Dear Friends,
Many people think that only ten commandments were given in the Torah. In truth, Jewish tradition counts 613 commandments. However, many of them are undoable and unachievable today as they were dependent on offering sacrifices in the ancient Temple. Yet, Ten Commandments still abide, and they are charged in this week’s Torah portion.
There are many facets of the Ten Commandments which make them fascinating: their abiding and eternal content, their fascinating structures, their poetic beauty, their simplicity, their internal ontology, their unconditional, apodictic directivity. However, today I would add one further element which is so simple and obvious that we would likely overlook it: their staying power.
Yes, the content of the Ten Commandments may be eternal, but that does not guarantee that these commandments would bear a continuing hold on our hearts, minds and souls. Let’s admit it: Americans once thought that the United States Constitution with its sacred amendments was both sacrosanct and forever abiding. However, recent events have proven that government officials may disregard the
enduring expectations of the Constitution with impunity. Not every legal foundation lasts.
The Ten Commandments seem to defy that truth. Yes, individuals violate one or another precept from time to time. Some people steal. Others are adulterous. Many covet. Too many ignore Shabbat. Yet, that has not seemed to derogate the central sanctity and commanding role of these commandments.
Why?
Perhaps, despite all the social and cultural upheavals of the various ages, from the gay 90’s to the roaring 20’s to the radical 60’s to our present antinomian 2025, when moral norms were shed in each pendular shift, we still seek a constant, ethical footing. It is difficult to live in a world in which the ground keeps shaking, and moral relativism dominates. If anyone can deem anything proper and goodly at seemingly any time, then nothing is proper and goodly. If every rule and truth can be reversed by fiat, then no rule or truth merits devotion.
However, against this backdrop, the Ten Commandments somehow still stand (even in courtrooms in Alabama or Louisiana, against repeated judicial rulings). They stand as if they are God’s security camera, maintaining a watchful vigil on us and our behavior. And insofar as they are watching, we live with knowledge that our deeds do matter. They are our forever touchstone.
This week, we read the Ten Commandments in synagogues around the globe. If you have not reread them recently, take a look. You’ll find them in Exodus, chapter 20.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Many people think that only ten commandments were given in the Torah. In truth, Jewish tradition counts 613 commandments. However, many of them are undoable and unachievable today as they were dependent on offering sacrifices in the ancient Temple. Yet, Ten Commandments still abide, and they are charged in this week’s Torah portion.
There are many facets of the Ten Commandments which make them fascinating: their abiding and eternal content, their fascinating structures, their poetic beauty, their simplicity, their internal ontology, their unconditional, apodictic directivity. However, today I would add one further element which is so simple and obvious that we would likely overlook it: their staying power.
Yes, the content of the Ten Commandments may be eternal, but that does not guarantee that these commandments would bear a continuing hold on our hearts, minds and souls. Let’s admit it: Americans once thought that the United States Constitution with its sacred amendments was both sacrosanct and forever abiding. However, recent events have proven that government officials may disregard the
enduring expectations of the Constitution with impunity. Not every legal foundation lasts.
The Ten Commandments seem to defy that truth. Yes, individuals violate one or another precept from time to time. Some people steal. Others are adulterous. Many covet. Too many ignore Shabbat. Yet, that has not seemed to derogate the central sanctity and commanding role of these commandments.
Why?
Perhaps, despite all the social and cultural upheavals of the various ages, from the gay 90’s to the roaring 20’s to the radical 60’s to our present antinomian 2025, when moral norms were shed in each pendular shift, we still seek a constant, ethical footing. It is difficult to live in a world in which the ground keeps shaking, and moral relativism dominates. If anyone can deem anything proper and goodly at seemingly any time, then nothing is proper and goodly. If every rule and truth can be reversed by fiat, then no rule or truth merits devotion.
However, against this backdrop, the Ten Commandments somehow still stand (even in courtrooms in Alabama or Louisiana, against repeated judicial rulings). They stand as if they are God’s security camera, maintaining a watchful vigil on us and our behavior. And insofar as they are watching, we live with knowledge that our deeds do matter. They are our forever touchstone.
This week, we read the Ten Commandments in synagogues around the globe. If you have not reread them recently, take a look. You’ll find them in Exodus, chapter 20.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
