As we celebrate the holiday of Shavuot, commemorating the day God gave us the Torah on Mount Sinai, it’s appropriate to reflect on the contemporary messages of The 10 Commandments.
1. I am the Lord your God…
We live in an age of cultural relativism. Secularism has turned morality into no more than a personal preference.
Sin, evil, wrongdoing are words that have lost all meaning in a world where there are no absolute truths. Today it is the critic of depraved actions who is condemned for his bigoted lack of tolerance.
How did all this happen? Dostoyevsky understood it well when he wrote in The Brothers Karamazov “Without God, all is permissible.”
“I am the Lord your God” is number one on the list of 10 because without that as #1, all you have left is zero. So too without a belief in God mankind loses its rationale for acting as noble beings created in the divine image.
2. You shall have no other gods before Me…
We worship false gods when our heroes are determined not by their values but by their financial worth. We idolize people of wealth – and so we pursue lives that will fill our bank accounts and leave our spirit barren.
We impress upon our children the goal of success – and then define it in ways that will leave them spiritually unfulfilled.
We compare the salaries of our educators and our spiritual leaders to the titans of Wall Street, the stars of the sports world and the famous entertainment figures and we have no trouble discerning what the world round about us most reveres.
To believe in God requires us to reject all the false gods of our society that seek only to still the voice of our conscience and the stirrings of our soul.
3. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain
It is more than tragic when evil is perpetrated in the name of God. It is a crime that besmirches all religion because it attributes wickedness to the Almighty.
It is the third commandment that is so brazenly violated by all the acts of terrorism ostensibly committed in the name of God.
No truly pious person could ever believe that a good God would sanction placing explosives at the finish line of a marathon race so that innocent runners would have their legs blasted off and blameless bystanders be permanently maimed or killed. No true servant of God could ever defame His holy name by using it to justify the suicide bombings and the horrific murders that have become the 21st century examples of religious fanaticism.
God has commanded us in no uncertain terms never to misuse his name for evil or to justify wickedness.
4. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy
The Sabbath is far more than a day of rest. Six days a week we are concerned with the world round about us. They are the days of the six directions – East, West, North, South, above and below. The seventh day turns us inward, a day to be occupied with our private selves.
For six days we give emphasis to our bodies. The seventh day belongs to our souls.
The Sabbath, a day dedicated to a loftier vision of our true selves as seekers of contemplation and union with God, enables us to realize the purpose of all our efforts.
The burgeoning world of technology offers no rest or time for introspection. The unceasing barrage of emails, texting, surfing are weapons of mass distraction.
Can we ever call a halt to their seemingly unlimited control of our lives?
The law of the Sabbath tells us it is not only possible but mandatory. The Sabbath not only enables us to become reacquainted with God but with ourselves as well.
5. Honor your father and your mother…
It’s been reported that today the one thing people fear more than death is old age.
“Ageism” is the word that’s been coined to identify our societies negative stereotyping of the elderly. When the Bible spoke of “the elders of Israel,” it was meant to compliment those with greater wisdom. Today, age is identified with a period of incompetency as well as physical and mental deterioration. To be old in our culture is very often nothing less than a curse.
How far from the biblical view that demands respect for the aged and honor for one’s own parents. How is it that all teenagers today are so certain they know far more about life than the ones who raised them? And why is it that every child is automatically entitled to everything by parents – but when parents years later find themselves in need so often are denied the help they so freely gave to their children?
Honoring parents appears on the same tablet set aside for commandments between man and God. Why? The Rabbis answer because just like God, our parents shared in creating us.
6. You shall not murder
Murder is forbidden, no matter what the motive. The 20th century witnessed the legitimization of murder on racial grounds. Only pure blooded Aryans were granted the right to live by the barbaric leaders of the German Third Reich. The 21st century finds civilization threatened once more by those who justify murder on the basis of religious conviction. Both of these threats to the survival of civilization were clearly addressed and outlawed by the sixth commandment.
7. You shall not commit adultery
There was a time when people understood that marriage meant commitment and vows of mutual fidelity were the greatest guarantors of lifelong happiness.
There was a time when people understood that true love was a necessary prerequisite for intimacy and that kiddushin, the Hebrew word for marriage meaning holiness, was the ideal way to describe the perfect union between a man and a woman.
