public, stealing includes delaying payment, adultery includes not averting your eyes from breaches in tznius.

From the S'porno we see that embarrassers will be tried along with the murders, from the Targum Yonasan we see that not doing everything you can to prevent lashon hara will also get your tried with the murderers.  From Rashi we see that none of this will be a suprise; it was all explained.  Since, as Chazal tell us, each of our neshamos were there... we all individually and collectively signed up with a resounding "na'aseh v'nishma".

Seems like a lot?  Infinite reward doesn't come cheap.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Thought for the Day: Love in the Time of Corona Virus/Anxiously Awaiting the Mashiach

Two scenarios: Scenario I: A young boy awakened in the middle of the night, placed in the back of vehicle, told not to make any noise, and the vehicle speeds off down the highway. Scenario II: Young boy playing in park goes to see firetruck, turns around to see scary man in angry pursuit, poised to attack. I experienced and lived through both of those scenarios. Terrifying, no? Actually, no; and my picture was never on a milk carton. Here's the context: Scenario I: We addressed both set of our grandparents as "grandma" and "grandpa". How did we distinguish? One set lived less than a half hour's drive; those were there "close grandma and grandpa". The other set lived five hour drive away; they were the "way far away grandma and grandpa". To make the trip the most pleasant for all of us, Dad would wake up my brother and I at 4:00AM, we'd groggily -- but with excitement! -- wander out and down to the garage where we'd crawl

Thought for the Day: David HaMelech's Five Stages of Finding HaShem In the World

Many of us "sing" (once you have heard what I call carrying a tune, you'll question how I can, in good conscience, use that verb, even with the quotation marks) Eishes Chayil before the Friday night Shabbos meal.  We feel like we are singing the praises of our wives.  In fact, I have also been to chasunas where the chasson proudly (sometimes even tearfully) sings Eishes Chayil to his new eishes chayil.  Beautiful.  Also wrong.  (The sentiments, of course, are not wrong; just a misunderstanding of the intent of the author of these exalted words.) Chazal (TB Brachos, 10a) tell us that when Sholmo HaMelech wrote the words "She opens her mouth Mwith wisdom; the torah of kindness is on her tongue", that he was referring to his father, Dovid HaMelech, who (I am continuing to quote Chazal here) lived in five worlds and sang a song of praise [to each].  It seems to me that "world" here means a perception of reality.  Four times Dovid had to readjust his perc

Thought for the Day: אוושא מילתא Debases Yours Shabbos

My granddaughter came home with a list the girls and phone numbers in her first grade class.  It was cute because they had made it an arts and crafts project by pasting the list to piece of construction paper cut out to look like an old desk phone and a receiver attached by a pipe cleaner.  I realized, though, that the cuteness was entirely lost on her.  She, of course, has never seen a desk phone with a receiver.  When they pretend to talk on the phone, it is on any relatively flat, rectangular object they find.  (In fact, her 18 month old brother turns every  relatively flat, rectangular object into a phone and walks around babbling into it.  Not much different than the rest of us, except his train of thought is not interrupted by someone else babbling into his ear.) I was reminded of that when my chavrusa (who has children my grandchildrens age) and I were learning about אוושא מילתא.  It came up because of a quote from the Shulchan Aruch HaRav that referred to the noise of תקתוק