Nehar Deah

Yitro

The Ten Commandments in Ritual and Prayer

The revelation at Mount Sinai is the climax of the story of the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. At the center of the revelation stand the Ten Commandments that were pronounced by God and even written by his own hand. The commandments, phrased as short commands in concise language, include in their first half precepts which derive from the special closeness between the nation of Israel and its God (such as the prohibition against making statues and graven image or the requirement to remember the Sabbath day) and in their second half precepts with a socio-moral character (such as “Do not kill” and “Do not covet”). It seems that even in ancient times the Ten Commandments were seen as a précis of what God demands from those who believe in him, and indeed Jewish philosophers, such as Philo of Alexandria (in the first century CE), tried to base all the commandments of the Torah on the Ten Commandments. Here we will examine how the importance of the Ten Commandments is expressed in Jewish prayer and ritual.

It seems that even in ancient times the Ten Commandments played their role in ritual life. From a number of things written in the Bible, it is apparent that the covenant between Israel and Hashem was renewed from time to time in a ceremonial manner (For example: According to Devarim 31:10-11, every seven years the Torah was read, at the “Hakhel” [gather] ceremony, on the festival of Succot [Tabernacles]). There is certainly reason to surmise that at ceremonies like this, the Ten Commandments were read, together with a commitment to obey all that is written in them. Signs of the existence of such ceremonies can be found in certain verses. Thus, for example, we find in the Book of Tehillim (Psalms, chapter 50) a description of an expected revelation of Hashem, in which it is written: “Gather My righteous to Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice … Hear, my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: God, thy God, am I” (verses 5,7), and we have here a broad hint to introduction to the Ten Commandments (“I am the Lord thy God…”). It could be therefore that we have here a trace of a covenant renewal ceremony that took place every year and it is possible that this took place on a festival, such as Succot (Tabernacles) or Shavuot (Weeks). Indeed, on the festival of Shavuot, which has been regarded since Second Temple times as the day on which the Torah was given, it is customary even today (according to one of the opinions in the Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 31a) to read the story of the revelation at Mount Sinai from the Torah, culminating in the Ten Commandments. By reading the Ten Commandments publicly, the festival takes on the character of “renewing the covenant”, similar to the covenant renewal ceremonies which are theorized to have taken place in biblical times.

Use of the Ten Commandments in a ritual framework in biblical times is in reality unclear, but no so with the Second Temple Period. From this period onwards we find the custom of reading the Ten Commandments, not only in an annual ceremony, but each and every day. According to the Mishna, every morning, close to when the Tamid (Eternal) sacrifice was brought, the Ten Commandments was also read: “The appointed one said to them [to the priests]: Bless one blessing and they blessed, read the Ten Commandments, ‘Shema’ [Hear], ‘And it will be if you listen’, ‘And he said’ …” (Tamid 5:1). According to this testimony, the Ten Commandments were said before the reading of the Shema which consists of three paragraphs: “Hear O Israel” (Devarim 6:4-9), “And it will be if you listen” (ibid 12:13-21), “And he said’ (Bamidbar 15:37-41).

The custom to combine the Ten Commandments with “Kriyat Shema” (Recitation of the Shema) is reflected in other sources. In an Egyptian papyrus document from the end of the Second Temple period – known as the Nash Papyrus – the Ten Commandments and the Shema are copied next to each other. This discovery attests to the fact that the custom of reading the Ten Commandments occurred also outside the temple and we can assume that this was true not only in Egypt, but also in other communities. In addition: in the Qumran caves, a pair of tefillin (phylacteries) were found, which contained the Ten Commandments, in unlike what is accepted today, which is to write on the parchment in the tefillin only the four paragraphs from the Torah which contain the commandment that that Hashem’s words should be “for a sign on your hands” (Shemot 13:1-10; 11-16; Devarim 6:4-9; 11:13-21 [the last two are found also in the Shema!]).