It takes courage to defy a culture that glamorizes sexual promiscuity and glorifies its obsession with pornography. Our over-sexualized society teaches our young to believe that physical pleasure is our greatest good and sexiness trumps character, intelligence and all other human achievements. From casual sex and hookups to adulterous unions, contemporary America has traded the seventh commandment for licentiousness and immorality – only to pay the price of broken homes, unfulfilled fantasies and the grief that comes from breaking the divine laws God taught us for achieving true happiness.
8. You shall not steal
For the Talmud, theft means far more than the taking of someone else’s property. We steal from others whenever we don’t live up to our obligations, whenever we do not give full value for any work for which we receive payment.
No wonder that sociologists tell us that stealing has become a national problem of epidemic proportions. The Robert Half Personnel Agencies has calculated that “Time-theft will cost the American economy as much as $70 billion a year.” Time-theft is defined as “those deliberate employee actions which result in the massive, growing misuse and waste of time. Estimated time-theft are: arriving to work late, leaving early, taking unjustified ‘sick’ days, extensive socializing with co-workers, turning the water cooler into a conversation pit, inattention to the job at hand, reading novels and magazines on the job, operating a business on the side during working hours, eating lunch at the desk and then going out for the ‘lunch hour,’ excessive personal phone calls, on-the-job daydreaming and fantasizing, long, frequent coffee and snack breaks, etc.”
No matter what our job, if we’re not conscientious enough to fulfill it to the best of our ability we are in violation of the eighth commandment.
9. You shall not bear false witness
Words are weapons. They can heal but they can also kill. Bearing false witness belongs on the same tablet as the sin of murder. And it is a mistake to assume that the commandment concerns itself only with testimony given in a courtroom. Far more frequently it is a sin committed on a daily basis by way of harmful speech, spiteful slander, malicious rumors and hurtful gossip.
Words can destroy reputations. They can kill friendships. They can hurt the victims of their cruel barbs more severely than a prison sentence handed down by a judge in a court of law.
Gossip, it’s been aptly said, is no less than social sewage for the ears. Yet our culture today makes it the major focus of our media and a constant theme of our conversations. For the Torah, it was more than sin; it was sickness – a disease similar to leprosy that required those guilty of slander to be punished with isolation.
It’s a good idea to remember this famous aphorism of Eleanor Roosevelt: Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.
10. You shall not covet
It is the last commandment that commentators explain is meant to bring us to the highest level of holiness. It demands not only that we control our actions and our speech, but even our thoughts. It addresses a universal human failing and obviously believes that we can overcome it.
If the desire for something is based on need, then fulfillment brings contentment. If the goal, however, is simply to have more than everyone else, then we are doomed to disappointment and to ever-greater dissatisfaction. There’s always somebody who has something we don’t — which is enough to stir up within us envy to prevent us from being content with what is ours. That’s why coveting consumes its practitioner.
In the most profound sense, those who covet fail to acknowledge the powerful truth that there is enough in this world to satisfy everyone’s need but there’s never enough to satisfy people’s greed.
Shavuot brought us this gift of the Decalogue. No other summary of law has so brilliantly encapsulated a prescription for living a life that is both personally fulfilling and spiritually rewarding. And that is almost certainly why these laws were given as commandments, not as suggestions.
(24) Sunny, April 4, 2019 12:46 PM
The ten commandments
Nice but not nice either it is better to show the full pictures of these so called murders here it is called evilbible.com-the ten commandments dont get me wrong both god and biblical prophets violated 10 commandments
(23) Beverly Kurtin, May 7, 2014 3:26 AM
Had to chuckle
1. I recognize Hashem.
2. Guilty at times of putting technology ahead of him.
3. What IS Gd's name?
4. Guilty more often than I wish.
5. Of course! Mom died when I was 28, dad died at 92.
6. The very thought of doing that makes my skin crawl!
7. Never!
8. Nope. I gave more than I was expected to do.
9. It cost me friends, but I told the truth.
10. WHAT? Never. Seriously, when friends or others have succeeded, I'm tickled! They "lucked out?" Nope, they worked harder than those who didn't get ahead. People get new cars while mine is 16 years old? Hey, I don't have a car payment!
