Thou Shall Not....But Does...What Does it All Mean?
Inspired by a post today from my friend: http://jewishissues.blogspot.com/, on the meaning of sexual indiscretion and cheating, I have decided to tackle a broader more difficult issue.
What is the meaning and significance of the Ten Commandments? Are they meant to say one thing, but are the specific rules within a religion set up to tempt us to do otherwise?
All Ten Commandments, as far as I know, unless one has authority to prove the contrary, are to be treated equally. Can it be said that the order in which they are numbered is someone representative of their significance?
As Normal Jew sets out to explain in his post, and as some have responded, many people end up cheating on their spouses during their marriages. He asks, how does this differ from murder, cheating in business, or not honoring thy mother and father? Some of the very rigid rules in Judaism about women and sex are set up, to a large extent, it can be argued, to force men to cheat upon their wives and go elsewhere for sexual and/or emotional gratification. Is it not better to relax rigid rules of a religion so that a couple in a marriage can stay to make each other happy and try to work out their differences as opposed to straying and committing adultery? Which is the lesser of two evils?
Here is the question of the day: How do you reconcile what these Commandments say and what people do? Are some of the religious rules that are set forth set up and designed to make us, as humans break the Ten Commandments? Are we all designed to fall in some ways, or are some avenues of descent more terrible than others?
Thank you for your minds.
What is the meaning and significance of the Ten Commandments? Are they meant to say one thing, but are the specific rules within a religion set up to tempt us to do otherwise?
All Ten Commandments, as far as I know, unless one has authority to prove the contrary, are to be treated equally. Can it be said that the order in which they are numbered is someone representative of their significance?
As Normal Jew sets out to explain in his post, and as some have responded, many people end up cheating on their spouses during their marriages. He asks, how does this differ from murder, cheating in business, or not honoring thy mother and father? Some of the very rigid rules in Judaism about women and sex are set up, to a large extent, it can be argued, to force men to cheat upon their wives and go elsewhere for sexual and/or emotional gratification. Is it not better to relax rigid rules of a religion so that a couple in a marriage can stay to make each other happy and try to work out their differences as opposed to straying and committing adultery? Which is the lesser of two evils?
Here is the question of the day: How do you reconcile what these Commandments say and what people do? Are some of the religious rules that are set forth set up and designed to make us, as humans break the Ten Commandments? Are we all designed to fall in some ways, or are some avenues of descent more terrible than others?
Thank you for your minds.
15 Comments:
Hi Barbara! You recently posted a message on my blog and I wanted to thank you for your comments. I also wanted to let you know I deleted your comment just on the off-chance that my dad might read my blog and see it and get upset. He probably won't but, just in case. I appreciate your taking time to write me though!
No problem, totallycrunchy. I understand completely.
I am happy to help.
Continued blessings and good health to your father.
Not only is there no "order," lulei demsitafina, to the commandments--and not just these ten, all 613 mitzvos. We are taught not to prioritize the mitzvos.
The only possible exeption here is the first commandment--the belief in G-d. That is fundamental to Torah observance, so if that makes it "more" important, so be it.
PS, when do we get to see you WEARING the shtreimel in the pic?
ClooJew,
Well, someone who does not call this a 'cute little hat.'
I will not post a picture on-line.Besides, I do not know how to post pictures, being technically inept in this department.
The shtreimel is symbolic of my desire to aspire to higher learning. Nothing more.
Thank you for your wisdom.
a streimel is not a symbol of higher learning. It is a symbol of the opposite, of a group of people who said Jews should drink and sing and not study torah as much.
As to your post, I would have to say that the commandments are a guide to living your life properly. If you break a single commandment, be it one of the broad 10 or of the narrower 613, you are in essence rejecting God's constant leadership in Earthly affairs.
Life was not meant to be easy, it is all about challenges. If you fail a test, that does not mean that the test was too hard. It may mean you gave up too easily.
Someone who cheats on a spouse and blames the "hard" jewish commandments will have to answer how someone else with a worse marriage never sinned that way.
The midrash brings down that when we die God will ask why we didn't learn enough Torah. If we say it was because we were too poor, he will bring in Hillel, the poorest of the poor. For all our excuses there are examples of people who overcame the very obstacles that we are claiming. This shows that the obstacle was just that - an obstacle.
Interesting question, Barbara! Well, let's see:
1. I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
I would say that this might be THE most important Commandment, from the point of view of the G*d of the Hebrew Scriptures.
2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
Again, from the point of view of the G*d of the Hebrew Scriptures, this might follow closely behind #1 in importance.
3. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.
This is kinda more detail to go with #1 and #2... Love THE G*d, and worship THE G*d alone.
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Again, G*d wants us not to forget to worship Him. Sort of the same concept...
5. Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long.
Now, finally, we're on a different theme. Although, I suppose, honoring one's mother and father is sort of like the earthly version of honoring G*d the Creator of all.
