The first of the Ten Commandments we read in Parshat Yitro this week states, “ I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt the house of slaves” When looking at this opening commandment it really doesn’t even look like much of a commandment at all. It seems merely like God introducing God’s self to B’nai Yisrael. Our Chumash (Etz Chayim) gives us some light on this puzzling commandment by saying, “The Hebrew word for “your” here is singular, because every person comes to understand God in his or her own way. God is like a mirror. The mirror never changes, but everyone who looks at it sees a different face.”
What are we even being commanded to do? Are we being commanded to believe in God? The great Jewish philosopher and physician Maimonides says, the first Mitzvah is that we believe in God’s existence, that there is a cause and motive force behind all that exists.” (Sefer Ha-Mitzvot 1) As you might expect not everyone agrees with Maimonides, Isaac Abravanel the Portuguese philosopher and Biblical commentator says that the opening commandment is “a declaration making known to the Israelites who was addressing them. Can a commandment only apply to matters of free will and free choice? Can you be commanded to believe in something? Our Etz chayim also informs us that “The Rabbis of the Talmud see this commandment as a summons to Israel to accept the yoke of God’s sovereignty, to recognize God as supreme Authority. Only when they have done that can God give them laws and decrees.” (Etz Chayim 442)
So the verdict is still out on whether the first of the ten commandments the Israelites are given in this Torah portion really is a commandment after all. Hard to say whether matters of belief can be commanded. In today’s world where it often seems harder to find God we must look for God in the places that we least expect God to be. We need to be the ones who bring Godliness to others through acts of service or charity and help. God helped us when we were slaves in Egypt and tries every day to help us in our lives, it becomes difficult to see this because we are looking for something physical and tangible to see or touch.
We must remember that within each of us is a divine spark from God and when we work together as a people to help one another we are bringing that light of God to the world.
Shabbat Shalom, Cantor Kowitz
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Friday, February 14 - Friday, February 21
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