Okay, so I'm nowhere being perfect, I can't even claim to do the best I can because I know I can do better. But that makes me a human being, an old human being. I have to rely on the forgiveness of Hashem who knows we're going to stumble and fail, none of us is perfect.
Oh, and my age? I'm 73 years YOUNG. Life is not the same as golf--a high number is GOOD!
I love being over 70. Age is a matter of ATTITUDE, as the saying goes, if I don't mind, it don't matter. Just because I'm over 70 doesn't mean I have to worry about dying. It is going to happen, but I don't have to dwell on it, I'm too busy LIVING and having fun!
(22) suzanne, June 10, 2013 4:43 AM
what a well written and clear message
Thank you for this article. The Torah is obviously for every generation, and as you put it so well, it would be beneficial for society at large to abide by The Ten Commandments.
(21) Ari, May 17, 2013 6:53 AM
No.8 in THE 10
relates to persons (see Rashi). Property/financial theft is covered by Lev.19:11
(20) Russell, May 15, 2013 12:25 PM
Simple, yet inestimably profound
This brief article, like the Decalogue itself, has both characteristics. Thank you, Rabbi.
(19) Anonymous, May 14, 2013 12:31 PM
Fear of Aging
I agree that most people today fear aging over death, and I am one of them. It is not because I fear that my children will not honor or respect me, or that they have a sense of entitlement or that they will abandon me. But I was the caretaker for my mother when she had Alzheimers, and while I did it willingly and with love and respect as well as a sense of obligation, I did develop a tremendous fear of this disease, so yes, sadly, I would prefer death over an Alzheimers diagnosis.
(18) amodu cletus oteikwu, May 14, 2013 9:47 AM
The Ten commandments is a guide in our lives if only we can abide by it
The Ten commandments provide the basis for our modern laws, if we can obey & cherish it there will be reduction on crimes
(17) zvi, May 14, 2013 8:32 AM
Civil law negates your assertion regarding "without God, all is permissable"
You wrote: Secularism has turned morality into no more than a personal preference. True that morality and law are not exact equivalents, but, commandments 6, 8 & 9 are in "secular" law; and 1-4 are merely commandments without relation to morality. Honoring Mom & Dad is nice, but let's be honest ... a non-religious family unit (as long as not dis-functional) would have such a result. I'll grant you that 7 & 10 relate to morality and are not typically in secular laws ... but the penalties are often, respectively (a) divorce and (b) unhappiness, which are inherent penalties.
Dvirah, May 16, 2013 6:58 PM
Internalization
Civil law mirrors G-d's law only when people have so internalized G-d's law such that it seems they invented it for themselves. They needn't be overtly religious to do so. However, a country can write laws allowing one portion of its population to prey another - for example, the Segregation laws in force in the US prior to 1964. Would you really call those laws "moral"?
es58, May 17, 2013 3:34 PM
then there were the Nuremberg laws
Secular governments can write any laws they can get away with
(16) Karpule, May 14, 2013 6:57 AM
Dear Rabbi Benjamin Blech!
Thank you very much your very instructive teaching! It is very usuful today and will necessary in the future.
I pray that God confirm the ten Commandments on the whole earth! I pray that the nations aknowledge the power and goodness of God. Karpule from Hungary
(15) Anonymous, May 14, 2013 1:14 AM
7 laws of Noah
Good article aish.com and Rabbi Bleich just one thing bothers me.
You write 'the world can benefit from the Decalogue’s contemporary lessons"
Surely the world the non Jewish world would benefit more about the 7 laws of Noah not the Ten Commandments an inherently Jewish thing?
For example non Jews don't need Commandment no 4 to keep The Sabbath.
(14) Rhonda Heim, May 13, 2013 12:36 PM
The Ten Commandments: Summary of the Law
This statement offered by the author is a subtle, timeless phrase that is packed with a world of meaning ... As we go through this season of Shavuot and remember the giving of Torah, the covenant designed by our Creator of the universe, let us remember that the beauty of this season is wrapped in the vows we share with Him and the concerns we hold for our fellow man, and that in this covenant we find our blessings, meaning in life, and appreciation for the little miracles that surround us daily as we walk out our halacha in the ways of Hashem! Thank you for a beautiful writing.
