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The First Pasuk of Aseret Dibrot - The Ten Commandments
(Shavuot 5757) Psalm 119:18
gal eynecha v'abita niflaot mi'toratecha
Uncover my eyes that I may behold the wonders from your Torah
The first commandment of aseret dibrot (the crown jewel of Torah) is introduced by a seven
word phrase of 28 letters vayedaber H" et kol had'varim ha'eleh lemor. This phrase is a
very common introduction with one unique difference - singular within all of Torah.
Usually, the particular recipient of the pronouncement (i.e. el mosheh) is mentioned. In
this one case however none is given. We gain understanding of why this is so as we look
at the first two commandments which (in contrast to the remaining eight) are addressed to
the listener directly and individually - in the second person singular YOU.
The first commandment reads:
Anochi Hashem Eloheycha, asher hotzeticha me'eretz mitzraim, mibayt avadim.
I am Hashem your God who has brought you out of the Land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
This would explain why Torah containing 613 commandments has the gematria - numeric value - of only
611 but does indeed express all 613 commandments. Our tradition teaches that Moshe transmitted all
commandments except the first two of the 10 commandments which HKB"H - the Holy One blessed be
she - spoke directly to b'nei Yisrael.
Anochi Hashem ELoheicha I am Hashem your God...
As we disect and compare the meaning of each word and letter of this phrase, we note
that the use of the word Anochi Hashem is highly unusual. In fact, in all of Torah, it
occurs only three times. Whereas the phrase Ani H" occurs a total of 112 times.
Moreover, it is frequently coupled with the word Eloheichem "your (pl) G-d".
We can imagine that to the attentive listener and/or reader of Torah, the peculiar use
of Anochi H" Eloheicha would jump right out of the page creating an effect akin to the
famous Army recruitment poster depicting Uncle Sam pointing his finger directly at the viewer
saying we want YOU for the US Army. Hashem is telling us here:
Hey, pay attention! It is me, Hashem, speaking to you. Yes, me - your very own personal One.
Since the use of Anochi in this context is highly unusual, this phrase also gains
the air of vigor, newness and sponteneity as we read in psalms Shiru l'H" shir chadash. (Psalm 149)
(Sing unto the L-ord a NEW song).
Asher Hozteticha ...who has brought you...
The next two words, reinforce the notion of this DIRECT relationship in as much as
"who has led you out" repeats grammatically the second person singular.
The letters of the word asher contains a great number of hidden hints of how Hashem
accomplished this liberation. NOTE: As explained elsewhere,
within the singular name EHYeH ASHeR EHYeY,
the word Asher assumes the heat of ESH_fire and the brilliance of OR_light.
We might even go so far as to say that the sequence H" eloheicha Asher symbolize the
three names which form the divine balance within the Tree of Life. H" and eloheicha define
the poles in the field of divine and Asher, in its hidden connotation, stands at the
dynamic cusp of this sphere.
Mi'Eretz Mitzraim ...out of the Land of Egypt...
"from the land of Egypt" reminds us of the historical event and connection to Hashem.
Whereas hotzeticha allude to the personal connection, mi'eretz mitzraim relates the
experience of the exodus to the original context - the historical & communal web.
Mi'Bait Avadim ...from the house of bondage.
"from the house of bondage" then seems to provide the primordial angle. The
land of Egypt was a very specific reminder of a particular time and place whereas
The house of bondage becomes more generic, applicable to any type of bondage/ enslavement/
subservience toward liberation. It is this portion of the phrase which points
to the mandate of our sages to view and experience the Exodus from Egypt as a highly
personal continual experience. This is the meaning of the Haggadah prayer avadim hayiinu.
And where do we experience the first personal exodus, the primordial experience?
Well, the mystics regard the bait avadim as a metaphor for the womb out of which each
one of us must break out in order to grow into a person similar to the b'nei Yisrael breaking
out of Egypt in order to (be born to) become a nation.
Next, we take note that on the surface, there does not appear to be any real
commandment within this so-called first commandment - neither positive nor negative
at all. So one question that presents itself is: Why did our chokhamim (sages) insist on identifying
this single phrase as the first commandment? For instance, in other traditions, the
first commandment consists of what Judaism holds to be the first and second commandments
while the tenth one is subdivided into two seperate commandments.
With the preceding, we still have not identified any particular mitzvah that we ARE or ARE NOT to do.
Our sages have said over and over, it is not enough to perform the mitzvah in any manner.
It must be our goal to perform each mitzvah with a particular intention kavanah and state of mind.
It seems that the first commandment provides us with that very imperative to aspire for this
mindfulness. As we begin each day with the
phrase of the 111th Psalm: Reshit chokhmah yirat Hashem.
A full understanding of this first commandment will invoke and trigger this state of
awe in recognition of Hashem. With our thinking probing mind of Binah (understanding) we
encounter Hashem as a confounding paradox. The perceived dichotomy can only be unified
as we aspiring to the state called Chokhmah (wisdom) which as we just learned MUST COME FIRST.
