Aseret ha-Dibrot: Hello, Goodbye

(20) You (Moshe) enjoin upon them the laws and the Torahs, and make known to them the way they are to go and the practices they are to follow.

(1) Our rabbis already disagreed (Mekhilta on Exodus 18:1, Zevachim 116a) about this section. There are some of them that say Yitro came before the giving of the Torah, like the order of the parshas, and some say it came after. [The latter view] is certainly supported... nonetheless I ask about this opinion, when the verse [here] states, "And Yitro heard all that ha-Shem had done for Moshe and for Am Yisroel, that ha-Shem had brought out from Mitzrayim" - why did it not state that he heard that which ha-Shem did for Moshe and for Yisrael at the giving of the Torah, about all of the great wonders...? And what is closer to me is to take the order of the Torah, that [Yitro] came before the giving of the Torah, when [the Israelites] were in Refidim... And so [too] does it appear [correct] to me that [that which] it stated here (Exodus 18:27), "And Moshe sent away his father-in-law and he went his way to his land," was in the first year, and he went to his land and returned to [Moshe afterwards] - and it is likely that he went to convert his family, and he returned to Moshe while he was still at Mount Sinai....When the camp traveled in Iyar of the second year, when Moshe said to him, "We are traveling [...] Come with us," and Yitro answered him, "I will not go, but will return to my native land,” and Moshe supplicated him greatly and said to him, “Please do not leave us, etc. and you will be to us like eyes. So if you come with us, we will extend to you the same good that the Lord grants us" (Numbers 10:29:32), he did not respond at all, and [so] it appears that [Yitro] accepted [Moshe's] words and did according to his will and did not leave them....

Said Rabbi Abbahu in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: When the Holy One gave the Torah, no bird screeched, no fowl flew, no ox mooed, none of the ophanim (angels) flapped a wing, nor did the seraphim (burning celestial beings) chant "Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh (Holy, Holy, Holy!)" The sea did not roar, and none of the creatures uttered a sound. Throughout the entire world there was only a deafening silence as the Divine Voice went forth speaking: Anochi Adonai Elohecha (I am ha-Shem your God)

(2) Yes, it's true that I, ha-Shem, am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage, with signs and wonders that inspire both senses of "yireh" -- awe and fear.

(3) But starting now, you will have My complete love and attention, so you will feel no need for gods who "other" you; My face, My anochi, My alef, My silence and My attention, will always be towards you.

(4) Why would you ever have a want or need for the same kind of relationship with a sculptured image, or any likeness of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth below, or in the waters under the earth?

(5) In our relationship, you will never need to bow down or serve; and so should you eschew any relationship that demands otherwise. For I am ha-Shem your God, filled with passionate love for you. I will be your source of redemption from any sin of your parents and their generation -- so that you, and the next generation, and the generation after, shall be free of the inherited burden of hatred.

R. Eliezer says: The five letters (of the Hebrew alphabet) that are doubled (i.e., there are two forms of the letter), all of them represent redemption—

• כ, ך Our father, Avraham was redeemed from Uhr Kasdim, as it is said (Beraishit 12:1) “Lech Lecha MeiArtzecha…”
• מ, ם Our father Yitzchak was redeemed by them from the hands of the Philistines, as it is said (Ibid. 26:16) “Leich MeiImanu…”
• נ, ן Our father Yaakov was redeemed by them, as it is said (Ibid. 32:12) “HaTzileini Na MiYad Achi…”
• פ, ף Our ancestors were redeemed by them from Egypt, as it is said (Shemot 3:16) “Pakod Pakadeti Etchem…”
• צ,ץ By these in the future, the Holy One, Blessed Be He, will Redeem Yisrael from the servitude of the four kingdoms, saying to them “Tzemach Tzamachti Lachem”, as it is said, (Zecharya 6:12) “VeAmarta Eilav Koh Amar HaShem Tzvakot Leimor Henei Ish Tzemach Shemo U’MiTachtav Yitzmach…”

(It is possible that the association between the double letters and redemption is due to the idea that is being symbolized, i.e., even if things have taken a less ideal form presently, eventually they will become better, even ideal.)

And all of them (these secret “codes”) were given to our father Avraham, and Avraham gave them to Yitzchak, and Yitzchak gave them to Yaakov, and Yaakov gave the secret of redemption to Yosef, as it is said, (Beraishit 50:24) “Pakod Yifkod Elokim Etchem” (these are Yosef’s words, and the Midrash assumes that he learned them from his father Yaakov), and Asher (one of Yosef’s brothers) gave the secret of redemption to his daughter, Serach. And when Moshe and Aharon came (to Egypt) to the elders of Yisrael and performed the signs before their eyes, they went to Serach b. Asher. (See “An Intriguing Biblical ‘Minor’ Character”) They said to her: A man came to us and performed such-and-such signs before us. She said to them: This person is not the “real thing.” They said to her: “But he said “Pakod Yifkod Elokim Etchem”! She said to them: He is the man who will in the future redeem Yisrael from Egypt. Because I heard from my father, “פ,ף Pakod Yifkod”. Immediately the people believed in ha-Shem and in God's Messenger, as it is said, (Shemot 4:31) “And the people believed and they understood that HaShem had surely Remembered God's People.”

(6) While ha-Shem's protection from passing down prejudice, hatred, abuse, and other toxic relationships may be needed to the third or even the fourth generation, the generous rewards of showing loving kindness come from ha-Shem immediately, and extend to the thousandth generation of those who love Me and keep My commandments.

(7) Be careful in our new relationship not to lift up My Name, that of ha-Shem your God, for trivial or ephemral reasons; for if you do, ha-Shem will not relieve you of that oath, and you will have to bear it entirely by yourself.

(8) Remember shabbos and keep it holy. (9) Six days you shall labor and do all your work, (10) but the seventh day is a sabbath of ha-Shem your God: you shall not do any work—you, your children, your employees, any of your household, or the stranger who is within your settlements. (11) For in six days ha-Shem made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore ha-Shem blessed the shabbos day and made it holy.

(12) Honor your father and your mother, that your days on earth that ha-Shem your God is giving you may be full and fulfilling.

(13) You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (14) You shall not desire (tachmod) your neighbor’s house: you shall not desire your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female slave, or his ox or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s.