EXODUS XXX:11-XXXIV:35

WITH THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

The Ten Commandments are repeated in the Torah. The first mention is in Parsha Yitro and the second in Parsha Va’etchanan. If we consider that Va’etḥanan is in Devarim, the fifth volume of the Torah—which contains Moshe’s (Moses’)discourses  that recapitulate many earlier events—the Ten Commandments deserved to be relisted. It is worth mentioning that the  Torah relates that the Tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written were destroyed by Moshe when he witnessed the frenzied dance of our ancestors around a golden calf, a fact described in this weekly text.

For this reason, Moshe had to remain at Sinai again for forty days and forty nights to receive a second set of Tablets with the written text of the Ten Commandments. So the repetition of this text in Va’etḥanan symbolizes the two editions of the Tablets. Is there any difference between them?

An important textual change can be seen: the reason for observing Shabbat. The first Tablets base the fulfillment of this day on the creation of the universe, while the second argue that the reason is the exodus from Egypt. Meir Simhah Feldblum, a professor whom I remember with admiration and affection from our day at Yeshiva University, concludes that the difference in the Tablets reflects a change in attitude that will only take hold within the people during the time of Mordekhai and Esther, whom we celebrate on Purim.

The first Tablets were received by a people who had recently emerged from slavery and who were not prepared to exercise freedom, a condition that can be terrifying to the enslaved mind, which has been masterfully analyzed by Erich Fromm in his “Escape from Freedom“. Even our Ḥakhamim held that the people accepted the fulfillment of the Ten Commandments under divine coercion.

God lifted Mount Sinai above the heads of the Hebrews and said to them, “Either you accept My Commandments, or I will let the mountain fall on you.” Faced with this threat, the people accepted.

However, the second Tables point to a state of greater reflection on the part of the people. The experience of the cult of the golden calf was instructive, because they remembered the animal cult of Egypt, the site of their slavery, from whose culture they wanted to differentiate themselves completely.

Centuries later, during the time of Queen Esther, the people reaffirmed their commitment to the observance of the laws of the Torah, even though their ancestors had already done so on Mount Sinai. This time, the people opted for the law after long and arduous experiences, but especially because a  parallel Torah had been developed  : Torah shebealpe, the Oral Torah, which explains in abundant detail the text of the Written Torah. Now the emphasis has been placed on the study and transmission of knowledge to the new generations. Although the Torah commands that instruction be given to children, it was Rabbi Yehoshua ben Gamla, in Talmudic times, who instrumented the creation of schools for children to ensure the indispensable transmission of values to future generations.

MITZVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA

CONTAINS 4  POSITIVE MITZVOT AND 5 PROHIBITIONS

105. Exodus 30:13 Give annually half a shekel (coin)

106. Exodus 30:19-20 Washing Your Hands and Feet When Serving in the Temple

107. Exodus 30:25 To make anointing oil

108 ​Exodus 30:32 A person who is not authorized must not pour anointing oil on himself

109 ​Exodus 30:32 Do not make anointing oil that has not been authorized according to the formula

110. Exodus 30:37 Do not make incense that has not been authorized according to the formula

111. Exodus 34:12,15 Neither eat nor drink of the offering for an idol

112. Exodus 34:21 Allow the earth to rest in the year of Shemitah(seventh year)

113. Exodus 34:25 Do not eat meat and milk that have been cooked together