Our Rabbis

Rabbi Gordon Gladstone, D.D., a 1973 ordainee of Hebrew Union
College – Jewish Institute of Religion, in Cincinnati, Ohio, has
served as spiritual leader of Temple Beth Am since 1984.

The Rabbi is active in many community organizations, and has been
President of the Bayonne Interfaith Clergy Association for over a decade.

RABBI'S COLUMN: GORDON GLADSTONE

This month, we will read from Parashat Yitro, which relates the events at Sinai, when the Ten Commandments were revealed: Ten out of 613 mitzvot found in Torah, and referred to as Aseret Hadibrot / Ten Utterances.  There are in Exodus 34:28 and again in Deuteronomy 4:13 and 10:4. Academics refer to them as the Decalogue, from the Greek words deka logos (ten words). Our sages and scholars throughout the ages have spent much time exploring this particular group of laws because of their special significance to our legal system.  The rabbis taught that the Ten Commandments reflect the foundation of an ideal society, in which personal dignity, property, and respect are valued.

The Ten Commandments are often depicted as two tablets with five commandments on each.  There is a reason for this particular arrangement.  It has been said that the first five commandments deal with laws that are bayn adam l’Makom—“between humanity and God,” whereas the second set of commandments set forth interpersonal laws that are bayn adam l’chavayro—“between one person and another.”

Yet, the Jerusalem Talmud claims that each tablet contains all ten of the commandments: One bears Exodus 20:2–14, and the other Deuteronomy 5:6–18.

Although the Ten Commandments were given to the People of Israel at Sinai, the Hebrew of the Torah employs the singular command form, addressing each and every Jew personally rather than declaring these statements as general laws.  In other words, each individual has a personal responsibility to fulfill the Ten Commandments.