I vividly recall my Shabbat morning Drasha in Ramot, back in 1988, it was Shabbat Bereishit - two days after Simchat Torah that year. I introduced my talk by saying: "Six months to Pesach!", only to see two women fainting in the Ezrat Nashim! Well, today, we are less than two months before Pesach, and we are reading all about יציאת מצרים these past weeks. Therefore, I wouldn't be terribly out of line to make mention of the beautiful poem towards the end of the Seder night: אחד מי יודע. Of course, we all know the answer to that question: אחד מי יודע - Who knows One? אחד אל-הינו שבשמים ובארץ . One (with a capital O) is our God of heaven and earth. Indeed, the idea that we ought to perceive (יודע) the existence of God, is registered by the Rambam as the first of all positive commandments in the Torah. In his opening line in his magnum opus, the Mishneh Torah, Rambam states:
יסוד היסודות ועמוד החכמות לידע שיש שם מצוי ראשון, והוא ממציא כל נמצא, וכל הנמצאים משמים וארץ ומה שביניהם לא נמצאו אלא מאמתת המצאו.
"The foundation of all foundations and the pillar of wisdom is to know that there is a Primary Being who brought into being all existence. All the beings of the heavens, the earth, and what is between them came into existence only from the truth of His being"
And then he continues, by citing the opening of the Ten Commandmants:
וידיעת דבר זה מצות עשה שנאמר אנכי ה' אלהיך...
The knowledge of this concept is a positive commandment, as : "I am God, your Lord....
A century before the Rambam, another Spaniard, R' Yehuda HaLevi - in his Kuzari - notes that God's introduction to His people says nothing about Creation, but rather speaks of Himself as the Redeemer and Deliverer from the Egyptian bondage.
ספר הכוזרי מאמר א אות כה
וכן פתח אלהים דבריו אל המון ישראל: "אנכי ה' אלהיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים", ולא אמר: "אני בורא העולם ובוראכם"
"The reason being may have to do with the second stanza of the אחד מי יודע poem. שנים מי יודע - who knows two? שני לוחות הברית. We have two tablets. Now, this can obviously not be relating to the full Ten Commandmants, for when we arrive at number ten - עשרה מי יודע, עשרה אני יודע, עשרה דבריא - 'Ten' refers specifically to the Ten Commandmants. So, what exactly are we adding in the question of 'who knows two' (שנים מי יודע), that there were TWO tablets - שני לוחות הברית ?"
The answer is that the entire Torah encompasses two distinct areas of concern:
1. The revealed Law - including the ritual side of the Torah (בין אדם למקום)
2. The Social Side guaranteeing a morally healthy and decent society (בין אדם לחברו)
There are Jews who put a premium on the first category by being overly scrupulous when it comes to ritual, while being lax when it comes to proper interpersonal relationships. Conversely, there are other Jews who super-concerned about the well-being of others, while not being particularly careful about the 'religious' side of the Torah.
God addressed both groups with each respective shortcoming by introducing the Ten Commandments saying:
"G-d said all of these words..."
To which Rashi expands on the verse's usage of the words, כל הדברים - ALL these words, by saying that G-d said all the words of the 10 Commandments at once, something a human being cannot do.
Our great Rebbe, HaRav Soloveitchik Zt"l, explained that this comes to teach us the basic Torah idea of the interdependence of the ritual and the social. The ideal realization of Torah is the fusion of both domains
"To be free from your obligation to the Lord and to Israel..." (Numbers 32)
There is a need to be pure not only before God, but also before the entire of Israel. The context of this most central doctrine in Judaism is the seeming attempt of two tribes, Reuven and Gad, to dodge the military efforts in conquering Eretz Yisrael.
"Will your brothers go out to war and you not?" (Numbers 32)
Scolded Moshe Rabeinu! We, at Mizrachi - both locally, internationally, and, of course, in Eretz Yisrael, subscribe wholeheartedly to the call of
"To be free from your obligation to the Lord and to Israel"
By concurrently being engaged in Torah study and education, along with the full commitment to defend our country wherever and whenever we hear the call to serve. The proliferation of the Yeshivat Hesder movement has become the crown jewel of the World Mizrachi movement, as the full realization of this fusion between both לוחות - both tablets of the Ten Commandments, that is drawing ourselves closer to God [בין אדם למקום], as well as showing genuine care and concern for the other [בין אדם לחברו].
In addition, upon microscopic examination of the second tablet - that of the social order prohibiting murder, adultery, and theft - we note the remarkable similarity to the list of the seven Noahide Laws (שבע מצוות בני נח) as found in Rambam's concluding sections of his Mishneh Torah.
HaRav Kook zt"l was of the opinion that these basic laws governing social order and justice are inborn instincts prevalent in all of humanity. He referred to this as the 'מוסר טבעי', natural and instinctive morality and not only because the Torah says so.