6. Thou shalt not kill.
This is actually an interesting Commandment. It's not very specific. Is it NEVER okay to kill? Does this mean don't kill anything, or just humans? It makes an awfully big difference.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Now this is pretty straight-forward, actually. It's so clear that it might be one of the easiest Commandments to follow, you know?
8. Thou shalt not steal.
This is also fairly straight-forward. Hopefully it doesn't apply to stealing images off of the Internet!
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
This is generally interpretted as "don't lie". That's pretty darned hard to do, over the course of one's whole life. Not commiting adultery seems easier to me.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's.
Yeah. Right. Good luck with that! Does ANYone manage to keep this Commandment?
I can see why Jesus (a Jew, let's remember!) boiled it down to two Great Commandments: Love G*d with all your heart and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. And I've probably been overly biased by our Christian culture, but I think following the two Great Commandments is maybe an easier way to get a grip on morality. But that's just me.
Aral,
Thank you for listing all Ten of them.
It is true that the first speaks in the first person, "I am.." as ClooJew points out, whereas the other 9 speaks to what we should not do.
Interesting answers.
And rock, why do you make such a conclusion about the shtreimel? Personally, I love the way it looks. I guess some women have a thing for the fur, huh?
today american jews know very little about yiddishkite? Should I be surprised no.
I don't follow the 10 Commandents. However, I do put a lot of stock into thou shall not kill. I think it's a pretty important rule to live by.
On the vein of cheating on a spouse, I think it's important to respect the vows you made. However, I know there are people out there who are not monogomous and let themselves be pressued into marriage. This, I think, is a grave mistake. If it goes against your nature to be with one persyn, then don't partake in a monogomous relationship. In plain language: don't make promises you can't keep. Go out and sleep with whomever you want, just make sure all parties understand your nature and are willing to let you go when need be.
the streimel is associated with chasiddim. Chassidim are a sect of Jews that broke off from the mainstream because they wanted to focus on different aspects of the religion. The idea was that traditional Judaism is turning people off and they wanted to focus more on "spirituality" then learning Torah. Basically the reform Jews of that era.
The rabbis of that time who were not part of it were very much against the whole movement. Chassidim are more into kabbalah, mysticism and just being happy and less into traditional Jewish study.
rock says, life was not meant to be easy, it is about challenges.
That is truly the case! I am glad that both you and cloojew did refer to the importance of the 613 as a code to live by. Sometimes, I wonder, just on a personal level, and this is a quesiton, if the 613 in a Jew's minds, and their narrow rules, are given greater weight in how to live than the big Ten. When I look at the post that inspired this comment, and see how many people talk about cheating on their spouses, it gives me pause to contemplate.
Be well.
This will be a very dull comment indeed, but I just wanted to bop in and thank Barbara and you all for some interesting reading you've all provided with your comments.
(I'm not religious. Rather, I think one could argue I'm irreligious. The idea of commandments is alien to me - my own "rule" is rather simple. Be kind. That's about the summed up gist of it, anyhow.)
Katidid,
That is a beautiful and wonderful rule to have, as a human being.
Thank you for your kind words.
I'm preparing a Shavuot study session in which will will focus on "The Ten Commandments" also translated as "The Ten Utterances" or "Statements" which is how I came to be read this blog. While it has not been ongoing since 2005, in the course of preparing to to discussing number 10 (my contribution to our night of study) and looking at the commentary that is available, I wanted to make note of two things that are not specifically related to #10, but to all of them.
1) The first thing I wanted to make note of was the translation of one of those Utterances - I will call it number 6 in according to Jewish teaching - which has I have heard repeatedly been mistranslated as "Thou shall not kill" when the word "tirtzach" means murder which is different and consistent with what comes later in terms of how and when it is not only acceptable, but mandatory to go to war. Please, don't interpret this last statement to mean I am in support of war...that's entirely different subject.
2) It is my understanding that the sages note that all of ten of the "Statements" were uttered simultaneously, which interestingly enough also addresses in advance the question of which, if any, are considered to be more important than the others. The thinking here is that G-d intended for us to treat them as a package deal and all are to be observed that way. For the Noahide, the 613 are specific to Jews, while given to the Israelites, there were people of various backgrounds and beliefs who fled Egypt with them - the Israelites were not alone at Mt. Sinai...hence, the Ten Statements are meant for us all.
Beyond that we are meant to do just as the folks here have done and that is to learning should be in progress at all times...this means we discuss the words themselves, their origins, their order and relationship to one another, explore what the Sages and Rabbis have taught, to consider, discuss even argue about what it means because no one can become so learned that he/she comes to know all there is to know....and we should do this as long as we live (for of all we are commanded to do, the study of Torah is the greatest of them all).
That's it...Shavuot Tov LeKulam!
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