Rabbi Gordon - Va'etchanan: 5th Portion
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If Hashem's voice did not cease how could there be separate commandments? How could Beni Yesroal say they wanted Hashem to stop? That seems to be a total contradiction of everything. Reply
This is not referring to the Ten Commandments, rather the rest of the Commandments, Mitzvot of the Torah - the Jewish People said "Let You Moshe tell it us, as we are afraid to hear it directly from G-d. Reply
Hashem's voice did not cease and it is evident in the existence of the world. It was through speech that Hashem created the world and maintains this creation. At har Sinai the people were privileged to hear this Voice but fainted from the revelation of such Holiness. Today if we want to hear G.d's Voice we can study the Torah that
Moses transmitted and is being heard by you and me in different parts of the world via the internet transmitting the voice of Rabbi Gordon a.h. as he teaches us Hashem's Torah as written and taught by Moshe and the chain of Torah-true Rabbis in each generation.
I don't mean to sound condescending but please continue to ask your thought-provoking questions and look for answers.
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There is still what to explain about the fact that there are 10 separate commandments. If Hashem's voice is internal it shouldn't be in different phrases, rather all in one phrase, this also doesn't explain how the world could be created with ten utterances either. Reply
I think a possible answer could be that,all the Asreis HaDibros (Ten Commandments) have one common denominator: honor to Hashem. Believe in G-D, do not have idols so you can believe in and honer Him. Do not be immoral so you can believe in and honer Him. Do not steal, rob, bow down to idols, and lie. Do not be jealous of somebody else spouse, etc. all so you could be moral to honer Hashem.
Now if Hashem's voice is truly internal, it follows that all the Asreis HaDibros are all really one Mitzva, but when it was brought down to this world it came in ten Mitzvos. Ten basic Mitzvos. As it says "Would that their hearts be like this, to fear Me and to keep all My Mitzvos all the days etc." This means that the main point is to fear Hashem and give Him honer. One Mitzvah. Then later it says "keep all My Mitzvos etc." Meaning even though the main point is just to fear Hashem it is brought down through numerous Mitzvos and that is only in this world where the Torah is given were we have the ability to do Mitzvos.
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Thank you so much for your wonderful teaching. I am learning a great deal from your online classes. Bring a convert I did not have the good fortune to be raised with a Jewish foundation but I am hungry to learn. I envy many of my Friends who were raised as Jews and know so much more than I do.
Once again thank you. By the way I lam 74 yrs old and love all your jokes.
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May Hashem bless you, Miriam. I'm not far behind you in age and also enjoy learning with Rabbi Gordon z'l Reply
In answer to the question about the Voice of Hashem and Ten Commandments. Chabad Chassidus explains that there are two levels of operation in play. Total oneness on one hand, and differentiation and uniqueness of each part on the other. (Think of an embryo and the detailed and disparate limbs that it grows into.)
In the first line of the Shema we acknowledge the total unity of all of creation with the Creator.while the second line refers to each diverse part acknowledging its place in the Divine Plan.
The first two commandments were embryonic, containing within them the whole Torah. The Children of Israel had to hear them directly from G-d, while the other eight could be heard through Moses.
I have a feeling you are misunderstanding my question.
My question is the following: How could Hashem's voice stop or be separate if it is internal?" By saying the reason why the first two commandments were said by Hashem, and the rest by Moshe is an answer to a different question, not this one.
I'm not asking why Hashem said the first two Commandments, and why Moshe said the rest.
I'm asking how could Hashem's Voice be separate if his voice is internal?
If there are separate commandments that means Hashem voice is not internal right? If that is so, and that seems to be the definition of the word "separate," then how do you have the possibility of an internal voice?
I think that there is a misunderstanding here. Where does it say that G-d's voice is Internal? It says "kol gadol v'lo yasaf" (a great voice that did not stop) that the voice of G-d is Eternal; it continues on forever.
In what way does the voice of G-d at Mount Sinai continue on forever? It continues on in the words and instructions of the prophets and leaders, and in the deeper and broader understanding of Torah in each generation. When one learns Torah he is giving expression to the voice of G-d at Sinai (which, I suppose, is internal).