“Aseret Ha-Dibrot” - “The Ten Commandments”
Please do
NOT visit this site on Shabbat or on a
- Y-H-V-H, which
we usually pronounce as “Adonai” or “HaShem”.
*“This
is My Name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.”
Shemot - Exodus 3:15.
On this site I will mostly use a version based on the “Jewish Publication Society” (JPS) of the Torah/Tanakh
Although some minor alterations have been made relating to names and attributes having been corrected.
Please Note:
Verse numbers may at times vary in non Jewish Bibles.
“Aseret Hadibrot”
Shemot - Exodus 20:2-17 and Devarim - Deuteronomy 5:6-21.
“Aseret Hadibrot” has also been translated as “the Ten Words”, “the Ten Sayings” or “the Ten Matters”.
With Rabbi Reuven Ben-Avraham.
. There is so much more in these
commandments than what we tend to think, and we all know what
these commands contain, but have you ever thought about the way
it was made up?
Did you know that there are 620 letters
in “Aseret Ha-Dibrot” - ? Like everything there is a specific
reason for this. Not every one is aware that it is made up
of a certain number of letters and it is all very significant.
Let me explain; 1. there are 613 letters and of course this
number refer to our 613 “Mitzvot” –
“Commandments” which we are blessed with in the
Torah, and then there are the other 7 and they refer to
the 7 days of Creation, and this is called perfection!
“Aseret Ha-Dibrot” - contains ten of the most important
commandments which we Jews should faithfully follow. Of course
some are rather obvious such as “Lo Tir’sach” - 
- “do not murder”, but some may be
more challenging. For instance; “Oy’vey I really love
his car, he is so lucky and it is electric, but I just can’t
afford it”.
However, we Jews, we have carried -
the Ten Commandments for thousands of years, and their
meaning may have shifted somewhat. For thankfully, we are no
longer a nation on that long (single Generation) 40-year journey
through the wilderness constantly complaining and it was
only Yahushua – Joshua and Kalev - Caleb together with the
next generation who were permitted to enter the promised land.
Unlike our people in the past, we are not a strictly agricultural
people and we do not have kings and sadly we don’t even have
a
Thus, how should we approach the Ten Commandments? Before cracking open Shemot - Exodus, you should write down your 10 most important rules for life. I have asked this question of others, and some of the things written was to say the least, ‘a bisl mashuga’ (Yiddish for a little crazy), but I will not go into that!
After some of them had written a list, I then share the Ten Commandments and tried to reconcile that with their list. Their list also had a popular one that said “taking care of planet earth” and that some felt actually edged out the “don’t covet”. One person said to me once; “But it does mean the understanding has evolved?” My answer was, “What you are saying that Elohim’s is ever changing, and thus so must the Ten Commandments be. The truth is very clear, He has told us that He never changes!” and we should have been taking care of the earth anyway, as it was His gift to us in the first place, and in general mankind has let Elohim down, for the Torah has given us means of how to care for the land, and frankly men have let it run into ruin!
“Aseret
Ha-Dibrot” - - the “Ten
Commandments”
I pray that our children are taught all about the Ten Commandments, although I am not sure how they relate to it, but I pray that they have good and faithful parents that ensure they will follow the right path in order whatever they go on to do as adults, they use their religious education to encourage the creation of a society built on truth, reason, freedom, justice, and peace. And I hope that I have been able to bring a little additional perspective to our sacred and ancient words given by our Creator!
Always remember our motto seen on the logo at
the top of this page: “The More Torah, the More Life”,
for Elohim, blessed be His Sanctified Name,
is the one who gave us our Life!”