Furthermore, the term 'interdependence' is not only relevant for the two specific domains outlined earlier - the ritual/religious versus the social. But, even within the social realm, there is a necessity for interdependence. Contrasting the first set of the Ten Commandments in this week's Parsha of Yitro, with the second set found in P' Va'etchanan in Dvarim, one notices a several subtlele - and not-so subtle - differences in the two texts. In the first it reads:
שמות פרשת יתרו פרק כ פסוק יג - יד
(יג) לֹ֖֥א תִּרְצָֽ֖ח ס לֹ֣֖א תִּנְאָֽ֑ף ס לֹ֣֖א תִּגְנֹֽ֔ב ס לֹֽא־תַעֲנֶ֥ה בְרֵעֲךָ֖ עֵ֥ד שָֽׁקֶר: ס (יד) לֹ֥א תַחְמֹ֖ד בֵּ֣ית רֵעֶ֑ךָ ס לֹֽא־תַחְמֹ֞ד אֵ֣שֶׁת רֵעֶ֗ךָ וְעַבְדּ֤וֹ וַאֲמָתוֹ֙ וְשׁוֹר֣וֹ וַחֲמֹר֔וֹ וְכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר לְרֵעֶֽךָ:
While in the second text, the conjunction, 'and' ('ו' החיבור) is found throughout:
דברים פרשת ואתחנן פרק ה פסוק יז - יח
(יז) לֹ֖֥א תִּרְצָֽ֖ח ס וְלֹ֣֖א תִּנְאָֽ֑ף ס וְלֹ֣֖א תִּגְנֹֽ֔ב ס וְלֹֽא־תַעֲנֶ֥ה בְרֵֽעֲךָ֖ עד שָֽׁוְא: ס (יח) וְלֹ֥א תַחְמֹ֖ד אֵ֣שֶׁת רֵעֶ֑ךָ ס וְלֹ֨א תִתְאַוֶּ֜ה בֵּ֣ית רֵעֶ֗ךָ שָׂדֵ֜הוּ וְעַבְדּ֤וֹ וַאֲמָתוֹ֙ שׁוֹר֣וֹ וַחֲמֹר֔וֹ וְכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר לְרֵעֶֽךָ:
All this comes to teach us that one sin leads to another in the spirit of Pirkei Avot:
משנה מסכת אבות פרק ד משנה ב
בן עזאי אומר הוי רץ למצוה קלה כבחמורה ובורח מן העבירה שמצוה גוררת מצוה ועבירה גוררת עבירה
The decadence of society actually begins with the double-edged version of the tenth commandment as found in the second text: And do not lust for your friend's wife and do not covet his home etc.
וְלֹ֥א תַחְמֹ֖ד אֵ֣שֶׁת רֵעֶ֑ךָ וְלֹ֨א תִתְאַוֶּ֜ה בֵּ֣ית רֵעֶ֗ךָ שָׂדֵ֜הוּ וְעַבְדּ֤וֹ וַאֲמָתוֹ֙ שׁוֹר֣וֹ וַחֲמֹר֔וֹ וְכֹ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר לְרֵעֶֽךָ:
Rambam clarifies the difference between desires and lust:
It all begins with jealousy of the neighbors - they have what we want. It can lead to theft, to promiscuous behavior, and even to murder. In Mishlei, Shlomo HaMelech warned:
If money is earned in a crooked and unethical fashion, it can lead to murder. [Ask the Italian mafia how it works!]
Standing at the foothold of Mt.Sinai, we - עם ישראל - stood absolutely united 'כאיש אחד בלב אחד' in its resolve to serve as the ממלכת כהנים וגוי קדוש - as the pacesetters and examples for the entire world in the global enterprise of תיקון העולם. Our longing for the age of moral and ethical utopia - the Messianic days - ימות המשיח - can be realized by the collective efforts of our nation to develop a world based upon the Messianic spirit as envisioned by the Rambam in his parting words in his Mishneh Torah:
"And at that time there will be no famine and no war nor jealousy and rivalry...and the world will only be occupied with knowing G-d.."
רמב"ם הלכות מלכים פרק יב הלכה ה
ובאותו הזמן לא יהיה שם לא רעב ולא מלחמה, ולא קנאה ותחרות, שהטובה תהיה מושפעת הרבה, וכל המעדנים מצויין כעפר, ולא יהיה עסק כל העולם אלא לדעת את ה' בלבד, ולפיכך יהיו ישראל חכמים גדולים ויודעים דברים הסתומים וישיגו דעת בוראם כפי כח האדם, שנאמר כי מלאה הארץ דעה את ה' כמים לים מכסים.
We yearn for such a world of neither famine nor war, with no competition borne out of jealousy. The social side of the Ten Commandments will be maintained perfectly intact. We will then be pre-occupied with that very first commandment: knowing God, loving God, and serving God. as we will continue living our lives with every moment imbued with "I am the Lord your G-d."
Rabbi Dr. Aaron Adler is an active community pulpit Rabbi, author and Torah lecturer. He was a student of and special assistant to Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, zt"l.