OUR TEN COMMANDMENTS
The date of Shavuot, Zeman Matan Toratenu, the bestowal of the Torah was set for the 6th of Sivan, the fiftieth day
of the Omer that begins to be counted from the second day of Passover. The date of the holiday caused a rift in the Jewish people, because the Zedukim(Sadducees) believed Shavuot should be celebrated on the first Sunday after Passover. Therefore, for some years the entire Jewish people did not always celebrate this holiday on the same day. If we consider that the Torah is the fundamental feature that characterizes and differentiates the Jewish people, we will understand why the conflict produced a basic fissure.
The Torah reading on the first day of Shavuot includes the phrase, “And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of Kohanim and a sacred people,” an imperative that obliges one to transcend material needs and to devote much effort, both intellectual and emotional, to elevate what is material and mundane and transform it into a spiritual action. Each person should build a ladder that connects earth and sky, according to the dream of Patriarch Yaakov, to reach his individual potential, represented by his individual heavenly image.
One of the main functions of the Kohen was education. Therefore, being part of Mamlechet Kohanim, “a
kingdom of Kohanim“, implies intellectual activity, lilmod ulelamed, “to study and teach”. The second part of the phrase exhorts us to be part of the Goi kadosh: a sacred people, which according to the classical interpretation of Rashi means “to stand apart” and not to be seduced by the actions of other peoples who sometimes succumb to temptation and fall into immorality. The Kohen Gadolbore the inscription Kodesh LaShem, “sanctified to God,” on an object on his forehead. In such a way that Kohen and Kadosh are related concepts that are part of the spiritual north of the entire Jewish people, according to the verse quoted.
The central theme of the biblical reading is the Aseret HaDibrot: the Ten Commandments, a list of imperatives that have become the “Spiritual Magna Carta” of a large part of Humanity. As with many great works and memorable texts, the passage of time confirms its validity. In sober language, without ambiguity, it deals with the fundamental issues of society, beginning with the divine intervention against Egyptian slavery that proclaims man’s natural right to freedom, a sacred condition that must never be compromised. The purity of faith in a single God cannot be compromised with idolatry that is not limited to an effigy of stone or other material, but includes the worship of power or money, among others.
The use of the second person singular for each of these Commandments implies that society is
the accumulation of its members and that no one is exempt from compliance with these ordinances, a fact that follows an ancient tradition that states that all souls, including those who would be born in the future, were present at the revelation that occurred at Mount Sinai. This revelation of the divine will was the stellar moment in the history of the Jewish people, because it laid the moral and ethical foundations that would serve as a compass for the future development of humanity.
