Pensamiento judío sobre Deuteronómio 5:18

The above mentioned statement is somewhat surprising, seeing that according to popular tradition Israel had heard all ten of the ten commandments, (from the mouth of G'd) and that the Torah itself states "these are the words G'd spoke to the whole assembly at the Mountain out of the fire." (Deut. 5,18) At that point no distinction is made between the first two and the remaining eight commandments. The Torah also says "G'd spoke to you out of the fire, you heard the sound of words but did not see an image. He told you His covenant which He ordered you to perform; ten words which He wrote on stone tablets." (4,12) In view of this, how can our sages say that only the first two commandments were addressed to Israel directly? (Rambam's and Ramban's answer to these problems are dealt with in the original) What our sages want to tell us is that although all the ten commadments are of basic significance, so much so that all the other commandments are dependent on them, the first two commandments are of such overriding significance because they constitute acceptance by the Jewish people of the authority of Heaven. "Anochi" teaches us that G'd is a completely free agent who does not act under any complulsion and who can turn the suffering of the oppressed into freedom at will. "Lo Yihyeh,” on the other hand, teaches that He has no partners but is unique and in complete charge, independent of any other forces in the universe. That the acceptance of the second principle was not easy, is demonstrated by the difficulty the prophet Elijah had in persuading even the believers that one could not "sit on the fence" regarding the relevance of the baalim. Only complete discreditation of the assembled priests of the Baal finally produced the unequivocal proclamation by the multitude present that "the Lord is G'd," i.e. the only primary force. (Kings I chapter 18) When one reviews chapter twenty four in the book of Joshua, and reads about the excessive severity with which Joshua exhorts the people even after they had confirmed that they would certainly serve G'd, (verses 16-17) one understands the whole chapter better if one views its first half as dealing with the anochi aspect of service to G'd, whereas the second half deals with the lo yihyeh aspect of service of the Lord. Service of the Lord does not automatically lead to abandoning the esteem in which one has held other deities. The fact that the people undertook not to serve the deities of the Emorites, a cult which had so evidently failed to protect its adherents, was equivalent to acceptance of the anochi principle; it is not yet assurance however, that the lo yihyeh principle was also being embraced by the people. Therefore, Joshua continued to insist that their undertaking must include the acceptance of the lo yihyeh principle. The Torah scroll inscribed in stone bore the inscription of the people's undertaking as evidence of the renewal of the original covenant. The special significance of the first two of the ten commandments does not lie then in their being the only ones communicated to the people directly by the mouth of G'd, but in the fundamental nature of their content. Even though there are phrases in which the name of G'd is used in the third person, suggesting that someone else is speaking, ("for the Lord will not exonerate" etc., or "the Lord has made the earth in six days," or "he who uses His name in vain,") this does not prove anything. We have similar constructions in Genesis 18,18, Exodus 3,12, et al. When Moses refers to Israel as having heard "only a voice," this does not mean that they did not hear the words clearly, but rather that the usage is employed in contrast to "image." Their eyes saw no image during the course of the revelation. From the above it appears that the mitzvot as a whole can be divided into three groups regarding their relative significance. 1) The first two of the ten commandments, heard directly from G'd, directed at the whole assembly. 2) The other eight of the ten commandments, heard by the whole people directly, but perceived by them as communicated by a disembodied voice, suggesting an intermediary, although they themselves heard the communication. 3) The remainder of the 613 commandments, which were communicated to the people only via Moses. Since the eight commandments could be included in the group communicated via an intermediary (Moses), our sages have included them in the count of Torah, i.e. 611. The first two commandments had to be considered as a group by itself. Rabbi Hamnuna, who appears to have questioned the count of Rabbi Simlai, based himself on the fact that the two commandments were perceived by a superior means of perception. This is why he calls Moses' commandments "Torah"= 611. Midrash Shir Hashirim 1, relates a dispute between Rabbi Joshua ben Levi and the other sages. The former states that Israel heard the first two commandments min hagevurah, directly from G'd, whereas the latter claim that only after having completed the ten commandments did G'd relate the other commandments via Moses. The background to this difference of opinion is the fact that the Torah reports the people's request "you speak to us and we will listen", (6,23) only after the ten commandments had been reported as all having been revealed. Rabbi Joshua bases himself on the principle that there is no chronological order of events in the Torah, and that therefore the positioning of the people's request as having occurred after the revelation had been complete, is meaningless. The opinion is based on "He kissed me with some of the kisses of His mouth," i.e. since the verse does not refer to Israel as having been kissed with all of G'ds kisses, this is proof that they heard only part of the ten commandments directly from G'd. At any rate, the sages representing the majority view, state that the ten commandments were heard from G'd directly. According to their view, the letter mem in mi-neshikot piy-hoo, "from" the kisses of His mouth, would then refer to the other 603 commandments which Israel heard via Moses according to all opinions. (Song of Songs 1,2) What Rabbi Joshua really wants to tell us is that the first two commandments were heard, as we read in the opening statement of Rabbi Hamnuna according to our view, without there being any form of go between, neither physical nor through any sensory channel. The people's capacity to receive direct signals and to comprehend them was a miracle in effect during the pronouncement of the first two commandments.

