Yitro

The fourth of the Ten Commandments is to honor and observe the Shabbat, the holy Sabbath. “Six days you shall labor…. and on the seventh day you shall rest,” why are we commanded to work?

The gateway to tolerance is humility; but humility must be tempered with healthy and guarded self-assurance.

The difference between “remembering” and “keeping” the Shabbat.

The first of the Ten Commandments reads “I am the L-rd, your G-d, who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2) What does the reference of the Exodus add to this fundamental mitzvah to believe in one G-d?

Topics include: Jethro as a reincarnation of Cain, how we draw the Ten Commandments of Torah into the Ten Utterances of Creation, and why the revelation at Sinai is the basis for our belief in Moses.

The "taamim" (cantillation notes) used for reading the Ten Commandments differ when read alone than when read communally in the synagogue. What is the meaning of this special version of musical notes?

When G-d instructed Moses to prepare the people to receive the Torah at Sinai, He said: "Speak to the house of Jacob, and tell the sons of Israel" (Exodus 19:3). The "house of Jacob," our sages explain, are the women; "the sons of Israel," the men.

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