Positive Commandment 1 (For Children)

Exodus 20:2 "I am the L-rd, your G-d"

When visiting a museum, you may notice a magnificent painting hanging upon the wall. As you stop to admire it - think for a moment.

Did the different colors just happen to accidentally spill on the canvas and arrange themselves into a beautiful painting?

Of course not!

It is quite obvious that an artist planned, designed, sketched and painted upon the canvas until he was pleased with his artistic work.

Our world is a "living masterpiece." It is full of beautiful flowers and trees, seas and rivers, mountains and valleys, men and animals, bursting with color and life.

Could such a "work of art" have just come into being through luck and chance?

Clearly there is a "Mastermind" behind this tremendous work of "living art."

This "Mastermind" is HaShem - G-d.

He created the world and causes it to continue to exist.

This first Positive Mitzvah commands us to believe in HaShem, the Master Creator of the Universe (see also Negative Mitzvah 1).