Reflections on the Parshah
Two Equal Tablets

Moses comes down from Sinai forty days after G-d proclaimed the Ten Commandments. In his hands are the “two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of G-d.".1 The biblical commentator Rashi, noting the distinctive Hebrew spelling of "tablets," comments that both were of equal proportions.

There are two common attitudes toward religion, neither representing the outlook of TorahThere are two common attitudes toward religion, neither representing the outlook of Torah. Ethereal religion concerns itself with abstractions like the essence of G-d and the nature of evil. It thrives in the rarefied atmosphere of the seminar on theology and philosophy. Man is little involved in its processes. The mundane world of business, for example, has little place in this religion and faces neither challenge nor guidance from its conclusions. The two worlds are separate. The philosopher and businessman operate independently.

For others religion is a code of etiquette, a set of maxims on how to get along with people and be a nice guy. Be honest, give charity, don't kill, these represent religion. ("I'm a good Jew. I give charity.") This religion, even in its finer forms, exists primarily in terms of men -- G-d need not enter the picture. Here are opposing views of religion: one looks to G-d and disdains the "materialistic" world; the other is so concerned with men and society that it forgets G-d.

Now let's see the Ten Commandments. The first five are: "I am the L-rd," which is the positive statement of G-d and Providence; the prohibition of idolatry; taking His Name in vain; the Shabbat; honoring parents. There seems to be a pattern, the stress on man's relations with G-d. The next five, on the second tablet, concern murder, robbery, adultery, false witness, covetousness. All these affect man-to-man relationships.

Rashi declares both equal. The good Jew is "good" toward G-d and men, or else he is half a Jew, so to speak. He will keep the Shabbat, have honest scales, wear tefillin, pay employees promptly, observe the laws of Kosher, give charity -- because each of these is a Torah commandment. All are equally important.