Parashat Yitro: Why Do We Need All Ten Commandments?

 Moses is walking down the mountain with the Ten Commandments and as he looks over them, he thinks that this is just too much to ask a society to do all at once.  He has a plan!  Just go around the world and give out one commandment at a time.

So, he travels to France.  "Hello people of France, I want to give you a commandment from Gd."  The French say, "Okay, we're listening."  Moses replies, "You shall not commit adultery!"  The French look at him and say, "It's okay. We don't need a commandment right now."

So, he travels to El Salvador.  "Hello people of El Salvador, I want to give you a commandment from Gd."  The Salvadorians say, "Okay, we're listening."  Moses replies, "You shall not kill!" The Salvadorians chuckle and say, "It's okay. We don't need a commandment, thank you." (note: El Salvador has the highest murder rate in the world  as of 2017 - https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/murder-rate-by-country).

So, Moses travels to Canaan.  "Hello fellow Israelites, I want to give you a commandment from Gd."  The Israelites say, "Okay, how much is it?"  Moses replies, "Um...well it’s free!"  The Israelites look at him and say, "Okay, we'll take ten!"

https://upjoke.com/ten-commandments-jokes

It makes for fascinating reading.

In 2017, YouGov carried out a survey in Britain to gauge how many people believed the Ten Commandments, that we read about in this week’s Parasha, to still be relevant in the 21^st Century.  The results were fascinating.

https://yougov.co.uk/society/articles/19432-most-brits-only-think-six-ten-commandments-are-sti

The question asked was, “Regardless of whether you are a Christian or not, which of the Ten Commandments from the Bible do you believe are still important principles to live by? “

According to the results, the majority of those polled felt that only six of the ten were still currently applicable.

These were broken down into the following percentages:

94% — You shalt not murder.

93% — You shalt not steal.

87% — You shalt not lie.

73% — You shalt not commit adultery.

69% — Honour your mother and father.

61% — You shalt not covet.

31% — You shalt not worship idols.

23% — You shall not use the Lord’s name in vain.

20% — You shalt have no other gods, but Me (the One Gd)

19% — Keep the Sabbath.

After the ‘coveting one’, the list is halved when we get to ‘worshipping idols’ (from 61% to 31%).

Now, whilst I can appreciate that we don’t have that many real idols around these days to worship (in the ancient meaning of the word as opposed to its loose contemporary use when describing a pop singer, YouTuber or any other sort of celebrity, from grade zed upwards), the lack of importance assigned to blasphemy, the uniqueness of Gd and at an embarrassing 19%, the significance of having a weekly day of rest is somewhat disconcerting.

How interesting that in the survey, our relationship with Gd is relegated to second place below all the commandments relating to our dealings with others.  This is a very different outlook to one that we would have witnessed a few centuries ago, where Gd, in the form of the Church played a much more important role in the lives of everyday Christians.

The question we can therefore ask is thus:

What happens when a population (as indicated by the survey) focuses on the second set of laws and diminishes the importance of the first part?  In this century, do we really need to obey all Ten Commandments?

Can we leave Gd out of the equation and still maintain a just and moral society?

The Rambam, in his commentary to Shemot 20:13-14 (quoting Kiddushin 30b) writes:

And behold, the Ten Statements (Commandments) are five for the glory of the Creator and five for the benefit of man - as Honour your father and your mother is [for] the glory of Gd, as for the glory of the Creator did He command to honour the father that participated in the formation [of the child].  And five remain for man - for his needs and for his benefits.

Our sages connect the two lists of commandments through the placing of the fifth one, which should be on the right side of the list (namely relationships between people as indicated by honouring one’s parents), with the four that preceded it (relating to our relationship with Gd).  Could there be more similarities bridging both sides?

The Mechilta, a Midrash on Shemot, famously lines up the sides and observes the following:

Number 1 (I am the Lord Your G-d) impacts directly on number 6 (You shall not murder) since Gd creates every human being, taking away their life is a rejection of His role in our formation.

Number 2 (You shall have no gods aside from me) and number 7 (you must not commit adultery) is as though we violate the most precious relationship we have.  If we cheat on our spouse (our physical partner), it is like we are denying the uniqueness of Gd as our spiritual companion.

Number 3 (taking Gd’s name in vain) and Number 8 (You shall not steal).  If we steal, we devalue the importance of respecting other peoples’ property.  This is also the case when we don’t treat Gd’s name, His most personal property, with due reverence.

These are three examples of the links between both types of relationships.

In the examples that I have provided, there is one theme that permeates - that of Divine accountability.  There are those people who, as we know, manage to commit murder or adultery or theft and are never caught because they don’t link the actions that they do with the damage that it causes to the victims.

Which reminds me of the old joke. 

Chris, a burglar, has managed to break into a beautiful and very large stately home.  The owners, Lord and Lady McDonald, are asleep in the master bedroom above a huge living room that is brimming with precious artefacts that he is placing into his huge swag bag.  The room is pitch-black and he is navigating his way very carefully using a torch.  Suddenly he hears a voice towards the end of the room which says, “Jesus is watching you!”  He turns, tries to locate its source but cannot do so.  A few minutes later, he hears it again, “Jesus is watching you!”  Once again, he turns and tries to find out where the voice is coming from.  No luck.  Undeterred, he continues and a few minutes later hears once again, “Jesus is watching you!” whereupon he turns around and his torch illuminates a parrot in a cage.  He looks at it and it squawks again, “Jesus is watching you.”  Chris, not being a particular religious individual, suddenly feels very guilty and replies, “Where is he?”  The parrot lifts his wing and points to a corner of the room and says in a loud voice, “Over there.  Jesus the Rottweiler is watching you!”

It is not enough to observe, or in the case of the survey, value, the five commandments that define the relationship between humans alone.  Whilst they are noteworthy, without accepting the underlying relationship that exists between the other five and Gd’s role in all ten, we underestimate the fundamental role that they play as the DNA that underpins the societies in which we wish to reside and contribute towards.

It is not an accident that the Founding Fathers who wrote the American Declaration of Independence included this text:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

They recognised the centrality of Gd in a society that would promote life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness because, if we know that we are accountable to Gd for everything that we do, this should prevent the destructive forces, such murder, theft and adultery which abolish the foundations of the very society we are trying to construct.

Rabbi Sacks summed this up beautifully in his book on Ethics:

Thirty-three centuries after they were first given, the Ten Commandments remain the simplest, shortest guide to (the) creation and maintenance of a good society.  Many alternatives have been tried and most have ended in tears.

Alistair Campbell famously said, “We don’t do God.” whilst his boss, Sir Tony Blair prays every evening before he retires for the night.  Perhaps, if our fellow citizens did a little more ‘G-d’, there might be a little less murder, theft and adultery. 

We, the People of the Book are far from perfect but we can stand proudly in the knowledge that, as per the joke, we took on all ten…and I don’t know many of our brethren who have murdered, stolen, committed adultery, bore false witness in court or coveted their neighbours’ wives, cars etc.  Additionally, we all know the Shema which declares our belief in a single Gd, don’t have a history of that much idolatry (beyond some notable lapses in the Tanach) , try to avoid blaspheming, observe Shabbat in a myriad of ways and honour our parents throughout their lives and beyond.  A coincidence?  I think not!

Shavuah Tov.