Last week we discussed the different way the ten sayings or utterances (often called the “ten commandments”) are numbered by Jews and Christians of different denominations. The main difference is that Jews consider the first saying to be “I am YHVH, your God, who brought you out from the land of Egypt, the house of slaves.” Christians do not consider that by itself to be the first—because it is not a commandment. As a result, they combine it with “You shall have no other gods before me” to get a commandment. Then, they divide some of the others up differently to end up with a total of ten. Catholics generally divide the commandment about coveting into two and Protestants generally divide the commandment prohibiting having gods before YHVH from the graven images commandment.

We reviewed the fact that the Israelites were not monotheists at this point but followers of one among the many gods, hence “you shall have no other gods before my face” means you shall not worship or follow any of the gods except for me. R. Sara reminded us that we have just seen a great battle between the Israelites’ god and the other gods. We discussed God being a jealous God who does not want us to have to do with any of the other gods. It’s an exclusive relationship. R. Sara reminded us that love in Torah is not romantic love but something more like love as commitment. She also pointed out that the ten utterances are basic rules society needs in order to function

We talked about God visiting the sins of the parents on their children to the third and fourth generations of them that hate God and whether that is fair. R. Myra pointed out that it is only the third and fourth generations of them that hate God. We also mentioned that parents problems or issues often are passed down for a few generations. We noted that God practices kindness to the thousandth generation of those that love God. We discussed the prohibition of bringing up God’s name “in vain.” R. Myra suggested that means bringing it up frivolously. Other suggestions are that it means God’s name should not be used when uttering a falsehood or that it should not be used in making an oath one intends not to observe. We discussed the different names for God and R. Sara reminded us that we knew how God’s personal name was pronounced only until the Second Temple.

We discussed the commandment to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. We noted that it has two parts—to remember the day and to keep that day holy. We discussed the idea that remembering the seventh day was harder without time-keeping devices. That one function of the holidays is to mark off time. R. Sara noted that, with the Sabbath, everyone gets to be a wealthy man once a week—women included.

Our artwork this week is more of New York Jewish artist, Archie Rand’s The 613, Not to Testify Falsely (above) and To Remember and Sanctify the Sabbath (below). When Rand exhibits The 613, they all are shown together and viewers can see them all at once. Sometimes the paintings are straightforward in content, like Not to Testify Falsely. Other times, as in To Remember and Sanctify the Sabbath, what Rand portrayed is less obvious. Maybe it portrays someone whose sanctification was done in a hurry while he was busy with getting the meal ready or maybe a chef getting tipsy on Shabbat wine. Rand wants to jar us so we have really to think about the mitzvot and their meaning.