Beginning with sunset on Saturday Jews throughout the world will start to observe Shavuot, my most favorite of Jewish holidays. It commemorates that incredible day when God gave us the Ten Commandments and the Torah. Therefore it’s an opportune time to reveal facts about the commandments you might not know.
Shavuot is one of the three major festivals (the other two are Passover and Sukkot). In biblical days, Jews would travel from all over the Holy Land to Jerusalem to make a sacrifice at the Holy Temple on those three festivals.
Historically, Shavuot celebrates the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai and is also known as Hag Matan Torateinu (the Festival of the Giving of Our Torah). Notice it says giving of the Torah not receiving of the Torah. Jews believe we are always receiving the Torah, learning its meanings, understanding the mitzvot. Therefore using receiving doesn’t really work because every day is the time of receiving the Torah. In that spirit below are ten interesting facts most people don’t know about the giving of the Ten Commandments:
1) Mount Sinai: We are taught that Mount Sinai was chosen because it was a “modest-sized mountain” One might think it was because Moses was an alter cocker (Yiddish for cranky old man-literally an old sh*tter) when he had to climb the mountain. Actually, Moses had to climb up and down 4 times. That’s not bad for an 80-year-Old God chose a moderate mountain because he wanted to show that man did not have to be large in stature to meet his potential. Another reason Sinai was chosen was that it was outside of the Holy Land. The laws given at Sinai were basic laws and should apply to all people. Since the law was given outside of the Holy Land God could legitimately demand that these basic rules about how people should live their lives apply not just to Jews but to all people.
2) What Moses looked like: How the heck would I know. But I can definitely tell you he didn’t look like the Charlton Heston-like, traditional way the lawgiver has been portrayed in movies and art. Think about it, here was the child of Hebrew slaves raised in the court of Pharaoh–why would he look like a tall westerner? Sorry to burst your bubbles but Moses was probably short by today’s standards and had dark skin like Middle Easterners today (and BTW we know his wife Zipporah was black).
3) The Revelation at Sinai. Think about this one for a second, the Torah says there were 603,000 people at Mount Sinai to hear God’s words in God’s voice.The first two of the Ten Commandments were also heard directly from God speaking to the Jewish people, and not through Moses as an intermediary. Jewish tradition explains that the experience was so powerful, that the Jews “died” from the impact of hearing God’s voice. Their souls actually left their bodies from the force of the interaction, and God had to “revive” them. After this happened twice, the Jewish people said, “Enough! We’re convinced – you tell Moses, and he can tell us the rest of them to us!” I bet God was also relieved, even for the creator of the Universe its gotta be hard to revive 603K people
But more importantly; There is no other religious event in the history of mankind where the presence of God was seen and heard by an entire nation. Now some of you may be thinking it is all a fable, that never happened. Most likely those people also believe that the moon landing was staged. But ponder this. There were 603 thousand witnesses, and no one wrote a minority opinion (not even Rep Adam Schiff’s ancestors). There are no parchments saying the entire law giving thing was done at the biblical equivalent of a sound stage in Brooklyn. There are no claims that God from on high was really just Moses standing on some wooden boxes, speaking through a bullhorn and reading the ten commandments off a yellow legal pad.
4) The first word of the Ten Commandments “‘Anochi” (I am) is not in Hebrew it’s in Egyptian. There are 50 days between when the Jews left Egypt (Passover) and when they received the law at Sinai (Shavuot). That’s not a lot of time especially when you consider they were slaves for a few hundred years. Think about it—50 days, they weren’t even away from Egypt long enough to forget the phone numbers of the best Chinese take-out. The Lord wanted them to feel comfortable, so he started with an Egyptian word. This raises the question–if the revelation at Sinai happened today, would the first words be ‘Dudes, check it out, I’m the Alpha Dog here?”
5) They’re not really called the Ten Commandments, at least in Judaism. In Biblical Hebrew, the commandments are called עשרת הדברים (transliterated Aseret ha-Dvarîm) and in Rabbinical Hebrew עשרת הדברות (transliterated Aseret ha-Dibrot), both translatable as “the ten words” or “the ten things. While many Rabbis believe that all of the rest of the commandments in the Torah stems from those 10, they also teach that all 613 commandments in the Torah are equal. The only exceptions are giving to charity and honoring one’s parents, those are most important (I hope my kids are reading this). Pirkei Avot, a book of the Mishnah, teaches “Be as meticulous in performing a ‘minor’ mitzvah as you are with a ‘major’ mitzvah because you don’t know what kind of reward you’ll get for various mitzvot.”
6) The Commandments have no “Thou Shalts.” Our maker is a “bottom line” type of guy and fitting all of those Hebrew words on stone tablets small enough for an 80-year-old alter cocker to carry down a mountain is not easy. So there were no “thou shalts,” nor were there any “thou shalt nots” in the Ten Commandments. Those are all fancy words added by humans who thought God needed embellishments to be cool. Either that or King James got paid by the word. The creator of the universe doesn’t need silly embellishments. He’s an omnipotent being! He boldly went where no man had gone before (or after) and did it countless billions of years before James Tiberius Kirk appeared on TV. There is nothing cooler than that. So while King James says, “Thou shalt not steal,” the Lord’s words were simply, “Don’t Steal.”
7) There is no commandment that says, “Don’t Kill.” In the original Hebrew the commandment, לֹא תִרְצָח translates as “Don’t murder.” What’s the difference? If it said “don’t kill” then acts of self-defense, the death penalty, war, etc. would be banned, but they’re not –only intentional murder.
