The First Commandment

The first commandment is G-d’s declaration to all individuals: “I am your very life. And I will ultimately make that reality manifestly clear to the entire world:

Two Major Themes

This week’s Torah portion of Vo’eschanan is unique in that it contains both the Aseres Hadibros (lit.Ten Statements, mistranslated as the “Ten Commandments.”), as well as the Shema. Both contain declarations which represent the very foundation of Judaism. In the Ten Commandments, G-d “introduces” Himself:

“I am the L-rd your G-d, who has taken you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”

And in the Shema, Moses declares:

“Hear O Israel, the L-rd is our G-d, the L-rd is one”.

Let us analyze the first verse of the Aseres Hadibros:

“I am”

The term G-d uses to introduce Himself in the Aseres Hadibros is “Anochi.” According to the Midrash, this word originates in the Egyptian language. It is remarkable that G-d would have chosen a word from a foreign language to reveal Himself to the Jewish people at Sinai.

The lesson we can derive from this is that the Torah that G-d gave us at Sinai was intended to be used as a way of reaching every aspect of life. G-d is not restricted to one area. The same G-d who is situated in a holy place is responsible for – and therefore exists in – even the unholy and the foreign. It is our task to look for and discover the Divinity underlying all of G-d’s creations.

“The L-rd”

The Hebrew name for G-d used here is the Tetragrammaton. This name, often referred to as G-d’s “essential name,” comprises three Hebrew words: Haya, Hoveh, Yihyeh, (was, is, will be).

The fact that these three tenses are consolidated in one word informs us that G-d transcends the limitations of time. He is simultaneously, in the past, in the present and in the future. At Sinai, the Jewish people were exposed to this transcendent manifestation of G-d.

“your G-d”

In Hebrew, the word “your” is different when addressing a group as opposed to an individual. Although G-d is addressing the entire Jewish nation for all times, He employed the singular Hebrew suffix which denotes that He is speaking to only one person.

The lesson we are to learn from this is that, notwithstanding G-d’s transcendence, He nevertheless chose at Sinai – and continues to choose – to connect Himself to each and every one of us as individuals.

Moreover, the term “your G-d (Elokecha,” the root of which means power or vitality) in this verse implies that G-d becomes our very power and inner force. From Sinai onward, G-d cannot be an abstraction for a Jew; He is an integral part of our lives.

The implication of this notion is that for a Jew, anything theat he or she does cannot go against G-d by his or her nature. True, a Jew can sin but that it because we have free choice and we can go against our nature.

To illustrate, it is against human nature to jump off a roof, but yet a human being has the ability to do just that.

“Who has taken you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.”

The great philosopher and poet, R. Yehudah Halevi, raised the question why the Torah did not say, “Who has created heaven and earth,” a far greater accomplishment, one would think, than “merely” liberating the Jews from Egypt.

One of the answers to this question is that all of Judaism represents our ongoing effort at liberation. At whatever level we are in our spiritual development, we find ourselves stifled and confined. Every time we do a Mitzvah, our goal, is to “break out” of the land of Mitzrayim, (Egypt, but literally translated as:) confinement.

Our task is to emulate G-d, by continually being involved in the process of liberating ourselves and thereby, the entire world.

Indeed, one of the early codifiers of Jewish law, known as the SeMaK, stated that the first verse of the Aseres Hadibros constitutes the commandment to believe and anticipate the future Messianic Redemption – the objective of all of our efforts now.

Why is the commandment to believe in Redemption included in the first Commandment?

It maybe suggested that I is G-d’s way of responding to a question about the opening words of this commandment that “I am G-d, your G-d.” As was explained above, this means that G-d has invested His very essence into us so that our nature is essentially G-dly.

This assertion raises a question:

Where do we see that G-d is our true identity when we are so materialistic?

The answer is provided in the continuation of the commandment: “Who has taken you out of the Land of Egypt.” If one does not see how the essence of the Jew is G-dly it is due to the fact that we are still in exile. However, when G-d will liberate us from exile it will become clear to all that we are a G-dly people.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Voeschanan by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.