[This was first published in 2012, reposted thereafter at this time every year and updated, our way of reminding ourselves and our readers to make an individual inventory of how badly we have fared in living the instructions and teachings of the God we believe in.
If YHWH the God of Israel is the God you recognize and acknowledge as King over your life, then this serves as a guide to prepare for the fall feast of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. For nine days, we are to examine ourselves and ‘make it right’ with our fellowmen before we approach our King in true repentance. That means, we don’t just ask forgiveness by lip service, we truly are sorry for our sins committed against our ‘neighbor’ whoever fits that description (kin, friend, foe). Feeling sorry is not enough, as we ask forgiveness from them, we resolve not to repeat the offense. All this, before we approach our God for sins against Him. This much, we learn from Judaism, the first monotheistic religion based on the Torah for Jews and Gentiles alike in the ‘mixed multitude’ or representative humanity, issued by the self-revealing God on Sinai who gave His Name as YHWH.
Take note: we are given 9 days to set it right with our fellowmen, and one day to set it right with God? Lopsided? Not when you really think that the teachings and instructions of YHWH are much about how to live right and well in community. What are laws for if we live alone? –Admin1.]
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As if 10 commandments were not enough to contend with, one of the first discoveries upon reading TNK/Tanach is that the Israelites were given by YHWH, other do’s and dont’s that add up [as of first and last count] to 613! For a categorization of the 613, please go to this site: http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm.
Judaism teaches that actually, the 613 commandments fall under 10 categories, which would be the 10 commandments as we’ve always known them. Sigh of relief! Those 10 categories are:
- belief in God,
- prohibition of improper worship,
- prohibition of oaths,
- observance of sacred times,
- respect for parents and teachers,
- prohibition of physically harming a person,
- prohibition of sexual immorality,
- prohibition of theft,
- prohibition of harming a person through improper speech,
- prohibition against covetousness.
For a fuller discussion of these categories, please go to this link: http://www.jewfaq.org/10.htm.
The 10 commandments could be further shortened to 2 general categories, defining man’s relationship —
- with God and
- with fellowmen.
The rabbis teach that when there is a conflict between obeying the commandments toward God with the commandments toward fellowmen, the latter must prevail. The reason given is—God can take care of Himself, but if He places us in a position to help others, we are allowed to attend to that first.
Example: you are on your way to attend a Sabbath fellowship or bible study which of course pleases God; but an emergency involving a person required your assistance, attend to that person first. Jewfaq.org states: “When forced to choose between our duties to a person and our duties to G-d, we must pursue our duties to the person, because the person needs our help, but G-d does not need our help.”
When we see reproductions of the 2 tablets, we usually see Commandments 1-5 on one side and 6-10 on the other. [Hebrew reads from right to left.]
You would think the arrangement should be 1-4 and 5-10, since honoring father and mother would naturally fall under human relationships. However, it appears that parents have been given the ability to recreate life, to participate in the creative act, the propagation of themselves through their children, the continuation of life through generations. The mother is the nurturer of that new life in the womb and cares for her child through the age of
responsibility/accountability; the father is given the command to teach Torah to the next generation.
[AST] Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: HaShem is our God, HaShem is the One and Only. You shall love HaShem, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your resources. And these matters that I command you today shall be upon your heart. You shall teach them thoroughly to your children and you shall speak of them while you sit in your home, while you walk on the way, when you retire and when you arise. Bind them as a sign upon your arm and let them be ornaments between your eyes. And write them on the doorposts of your house and upon your gates.
[EF] Hearken O Israel: YHWH our God, YHWH (is) One! You are to love YHWH your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your substance! These words, which I myself command you today, are to be upon your heart. You are to repeat them with your children and are to speak to them in your sitting in your house and in your walking in the way, in your lying-down and your rising-up. You are to tie them as a sign upon your hand, and they are to be for bands between your eyes. You are to write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Parents who do their part as God commanded them are God’s representative to the next generation; hence, they are to be loved and honored by their children. Jewfaq.org states:
“Disrespect to our biological creators is not merely an affront to them; it is also an insult to the Creator of the Universe. Accordingly, honor of father and mother is included on the tablet of duties to G-d.”
One last point to consider: it appears that there are differences in the versions of the 10 Commandments.
- The Catholic version removes the verses on idolatry altogether, and to make up for one less, applies the prohibition against coveting to spouse and property.
- The Protestant version separates idolatry from worshipping other gods.
- Judaism remains true to the original listing in its own Scriptures, according to Exodus 20:1-14.
The following commentary on each commandments are from Artscroll The Stone Edition Tanach:
First Commandment: Belief in God: This is the positive commandment to believe in the existence of HaShem [The Name – YHWH] as the only God.
