Rabbi Howard Morrison

An interfaith conversation on the 10 Commandments with Pastor David Larmour and Rabbi Howard Morrison.

It is a pleasure once again to welcome Pastor David Larmour from the King Street Community Church to be with us at Beth Emeth. Shavuot commemorates the revelation of God's presence to the Children of Israel at Mount Sinai. In the Biblical text,  loud heavenly sounds accompanied the revelation experience. Thus, in the 16^th century mystics in Northern Israel developed a study plan during which one would stay up all night until sunrise studying sacred texts. How dare one sleep on the anniversary of the heavenly sounds which accompanied the theophany at Sinai? Nowadays, many synagogues will stay up all night or into the late night in observance of what the mystics called "Tikun Leil Shavuot - refining oneself on the night of Shavuot.

What did God actually reveal at Mount Sinai? Interpretations from antiquity to the current day range greatly from a maximalist view to a minimalist view. God revealed the entire written and oral traditions; God revealed the entire five books of the Torah; God revealed the Ten Commandments; God revealed the first letter of the Ten Commandments, the letter Alef, which has no sound. If God did not verbally reveal the entire sacred literary Torah, then God divinely inspired ideas or sections, from which Moses or others compiled the words and texts.

For many Jews, the Ten Commandments either fulfills what God revealed; or, the Ten Commandments become an outline or blueprint for the entirety of the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. Yet, the Torah itself does not enumerate these commandments with actual numbers. Furthermore, the Ten Commandments appears twice - in Exodus and later in Deuteronomy. Both are considered divine. The first version is communicated directly by God on this date of Shavuot, seven weeks after Passover, the exodus from Egypt. The second version was written by Moses, addressing a new generation of Israelites forty years after the Exodus, who were preparing to enter the promised land of Israel. Slight variations exist between the two, largely in reference to Shabbat - Remember the Sabbath or Keep the Sabbath - to remember the creation of the world or to remember that  you were slaves in Egypt.

Regardless of the two Biblical versions of the Ten Commandments, Judaism has a unique way of counting them. The first five are called duties to God: " I am the Lord your God; You shall have no other gods besides Me; do not take God's name in vain; Remember/Keep the Sabbath, honor your father and mother." Honoring parents is part of our duties to God because the parents are the ones who teach the children about God and what God demands of us. The second five are duties to humanity: " Do not murder, commit adultery, steal/kidnap, bear false testimony, and covet another's possessions." 

Within the Ten Commandments, there are positive commandments "To do" and negative commandments "Not to do." While the entire five books of the Torah contain 613 commandments which are derived from actual texts, all 613 are subsumed from macro commandments, meaning the Ten Commandments themselves.

As a young person, I always thought of THE Ten Commandments, which were shared by Jews and Christians. However, as an adult, I learned this was not the case. There were similarities of course, but also real distinctions. This explains that when I lived in the U.S., I was always opposed to public displays of the Ten Commandments at schools, court houses, government, buildings, and the like. I learned to ask, "Whose Ten Commandments?"

For example, "I am the Lord your God," the first of the Ten Commandments for Jews, does not appear as one at all for Christians. For them, our second commandment is their first one, "You shall have no other gods besides Me." As a result, the Christian version, and there is more than one version in Christianity, does not break down like ours as five duties to God and five duties to humanity. The command, "you shall not murder," is number five on at least one Christian version of the Ten Commandments. So, how do they get ten in total? The Torah mentions, "you shall not covet" twice. For Jews, one reference covers both scenarios. For Christians, "You shall not covet" Is nine and ten - one about your neighbor's house and another about your neighbor's possessions.

There are also differences in understanding shared Biblical words. Of course, the God concept differs between the two faiths. In addition, for some Christians, what Jews call "Do not murder" is rendered as "Do not kill." There is a big difference. While Judaism abhors premediated murder, Jews are commanded to defend themselves even if it means killing another person. For some Christians, "do not kill" means in any circumstance.

Judaism defines the beginning of life at birth. Thus, if the life of the pregnant mother is imperiled by her pregnancy, Judaism commands the removal of the fetus, which is called potential life, but not life until the moment of birth. For much of Christianity, life begins at conception. Thus, the fetus is considered a full life, and one cannot kill the life of the fetus even if the pregnant mother's life is endangered.

None of my observations are meant to be judgmental. It is important, though, that to foster authentic meaningful relationships, Jews and Christians must understand and appreciate our similarities and our differences. What I share tonight is not exhaustive but a preliminary presentation. To be fair and fully honest, there is much more depth than what I have shared in both Judaism and Christianity. Tonight represents a starting point for respectful dialogue between the two faiths.

Rabbi Howard Morrison