In the words of our sages, there are many statements that require evidence and interpretation, such as in Pirkei Avot (3:4) "One who is awake at night" [referring to studying Torah at night], and in Pesachim (111a) "And [he] drank water" [referring to the wisdom of measurements]. And the matter of the letter of the daughter of the voice [the Shekhinah] is derived from the laws of the constellations. And the matter of the moon and its relationship with the sun is derived from the wisdom of the constellations. Similarly, many things in the Scriptures require interpretation, as mentioned by Kohelet regarding the four elements, which are the heavens, the earth, the wind, and the dust. It is written (Kohelet 1:5) "And the sun rises and the sun sets" corresponding to the heavens, (Kohelet 1:4) "And the earth stands forever," (Kohelet 1:6) "And the wind goes round and round," and it does not come to an end, (Kohelet 1:7) "All the rivers flow into the sea," and these four are mentioned in the portion of Bereishit (Genesis 1:1) "The heavens and the earth," (Genesis 1:2) "And the spirit of God hovered over the waters." And similarly, in Isaiah (40:12), "Who measured the waters in the hollow of His hand and marked off the heavens with a span, and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure," and in Psalms (104:2), "He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, He lays the beams of His chambers on the waters," and His angels are the winds that roam over the water. And likewise, in Psalms (33:7), "He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He sets the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him." And similarly, it is mentioned in Psalms (33:6) regarding the word of God, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of His mouth." And similarly (Job 28:25), "To establish a weight for the wind and apportion the waters by measure." For He looks to the ends of the earth and sees under the whole heavens. And thus it is written (Proverbs 30:4), "Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His fists? Who has wrapped up the waters in His garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is His Son's name? Surely you know!" And thus it is written elsewhere (Job 38:18), "Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth? Declare, if you know all this!" And all is prepared for the understanding one. And many such things are mentioned at the end of the Book of Psalms, as fire and hail, snow and mist, stormy wind fulfilling His word. And thus the waters are above the heavens, and how the luminaries and the stars are in one expanse, and all is true. And the sages of the Talmud in our generation are diverse in their approaches. There are those who delve into matters of prohibition and permission, and there are those who possess knowledge of the Midrashim, and they too provide new insights and seek meaning for every word, whether surplus or lacking. And now, let me state a general principle: Know that the prophets do not guard the words themselves in their years; rather, they guard the meanings alone, which are the essence, as in the words of Eliezer (Genesis 24), "The Lord, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you." And Isaac said to Esau (Genesis 27), "So that my soul may bless you before I die." And Rebekah said (Genesis 27), "So that I may bless you before the Lord before my death." And in the dream (Genesis 41), "Handsome in appearance and robust in form," and in the interpretation, it is not stated thus, but to Balaam (Numbers 22), it is said, "You shall not curse them at all, and indeed, you shall bless them." And in the words of Moses (Numbers 21), "And he sent messengers to Sihon, saying, 'Let me pass through your land; I will not turn aside into field or vineyard.'" But Moses changed it and said, "We will not pass through the field." And it is written (Exodus 32), "Now, leave Me alone, and let My anger flare up against them, that I may consume them." But Moses changed it and said, "Turn from Your burning anger and relent from this disaster against Your people." And there are many such instances. And behold, in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), "Remember" (Deuteronomy 5), "Observe" (Exodus 20), "You shall not covet" (Deuteronomy 5), "You shall not desire" (Exodus 20), "And any false oath" (Deuteronomy 5), "And any vain oath." The letters 'vav' (ו) in "Avnei" (אבני) are missing, and Moses changed it to have a 'vav' (ו). Also, "You shall not commit adultery" - this is an addition and a rebuke, and the intelligent one will understand.

For the sake of what was it stated, "And Miriam chanted for them?" As the song had already broken out from the mouth of Moses. For it is stated, "I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously." Rather it is that Miriam knew a song that Moses did not know.
What was the song of Moses? Moses called, "I will sing to the Lord," which is the song of the isolated individual, which does not combine itself to the aggregate of choruses, voices and melodies. Moses sought to extract the voice from everyone and redeem their song.
But the song of redemption was still incomplete.
And what was the song of Miriam? "Sing to the Lord," an expression of the plural.
Miriam had learned, "These words the Lord spoke to your entire assembly at the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the fog, with a great voice, and did not add to them" (Deuteronomy 5:18). "A great voice" - for the sake of what? Because it includes within it a great multiplicity of voices, accents, languages and tones. For the voice is the voice of God and the image is the image of God - constructed from all of humanity, from all of their different faces and opinions. Hence she called, "Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously," which combines all of the voices completely and connects the personal, I will sing," to the communal and multifaceted song.
Miriam said to them, "Sing to the Lord," and remind yourselves of the image of God within you, constructed of seventy faces, seventy languages and seventy melodies. "Sing to the Lord, bless His name" (Psalms 96b) - when you sing to him, you are blessing His name.