According the psalm as well as countless commentaries by our sages, the focused mindfulness
of Hashem in Understanding and Wisdom leads to the experience called DaAT (knowledge). Out of
this unification of Binah and Chokhmah arises the emotion of ahavat Hashem, the love
of Hashem elsewhere referred to as ahavat Torah. It is from within this state where performance
of Mitzvot is most desired and effective. The first three words anochi Hashem eloheicha are
designed to invoke just this modus operandi. The Tetragrammaton alludes to the divine principle
and all laws of the physical and spiritual universe. In contrast, Eloheicha addresses the seemingly
opposite nature of the divine, the personal, the immediate, the direct connection.
It is this contradictory aspect of HKB"H that we address every morning
twice - before donning tzitzit and tefillin and prior to
reciting their respective blessings:
L'shem yikhud kudsha, b'rich hu u'shchintei b'dkhilu u'rekhimu
l'yakhed shem Y"H b' V"H b'yikhuda sh'lim, b'shem kol Yisrael.
For the sake of unification of the Holy One, Blessed be He, and Her Presence,
in fear and love to unify the Name - YH with VH - in perfect unity, in the name of all Israel.
Let us next consider that this peculiar commandment is appropriately associated with
ekhad one - as we proclaim three time daily, sh'ma Yisrael, H" eloheinu, H" ekhad!
As we realize that the number one_1 is expressed in Hebrew by the letter aleph, we
gain an better understanding of the perspective the sofrim have had of this letter for
millenia. The shape of the alef is considered to consist of an upper yod and a lower yod
which is a) hooked together, b) kept apart, and c) held in balance by the vav. Of course the
upper yod and the lower yod represent a primordial paradigm of all dichotomies which similar to
the Yin and Yang are inextricably interconnected - opposites which define each other awaiting to
be unified by daat_knowledge. This is why Hashem is praised as rishon v'acharon, the first and
the last - encompassing / embracing uniting opposites and to add to the paradox - eyn sof,
the endless - infinte. Interestingly, while the alef represents one_1, its shape already
contains within the seeds of all duality and its ultimate reunification.
Let us furthermore consider the significance of the number one on a simple mathematical level.
One_1 is the mother of all numbers (pluralities / integers), yet, strictly speaking one_1 can
therefore not really be a number itself because it cannot define itself. According to quantum
mechanics, any particle barely exists at the moment that a wave collapses into this ephemeral
matter at the time of being observed. Similarly, one_1 is merely a mathematical representation of the
potential of numbers per se. If this sounds too esoteric, think in terms of NOW as it relates to
time or the POINT as it relates to geometric space. Now/Point each represent the concept
of one_1 in each of these two levels. Ask yourself, how long is NOW not to mention the
proverbial "point in time"? And how large exactly is a geometic point, a coordinate? That's right,
NOW has NO length of time and a point occupies zero space. Therefore we might argue that
they only exist in the realm of potentiality because in reality, they are indivisible. Within
time, an hour, a second, a micro second, a nanosecond - ANY length of time - there are an infinite
number of nows. Within space - any space - there are an infinite number of point. Without NOW there
would be no time and without a point there would be no space. We see how NOW, the POINT and ONE express
the same principle - the source of their dimensions.
Since on the quantum level, one_1 does not really exist in the first place, we now understand why
the first commandment could not possibly be a DO or a DO-NOT commandment. First things first. The
reason - the source - for the commandments had to be established. And we heard earlier what
this FIRST thing is. Now we also understand why Torah could not begin with the letter Alef but
rather with the bet of B'reshit. The shape of the bet points back to its origin, the alef.
And, in fact, the first sentence of Torah expresses the alef overtly six times and one seventh
time in a hidden fashion as taught by our sages. As such the alef certainly was not left out
of the beginning, it simply was already engaged in giving its spark of life to the sentence.
It could not be perceived by itself. Similarly, the essence of the first commandment - Yirat Hashem
the Awe of Hashem is the holy spark which permeates the entire set of 10 and beyond that - every
single one of the 613 commandments. In that, the first commandment is a manifestation of the
divine presence - the shekhinah.
Interestingly, there are other parallels between the beginning of the esert dibrot and the
first sentence in Torah. The 10 commandments are introduced by a seven word 28 letter phrase.
The first sentence in Torah is structured in the identical manner. NOTE: The seven symbolizes
completion and holiness, the zayin, whereas the number 28 written in Hebrew letters (Chaf-Chet)
spells the word CoaCH_power/strength. We can actually think of
this phenomenon as a structural exclamation mark. The first commandment alludes to our
perceived/ experienced duality YHV"H / Eloheicha which corresponds to the above and below
of ha'shamayim and ha'aretz (heaven and earth). The first commandment reminds of the birth
of the nation of b'nei Yisrael which came about as a result of a covenant with our forefathers
Avraham, Itzkhak and Yaaqov. The first sentence of Torah speaks of the primordial birth of
existence. In fact, the very first word, B'reshit alludes both to birth B-ROSH (head first) and
covenant BR--ESH--IT.
In taking a close look at the 10 commandments in any Sefer Torah and we should also note that
the 10 commandments occupy exactly 26 lines. Dr Ray, the famous STaM Sofer, confirmed that this
was (as expected) entirely intentional. Of course, 26 represents the four letter name
of Hashem in as much as it is the gematria - the numeric value - of YHV"H as well as
Hashems glory_cavod_26.
Copyright © - C. Moshe Harlan 1996
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