The Big Ten is our headline, 613 are our duty

BDE. We are sad to report that Rabbi Dr. Raymond Apple was niftar on Jan. 19. He was the Senior Rabbi of The Great Synagogue of Sydney between 1972 and 2005 and one of Australia’s highest profile rabbis, considered the leading spokesman for Judaism in Australia.

May his memory be a blessing.

The Ten Commandments come twice in the Torah, the first time in parashat Yitro (this Shabbat) and the second time (with changes) in parashat Va’et’channan.

There are actually 613 commandments, of which the Decalogue is a part. Most people say they keep the Ten Commandments but they don’t mention (or often don’t know of) the 613. Our question is why the Decalogue is so famous and the other 603 are generally accorded less priority. 

The answer could be that the Ten are basic principles which are spelled out in detail in the 613 mitzvot. This seems to be supported by Professor Eliezer Berkovits, who spoke of our age needing “a theology or a philosophy that does justice to the essential nature of Jewish teaching about God, man and the universe.” But in the end the 613 do not lack theology or ethics.

The Ten Commandments speak of knowing God, placing Him above all other deities and committing ourselves to Him; the Shema — coming in the 613 but not the Ten — speaks of loving Him and expressing that love in acts such as Torah study, tefillin and mezuzah.

Long and short of it

Rabbi Solomon Goldman says, “What has made these commandments unique is… the terseness and conciseness of language. They whiz, as it were, through the air and strike the conscience of man like an arrow its target”.

The staccato phraseology is highly effective — no ifs and buts, no qualifications or conditions.

Yes, each commandment can be analysed and debated, for example the law against killing. Does it mean killing or murdering? Is there any exception in time of war? Does it apply to the unborn child? Are some types of killing more insidious? Does it apply to animals, even to insects?

Take the law against stealing. Does it mean stealing a thing or stealing a person, does it include stealing from yourself, or stealing when the owner of the item knows nothing about it? Does it include stealing someone’s dignity or pride?

Each of these five laws has problems of application, so what the Decalogue gives us is a headline. But the headline says enough.

“God Almighty hath said in a voice that goeth thundering through the centuries, ‘Thou shalt not. Never!’”