The custom of reading the Ten Commandments every day was discontinued in the first centuries CE, due to disputes with apostates. Thus we find in the Jerusalem Talmud: “Why do we not read them? Because of the claim of the apostates that they should not say that only this was given to Moshe at Sinai” (Berachot 1,5). The exact identity of these apostates is unclear. There are some who claim this is a reference to Christians, who, it seems, emphasized the Ten Commandments above the rest of the Torah, but the reference could be to any sect who recognized only the Ten Commandments as being of divine origin, not the rest of the commandments of the Torah. This view is reflected in the Midrash which has the aberrant followers of Korach saying: “and when the Ten Commandments were given to us … were we not given Ten Commandments” and not tithes separated from the dough, tithes on agricultural produce, “but from yourself you say this” (Yalkut Shim’oni, Korach, Remez 5752). Even if we cannot ascertain precisely who these apostates were, we can understand why chazal (literally “our sages of blessed memory”) decided not to emphasize the Ten Commandments, and not to recite them during the prayer services, in order not to detract from the value of the rest of the commandments.

Despite the polemics with respect to the recitation of the Ten Commandments, their special status has not been lowered in any way. Therefore, for example, the opinion that the Ten Commandments are a summary of the Torah continued to exist and at the end of the period of the Geonim – for example in the works of Rav Saadia Gaon – we find a form of liturgical poetry called “Warnings” (which are poetical lists of the 613 commandments of the Torah written in honor of the festival of Shavuot [Weeks]), in which all the commandments are fitted into the framework of the Ten Commandments. Their status is expressed also in the custom that was common in the Middle Ages, to vow on the Ten Commandments (See Rashba [13th century], part 3, paragraph 213). Not only was the general status of the Ten Commandments preserved, but also their daily reading was renewed after a time. In a document found in the Cairo Geniza, which describes the order of prayers in a congregation that followed the traditions of the Land of Israel, it says that after the prayer service, the congregation had the custom to take out a special scroll called “The Book of the Song”, “and they read from it the Ten Commandments”. In practice, the Ten Commandments appear in pieces which were preserved from prayer books from the Land of Israel. Other evidence of the custom to read the commandments every day – in contrast to what is written in the Talmud as to it’s cessation – are also found from other periods. For example, Rabbi Yaakov son of the Rosh in the 14th century writes: “it is good to read the portion of the binding of Isaac and the portion of the Manna and the Ten Commandments” (HaTurim Orach Chaim, Paragraph 1). These words have been explained by lawgivers as referring to the prayers of an individual and not communal prayers, as in personal prayers there is no worry about the “claims of apostates”. In contrast the Maharshal, in the 16th century, did not accept upon himself this limitation and wrote: “Again I customarily recite the Ten Commandments before “Baruch She’amar” [= a part of the Morning Prayer service] aloud…” (Responsa of the Maharshal, paragraph 64). The desire to reinstate the custom of a daily recitation of the Ten Commandments is one of many expressions of the great importance attached to them in Jewish tradition.

From various articles in the book “The Ten Commandments in the Eyes of the Generations” (editor B. Z. Segal), Jerusalem 5746

Law and Custom – Standing or Sitting?

The Ten Commandments have an important status in Jewish tradition, as already described above in this edition of “Naharde’ah”. This status has lead to many customs relating to their reading in synagogue, among which is the custom to stand for the reading. This normally occurs three times every year: during the readings of the weekly portions of Yitro and Va’etchanan (from which the Ten Commandments come) and also on the festival of the giving of the Torah, Shavuot (literally “weeks”), on which occasion the story of the revelation at Mount Sinai is also read. A congregation or individual that normally sits for the reading of the Torah, but arises and stands for specific sections, expresses by this the special nature of the section for which he arises.

This custom has aroused the concern that standing for the Ten Commandments, will be interpreted as them having a more important status than the rest of the laws of the Torah, and even worse – the fear that someone will claim that only the Ten Commandments were given by God, with the rest of the laws being of human invention. It seems that because of this concern, sages dealt with this question widely throughout the generations, including the sages of our generation. We will present a few of these.