8) Moses’ Father-in-Law Gets Top Billing? The name of the Parsha (weekly Torah reading) which contains the Ten Commandments isn’t named after the holy rules. It’d called Yitro, after Moses’ father-in-law who was a Gentile (in fact the Druze consider themselves descended from Yitro). There are only two Parshot in the Torah named after a non-Jew—so this is a big deal. At the beginning of this Parsha, Yitro sits Moses down and explains to him how to delegate responsibility so he can spend more time with family. From this, we learn that to God Shalom Ha-Bayit (peace in the House) is more important than anything even the revelation at Sinai. We also learn that spending time with family God’s work. It also teaches us that a father-in-law is not only allowed to but is supposed to butt in.
One more thing, in the Torah Moses’ father-in-law, is called Reuel, Yitro, Yithro, Yisroi, Yisrau, and Yisro. Torah scholars may be able to tell you why he is given six different names, but in my humble opinion it is a warning from God, NEVER take a check from Moses’ father-in-law.
9) The Jews Overslept at Sinai. This is how the Torah tells the story beginning with Exodus 19:16:
“It came to pass on the third day when it was morning, that there were thunder claps and lightning flashes, and a thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very powerful blast of a shofar, and the entire nation that was in the camp shuddered.
The Rabbis interpret that verse as God was already on the top of Sinai waiting, but the Jews were still sleeping, so the Lord had to make a heck of a racket to wake us up. This is why on the first evening of the holiday (Sat. night this year) Jews have a what’s called Tikkun Leil Shavuot (repairing the Evening of Shavuot). We spend all night studying Torah make up for the fact that we screwed up and overslept at Sinai. We are showing God that we appreciate the Torah he gave us, and we are never going to oversleep again. And to make sure we stay awake–we eat while we study.
10) Right After Getting the Ten Commandments, the Jews would only eat Dairy (also the reason why Shavuot is my Favorite Jewish Holiday). When God was done with giving the Jews the Torah at Sinai, the Israelites realized that their plates were not “Kosher.” Observant Jews have separate plates and utensils for milk and meat. Therefore, while they were making their plates and utensils Kosher, they ate only dairy. So we on this holiday we only eat dairy also. The way I look at along with celebrating the revelation at Sinai, Shavuot is 48 hours of Pizza, Blintzes, and Cookies and Cream Ice Cream (to be truthful any flavor is okay, cookies and cream is my personal favorite). That’s why Shavuot is my favorite Jewish holiday. The two days of Shavuot, are the only two-days of the year I can tell my wife “Yes Honey, I am a diabetic, and the doctor did tell me to lose weight, but this is not splurging, I am only eating this pint of Hagan-Daz because I am following God’s Law.” Now, how cool is that!
A Joke About Moses Getting the Ten commandments. There is an old story about a religious school Gan (kindergarten) teacher talking to her students about the holiday of Shavuot.
“OK Class, who knows why we celebrate Shavuot?”
“Oooh, Oooh, I know,” said little Karen, “Shavuot is when we light candles and celebrate the Maccabees.”“No, Karen, that’s Chanukah good try,” said the teacher. “Anybody else?”
Shmully raised his hand. “Shavuot is when we wear costumes and play with noisemakers” “Sorry Shmully, that is Purim.” the teacher said.
Just then a little boy in the back of the room who had never raised his hand all year-long tentatively raised his hand. “Yes Johnny?” the teacher said hopefully.
“I know Shavuot,” Johnny said softly,” You see, Moses went up the mountain and stayed for 40 days and 40 nights.” “That’s right Johnny,” the teacher encouraged. Johnny continued and with each word out of his mouth he seemed to gain confidence, “After 40 days Moses came down the mountain carrying two stone tablets that had the Ten Commandments on them.”
“Yes Johnny, Keep going,” said the teacher.
“And if he sees his shadow we have six more weeks of winter,” says Johnny
Oh as for those ten words or commandments that were written on two rectangular tablets that an 80-year-old alter cocker named Moses the brought down from Mount Sinai, I have cross-posted them below.
The Ten Statements (H/T God)
Exodus 20:2
Then God said all these words: “I am YHWH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of slavery.
1)You are to have no other gods before me.
2)You are not to make for yourselves a carved image or any kind of representation of anything in heaven above, on the earth beneath or in the water below the shoreline. You are not to bow down to them or serve them; for I, YHWH your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but displaying grace to the thousandth generation of those who love me and obey my mitzvot.
3) You are not to use lightly the name of YHWH your God, because YHWH will not leave unpunished someone who uses his name lightly.
4) Remember the day, Shabbat, to set it apart for God. You have six days to labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Shabbat for YHWH your God. On it, you are not to do any kind of work -not you, your son or your daughter, not your male or female slave, not your livestock, and not the for foreigner staying with you inside the gates to your property. For in six days, YHWH made heaven and earth, the sea and everything in them; but on the seventh day he rested. This is why YHWH blessed the day, Shabbat, and separated it for himself.
5) Honor your father and mother, so that you may live long in the land which YHWH your God is giving you. (Note to my kids: read this one ten times when you wake up and when you go to sleep-Dad’s rule)
6) Don’t murder.
7) Don’t commit adultery.
8) Don’t steal.
9) Don’t give bear false witness against thy neighbor.” Note: this is Al Sharpton’s least favorite of the ten.
10) Do not covet your neighbor’s house; do not covet your neighbor’s wife, his male or female slave, his ox, his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.“
Folks have a wonderful holiday and whether you are Jew or Gentile make sure to eat lots of your favorite flavor of ice cream (Remember it’s God’s will).