Second Commandment: Prohibition of Idolatry. This commandment comprises four negative injunctions:
(1) It is forbidden to believe in idols.
(2) It is forbidden to make or possess them.
(3) It is forbidden to worship them through any of the four forms of Divine service [prostration, slaughter, offering upon an altar, libations of wine or other liquids upon an altar]; and
[4] It is forbidden to worship an idol by a means that is unique to it.
Third Commandment: Prohibition of vain oaths. Just as it is forbidden to show contempt for God by making an idol, so it is forbidden to disgrace His Name by using it for no valid purpose.
Fourth Commandment: The Sabbath. This day serves as a constant reminder that God is the Creator, Who created for six days and rested on the seventh. Sabbath observance bears testimony to this concept. This includes not only deed, but attitude.
Fifth Commandment: Honoring parents. The 10 commandments are inscribed on 2 tablets, five on each. The first tablet contains laws regarding Man’s relationship with God while the second refers to relationships among people. This casts a revealing light on the significance God attaches to the honor He wants us to show parents. When people honor their parents, God regards it as if they honor Him.
Sixth Commandment: Prohibition against murder. Mechilla notes that the first commandment of the second tablet corresponds to the first of the other one, faith in God. Someone with true belief in God as the Creator and Sustainer of human life will not commit murder.
Seventh Commandment: Prohibition against adultery. By definition, this term refers only to cohabitation with a married woman, which is a capital offense. It is parallel to the second commandment, which forbids idolatry, for someone who betrays the marital relationship can be expected to betray God.
Eigth Commandment: Prohibition against kidnapping. In this prohibition, “stealing” refers to kidnapping. a kidnapper who forces his victim to work for him and then sells him into slavery is liable to the death penalty. The commandment against ordinary theft is found in Leviticus 19:11. Stealing is compared to the 3rd commandment because one who steals may well seek to cover his tracks by swearing falsely.
Ninth Commandment: Prohibition against bearing false witness. In addition to its literal meaning, this prohibits gossip and slander.
Tenth Commandment: Prohibition against coveting. This last commandment is one that only a Divine Lawgiver could have decreed. A mortal ruler can legislate against murder and theft, but only God can demand that people sanctify their thoughts and attitudes to the point where they purge themselves of such natural tendencies as jealousy and covetousness.
Update September 2015:
Sinaites are recommending for MUST READ, if not MUST OWN, a book that will be elaborated on in a series of articles soon to be posted. Meanwhile, discover for yourself why we are intrigued by the title and content: The Hidden Book in the Bible: The Discovery of the First Prose Masterpiece; restored, translated and introduced by Richard Elliott Friedman, author of Who Wrote the Bible?
This is part of our Truth quest, specifically . . . how much of the book touted as “the very words of God” is “divine revelation” and how much is human-sourced in the process of transmission?
This does not shake our faith as it should not shake yours. In fact our collective experience as Sinai 6000’s core community is this: how progressively simpler it gets to live according to YHWH’s guidelines and manual for living.
Joining church and religion might be the beginning of all quests for the One True God, but the persistent personal quest motivated by a heart so hungry for God’s unadulterated Truth and accompanied by an open and discerning mind is what will get you there.
My father who founded an educational foundation has written simple guidelines that are implanted in my consciousness, two samples in green, his favorite color which became the university color:
“Education is a shield against the intolerance of the mind.”
“Education ends only with life.”
In effect, in the realm of knowledge and wisdom whether self-taught or schooled, never think that you have ‘arrived’; there is always so much more to learn; in fact, his message in a 1950 yearbook:
“A diploma is an inventory of the little that we know;
we frame it to remind us that the road to knowledge is endless.
Let us spread out and make use of the charm of knowledge for the common good. Knowledge is lost to those who use it only for the good of themselves.”
The lasting legacy of this wise father who was not into church or religion:
“My religion is to be good and to do good.”
And that is the essence of YHWH’s Torah that is lived rather than being relegated to Sunday church and membership in a religious denomination.
Hence, this website where Sinaites share what we learn every step of the way as we journey through the road less travelled—the pathway towards Sinai, the neutral territory where YHWH chose to reveal Himself and His Torah to the mixed multitude of Jew and Gentile. No man’s land, representative humanity—that should settle the issue of the universality of YHWH’s Torah.
The Jesus of John’s gospel (8:32) got it right:
“You will know the truth and the truth shall set you free”
—but better yet, listen to the of promise of YHWH Himself in Jeremiah 29:13-14:
And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart. . .
I will be found by you,’ declares YHWH . . . .
Postscript:
One last reminder from our banner-scroll:
“From the cowardice that shirks from new truth,
From the laziness that is content with half truth,
From the arrogance that thinks it knows all truth,
O GOD of TRUTH, deliver us.”
– An Old Jewish Prayer
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