Rabbi Moshe Feinstein (Russia 1895 – USA 1986), who is regarded as one of the greatest authorities on Jewish law of the 20th century, was asked about this issue by his son, David, and his answer is found in a collection of his response, “Igrot Moshe” (“The Letters of Moshe”) (Orach Chayim, Part 4, Paragraph 22). He describes the custom and justifies it by stating the special importance of the commandments, which “Israel merited to hear on their own from the mouth of the Holy One Blessed Be He himself”. He claims that the custom to stand has already become accepted by the community and therefore one should not change it, and there is no concern that it could be interpreted as being in contravention of Jewish Law. His ruling concludes that a person who is present in a synagogue where people stand – is obligated to follow the custom of the community and is not allowed to separate himself from the majority.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (Born Bagdad 1920, in Israel since 1924, was “Rishon LeTzion”, Chief Sephardic Rabbi, for 10 years) was also asked this question and he replied to it in his book “Yechaveh Da’at” (Part 1, Paragraph 29). His answer is extremely lengthy and includes all the opinions which have been heard on this question and he concludes it with the ruling that it is not advisable to give expression to an act, which might be interpreted as favoring the Ten Commandments over the rest of the Torah and therefore one should not stand when they are read. He bases this, amongst others, upon what was written in the 12th century by the Rambam (Questions and Responsa, Paragraph 263), who protests very strongly against anyone who stands for the reading of the commandments and states “it is forbidden in every way to do” so, as one who does so, its is as though they declare “that there are levels in the Torah” and it is as though “some are more lofty than others”, and that this declaration is “extremely bad”.

In conclusion, even today, there exists differing opinions on this topic and in response to them, various customs. If it is possible to generalize, then most Ashkenazim stand up for the reading of the Ten Commandments, whereas most Sephardim remain seated in their places.

Characters – Rav Saadia Gaon

Rav Saadia Gaon was born in the year 882 in Fayyum, Egypt and died in 942 in Bagdad. His areas of activity are very varied and range across many areas of knowledge and achievement. At least three times in his life Rav Saadia Gaon played a central role in a dispute which stirred up the Jews of his times. The first dispute was over the calendar. Every year the sages of the land of Israel would calculate the structure of the year and would declare the calendar and the dates for the festivals in a central ceremony on the Mount of Olives during the festival of Succot (Tabernacles). However, in the year 922, the sages of the land of Israel prepared to declare the calendar for the year on the basis of calculations which the sages of Babylon felt were incorrect. Since each of the two centers, the land of Israel and Babylon, calculated the year using different methods, there arose between them a bitter and stormy argument, as without a common calendar, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), can fall on different days in different places. In practice this dispute turned into a struggle over precedence and the right of authority over the entire Jewish people. Rav Saadia Gaon stood at the head of the sages of Babylon and publicized many articles about methods of calculating the Hebrew calendar. The dispute ended with a decisive victory for the sages of Babylon, to no small degree due to the manner in which Rav Saadia Gaon handles the dispute, his vast knowledge and the power of his personality. In merit of his achievements in the dispute over the calendar, Rav Saadia Gaon was appointed Gaon (title given to the heads of the academies of learning) of the academy at Sura, one of the two great learning academies of Babylon. This appointment was exceptional in that Rav Saadia did not come from one of the distinguished Babylonian families, from among which the Gaon was usually appointed, but his abilities proved his worthiness for the position.

Two years after his appointment as Gaon, Rav Saadia Gaon refused to sign a legal decision, which would grant preferential treatment to the Rosh Golah (Head of the Diaspora), the person who stood at the head of the Jews of Babylon and represented them before the authorities. This resulted in Rav Saadia Gaon being relieved of his position, but within a couple of years he managed to regain his previous status.

Rav Saadia Gaon was also extremely involved in the conflict between Rabbinical Judaism and the Karaites. His war against the Karaites – Jews who rejected the oral Torah tradition – was mainly through the writing of a polemic work opposing the ideas of the Karaites and their sages and writings.

The list of topics and areas which Rav Saadia Gaon dealt with is extremely long and varied. He dealt with polemics, liturgical poetry, language and religious law. His work “Beliefs and Opinions” is regarded as the first Jewish philosophical work of the middle ages. Rav Saadia Gaon also advanced Hebrew grammar not only as a tool for reading and understanding the Bible, but also as an independent science with its own rules and he even offered practical instruction in correct writing techniques.

His main work in the fields of liturgical poetry and prayer is the editing of his prayer book (known as the “Order of Rav Saadia Gaon”), in which he included some of his liturgical poetry, which often express his philosophical principles which he publicized in “Beliefs and Opinions”. Rav Saadia Gaon’s prayer book is one of the first prayer books written in the Jewish people, preceded only by the prayer book compiled by Rav Amram Gaon in the 9th century. It’s seems that there is not one area in the culture of the Jewish nation that Rav Saadia Gaon did not make a significant contribution to.