YISRO 1998

In the Torah portion Yisro, we learn about the Ten Commandments.  Actually, the Hebrew does not mean Ten Commandments; it means the Ten Expressions.  The rabbis differ as to actually how many commandments are in the Ten Commandments.  Albo and others say there are actually thirteen commandments, the Rambam says there are fifteen commandments, and many rabbis say that actually all six hundred and thirteen commandments can be found in the Ten Commandments.  We know that the Catholics divide up the Ten Commandments differently than the Protestants, and we divide them different than both of them.  Originally, the Ten Commandments were part of the morning service in the Temple when the Temple stood.  Later the rabbis decided not to incorporate the Ten Commandments in the morning service primarily because many people thought that just saying the Ten Commandments was enough.  If you said you believed in the Ten Commandments, that was all you had to do.  That, of course, is not correct.  We have to live the Ten Commandments.  The Ten Commandments are the basis of all civilization.  If a civilization violates the Ten Commandments, it will soon fall, but it is hard to keep the Ten Commandments.  They are just a very few words, but it is not easy to keep them.  We can rationalize so easily.  Not to steal, not to covet, not to commit adultery.  These are hard things.  In fact, I know someone recently came up to me and sad he was a sports engineer.  "What's that," I asked.  He said, "I fix basketball games."  He does it so high school kids can get college scholarships by looking as if they are scoring big points in games.

We know that before the Jewish people could receive the Ten Commandments, they were to be a Mamleches Kohanim and a Goy Kadosh.  They had to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.  This seems to be a contradiction in terms.  How is this possible?  They should be a Mamleches, which means that they should be concerned with civil administration, with secular things, and also Kohanim, be concerned with holy things.  We Jews are supposed to be concerned with worldly affairs and spiritual affairs.
Unfortunately, in our day we have seen how many people have decided that only the rabbis should be concerned about spiritual things, and they should be concerned about worldly things.  Actually, a rabbi has no more spiritual responsibilities than an ordinary person.  It is true that in Judaism we have always had a separation of church and state.  Moshe served as the civil leader of the Jewish people, and Aaron as the religious leader.  This is the way it has always been.  In a synagogue there has always been divided authority:  an elected president and board; and an elected rabbi, and their powers overlap.  This is different than many religions where if you do not like the minister or priest, you have to leave.  We all know that power has to be checked, otherwise power will be abused, even religious power.

That's why the rabbis say that you must have a worldly occupation and Torah.  Just studying Torah all the time is also mo goo because it does not allow you to understand the problems of the people.  Everybody needs Torah in their life, not like we hear many people say in America, "Let the rabbi keep the Torah, but I have to make a living."  Everybody needs Torah.  Everybody has to feel they are connected to something greater than themselves.  Everybody needs meaning in their life.  The Torah is not just for such people.  In fact, the rabbis teach us that before G-d gave the Torah to the Jewish people, He cured all their afflictions.  The Torah is not meant just for people with problems.  I get calls from people who tell me, "Rabbi, my son is having problems.  Do you know a yeshiva I could send him to?"  A yeshiva is not a reform school.  If a person has problems, a yeshiva is not for him.  It is true that a yeshiva will prevent normal people from going off the edge by giving them hope and goals and a feeling of being connected to others and to Hashem, but it will not cure a drug addict of his craving unless, of course, the person had already changed before he came to yeshiva, but this does not occur because a person attends yeshiva.

We all need the Torah.  The rabbis say that before the Jewish people received the Torah, they travelled from Refitim.  The rabbis explain that it was at Refitim that they doubted whether there was a G-d.  They travelled from that point because they knew that they needed G-d.  They needed to be connected to something higher than them.  They knew from now on that they could be better.  It also says they came to the desert.  What does this mean?  A desert is different than normal land.  In Iowa or Illinois, if you put a seed in the ground, something will grow, but in the desert nothing will grow unless you water it and fertilize it and this takes the help of many people.  The Jewish people, before they could receive the Torah, had to know that they not only needed G-d but also other people.  You cannot grow anything in a desert unless everybody works together.  It also said, "And Israel camped there," using the singular.  Rashi explains they camped there as one man with one heart.  When the Egyptians pursued the Jewish people to bring them back to Egypt, it says they pursued them as one heart and one man.  What that meant was the Egyptians really were not united.  They wanted to destroy the Jews.  Therefore, they were united.  This is similar to the Arabs today.  They have many disputes, but what unites them is their hatred of Israel.  The Jewish people, on the other hand, at Mount Sinai were united as one man with one heart, which meant they respected each other's individuality, that they were united in spite of their differences, that their unity came because they recognized that everyone was unique, but they could still work together even with different views.  It is important that we all realize we need each other.  We need G-d and we need even those who do not agree completely with us as long as they agree that they want to be par of the Jewish people.
The rabbis teach us that before a person can realize himself, he must be par of something greater.  It is a paradox.  The more we get into ourselves, the more we self-actuate, self-motivate, the more selfish we become, while the more we attach ourselves to each other, the more we find ourselves.  We all have to remember that we need each other even if sometimes we do things that may annoy each other.

I am reminded of the story about a husband who gave his wife a new car.  A week later she said, "Honey, I have good news and bad news.  What do you want to hear first?"  Her husband said, "Give me the good news first."  She replied, "Honey, the air bags work."  I hope that husband realizes that he needed his wife even now and treated her correctly.  May we all realize that we all need G-d and each other to live elevated lives.  May we do so so the Mashiach will come quickly in our day.  Amen.