The Ten Commandments

1. "I am the Lord your G-d, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

2. "You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, nor any manner of likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them. For I the Lord your G-d am a jealous G-d, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children of the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments.

3. "You shall not take the name of the Lord your G-d in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.

4. "Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the Lord your G-d. On it you shall not do any manner of work -- you, your son, your daughter, your man-servant, your maid-servant, your cattle, and your stranger that is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath Day, and hallowed it.

5. "Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your G-d gives you.

6. "You shall not murder.

7. "You shall not commit adultery.

8. "You shall not steal.

9. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

10. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, his manservant, his maid-servant, his ox, his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor's."

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May 14, 2013

my take

G-d is a Supreme Being and does not suffer the same foibles as humans.

so therefore it is obvious G-d had reasons we are not aware of to say the things that make it seem G-d has similar needs to us-

when it is said that G-d is jealous, and would bring harm upon the innocent children of "bad" adults who hated G-d-#2.

G-d must have wanted us to have a day of rest and thought this was how to get us to do it-#4.

I am sure G-d is loving and the original equal oportunity Being, but knew what kind of people would need to be told not to covet a neighbor's wife and not mention coveting a neighbor's husband-#10.

the veiled threat that G-d would make you loose your land if you did not honor your mother and father is only slightly ok because there is no degree mentioned.-#5. sure that this would not be required if they were those nasty people mentioned previously in-#2.

Bless G-d for giving us free will to make decisions on our own at every turn!

LAURA MUSHKAT
WORCESTER MA

May 14, 2013

You shall not work"

That means all of us. :) I thank God for giving us this wonderful day- the Sabbath

Maxine
California

May 9, 2013

To Maxine:

Those are included in the "you"--as individual Jews similarly obligated to observe the Sabbath. Those listed are the ones who would not necessarily be obligated on their own.

Eliezer Zalmanov
for Chabad.org
heightschabad.com

May 9, 2013

Commandment No. 4

States that on the Sabbath no manner of work is to be done included are servants, cattle, strangers etc. Yet the Commandment does not include the words Wife, Mother, grandmother, grandfather etc What is the reason for this?

Maxine
New York, N.Y.
heightschabad.com

May 23, 2012

To Steven

It is in fact forbidden to make any images of humans even for decorative purposes (see Mishne Torah)

Anonymous

December 5, 2011

No. 5

I think I have always misunderstood this one. As it is written here I'm understanding -live correctly by the commandments - as honouring ones parents. Not, cow-tow to every bit of madness they throw at you!

Julie
Durham, UK

December 2, 2011

Ben

Just finished reading the book "To Be a Jew" which outlines the ideal of Jewish Practice. Very interesting.

Julie
Durham, UK

December 2, 2011

Ben Finger and Julie

Thank You Very Much. Now If Only The Catholics could learn the difference.

Yichiellah
NYC

December 1, 2011

Julie - No. 10

I agree with you.
Better to buy a £20 watch and give the rest of the money to charity.

Judaism is not an ascetic religion however. We are encouraged to be actively involved in all areas of physical material life, its just that we should use those material items for spiritual, holy purposes.

So we can eat meat, drink wine, and have relations, but only in a holy way. (e.g. Kosher food, relations in marriage only, wine on Sabbath to sanctify meals).

Ben Finger
London

December 1, 2011

10th commandment

When I see someone with an expensive item which is beautiful and desirable I find myself wondering how they aquired it - how they earned the money, what the nature of their livelihood is. Some people make lots of money byr doing things which are not good and create suffering for many. If this is the case it doesn't matter how beautiful their things are, I wouldn't want them for they woud be degraded articles - mere idols with no real value. I think an ethical livelihood is a much greater possession than the objects it can aquire.

Julie
Durham, UK

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