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When did we first receive the Ten Commandments? Scholars disagree but one traditional answer is 1491 BCE. By that count, it’s about their 3,500th anniversary on May 19. For the Jewish world, it is the festival of Shavuot. This is also known as the Festival of Weeks, and the festival of the receiving of Torah.
It is also connected to Pentecost.
Shavuot is a Hebrew word meaning weeks. The name derives from a biblical commandment. Deuteronomy 16:9-12 that says we should count 49 days, a week of weeks (7 times 7), after the first day of Passover. On the fiftieth day we should celebrate a harvest festival. The rabbis of the Talmud did a meticulous study of the dates in the book of Exodus. They concluded that this 50th day was the day on which Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the second set of tablets, the tablets of the Ten Commandments. Thus in Jewish tradition, Shavuot is not only a festival of gratitude for the spring harvest, but also the celebration of receiving the Ten Commandments, and more generally, the giving of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible).
Fifty, in Greek, is the word Pentecost. The Book of Acts in Chapter Two reports the mystical experiences of a group of Jews who were observing Shavuot in Jerusalem. Their spirit of revelation at that time echoes the revelation of the Torah to the Israelites in the desert. This group later became known as the apostles, and the anniversary of this is celebrated today (modified now to count from Easter) as Pentecost.
The Giving of Ten Commandments
We probably all know the story of how the Ten Commandments were given. God tells Moses to go up on Mt Sinai alone. He stays on the mountain for forty days and forty nights. God gives him the two stone tablets with the commandments inscribed in the stone.
While this is going on, the people down below grow impatient and fearful. Moses is a little late. They decide they need something concrete to represent God. Their solution is to build a golden calf. When Moses comes down the mountain and sees the golden idol, he breaks the tablets and destroys the calf. Both Judaism and Christianity trace a great deal of their history to this giving of the Ten Commandments. God ultimately directs Moses to make a second set of tablets to give to the people.
Let’s look at two ways to interpret this story. Perhaps, when the Ten Commandments were first brought down, the people simply weren’t ready. They had just left Egypt and needed a concrete, physical representation of God. A rule maker that they could not see was too abstract. They felt insecure. Only as they became a little more mature, a little more confident, were they able to accept the idea of a set of laws to live by. Now God could be an unseen giver of laws. A gold idol was not needed.
A second point to make is that the Golden calf was a great offense. Can you imagine? They lost faith in God days after the miracles of leaving Egypt. They lost confidence in their leader, Moses, because he was a few hours late in returning. Yet, God gives them a second chance. If God can forgive the high priest Aaron and the mass of the Israelites, there is hope for all of us.
Some readers understand the Bible’s account as a historical report of events that happened just as described. Others see it as one or more reporter’s efforts to describe events that he didn’t see and didn’t understand. Still others see it as a legend about how these laws developed. Some think it is fiction created to give power to the laws and the leaders who established them. Does it matter?
Poll results
Last week’s poll asked people to vote on which, if any, of the Ten Commandments was the most important. As of this writing, the votes divide into three almost equal groups. Thirty three percent said that all ten were important and could not be divided. Thirty six percent selected one of the commandments as most important (11 percent picked “I am your God” and eight percent “do not murder”). Thirty one percent said none of these had value.
I think the comments also came in three groups. The first group felt the Ten Commandments were important as an inseparable group. Some felt they are the basis of our country. Some felt they guide their own personal lives, and some saw in them a direct commandant from God.
A second group objected to the religious nature of these commandments. Some felt it was pushing religion into their lives, or pressuring them to accept myths as facts. Some challenge the stories of the origin of the Ten Commandments. There is even a discussion ongoing about whether the God of the Bible actually follows these commandments.
Finally, there is a spirited ongoing conversation about what the commandments really mean, and why they fail to forbid many other kinds of despicable behavior (rape for example).
The poll and discussion will stay open for another week. Please vote and then comment to explain what you are thinking. Read some other comments and reply. I’d especially like to ask the people who said “None” to explain their thinking.
I look forward to the new poll results and the online discussion.
Contact the writer: Rabbi Larry Seidman, PhD teaches, leads services and officiates at funerals and weddings in Orange County. To join the conversation go to ocregister.com/link/religion and write in the comments field. For other topics, e-mail him at rabbi@rationalrabbi.com.