(13) Reuven B. Frank, May 13, 2013 8:45 AM
Reminded, once again!
This brilliant but still brief email is vaguely reminiscent of the words of a Jewish author from a previous generation. He wrote: "Nothing is new in my writing, it is just an organized reminder for that which we should do and work on."
Sure,we all KNOW that we should behave in morally correct ways. Relating the Tora's [the absolute, world's best teacher], 'commandments to today's everyday actions just provides yet one MORE example of the timelessness of the Tora.
I repeat, brief AND brilliant!
(12) kate b, May 13, 2013 7:21 AM
I will read this to my family tonight - however
some belief systems DO actually have killing as part of their belief, by the example of the protagonist of the faith - it is MUCH kinder to redirect people to the original, especially if in one case, inparticular, their texts state that it is 'confirmation' to Torah.....and really, how cruel not to introduce them to TNK and siddur, WITH evidence of dead sea scrolls and other archaeological proofs, as they are told that everyone else's scriptures have been changed, without testing this assumption. What's worse? To hurt someone's feelings or to redirect them to the truth?
(11) Sara, May 13, 2013 3:42 AM
One thing you left out in the 8th commandment is smoking breaks. Why should smokers be given time throughout the day to take a cigarette break? It is totally unfair to non somkers. That encourage smoking/bad habits. No wonder so many empolyers are refusing to hire smokers. Really good article that I will save and share.
(10) Pastor, Luuis Rafel, May 12, 2013 6:01 PM
In an article I wrote about the Decalogue, I ended with this challenge to the readers; What kind of neighbor would they preferred to have, one the fears the Decalogue or one who didn't care for the Ten Commandments?
(9) Martin43, May 12, 2013 6:00 PM
Everything is true.
(8) Anonymous, May 12, 2013 5:54 PM
Todah Rabah on your words on the Ten Words. They speak of the age and remedy for. may G-d be praised
(7) Yosef, May 12, 2013 5:34 PM
Thank you, again....
I always love your articles......
(6) W.L. ZEV Wexler, May 12, 2013 5:33 PM
Brilliant -Thanks
That you can explain each so clearly in 3 sentences shows how well you understand them. Many thanks
(5) Dr Slobodan Lang, May 12, 2013 4:01 PM
World 10 Commandments, Confgerence every 10 years
In Health we have every 10 years a world classification of disease, on basis of new knowledge and experience. God made us to create. There are no 10 commandments put directions, paths to follow. Why not every 10 years a world conference on the most important spiritual path we follow?
Jewish Mom, May 13, 2013 4:10 PM
G-d created the world and the path!
Dr. Lang, G-d created the universe and human nature. Basic human nature does not change and neither do G-d's eternal laws. World conferences can't direct spiritual paths. Take the Durban conference, Germany's Nuremberg Laws or the UN as examples of man's inability to set moral laws.
(4) Rachel, May 12, 2013 3:54 PM
Excellent - 1 question
It seems to me that the 10th commandment needs to be stated in full: You shall not covet your neighbor's ____. The emphasis is not on wanting (that would be simply you shall not covet, period) but on wanting something or someone to which one has no right because it belongs to someone else. Coveting AN ox to plow your field is understandable and going to an ox breeder to buy one is logical. Coveting your neighbor's specific ox, either because (a) you can't afford your own, or (b) your neighbor's ox is superior to whatever other oxen are available, puts this feeling over the line. So much more so for coveting someone else's spouse! Could you clarify?
(3) Re-Tras Lospalos, May 12, 2013 3:49 PM
Wow...
This article is.....WOW.....I feel like a voice at HOME. I'm so super eager, really in love living this way. The Creator would protect Me & my future family, Amen
PURUPALE
(2) Larry, May 12, 2013 3:23 PM
Thank you
This is so well written I'm sending it to all my family members. One thing though, I see companies taking advantage of their workers, it's well documented, yet I hear very little condemning it.
(1) Janet Warne, May 12, 2013 3:11 PM
THANK YOU
How I wish this summary could be read by every adult and recited by every school going person, until it was written into the depths of every heart. G-d's words are truth and life - given for our physical, soul and spirit health.