Revisiting The 10 Commandments

REVISITING THE 10 COMMANDMENTS

Our tradition actually counts 613 commandments in the Torah and refers to the Big 10 as the Aseret HaDibrot, or the10 Utterances.  They hold pride of place since God spoke them to all of the people at Mt. Sinai.  (See Exodus 19 & 20)  One way to think about the 10 Commandments is to consider them as the chapter headings under which would be grouped the rest of the Mitzvot of the Torah. It may be worthwhile remembering that the word mitzvah means command, an obligation to do something. 

Two sites are especially useful for starting a discussion about the 10 Commandments in our personal and communal lives.

http://www.jewfaq.org/10.htm presents an overview of where the commandments occur in the Torah and the types of duties they prescribe.  It also includes a brief discussion of the controversy that recurs when versions of the 10 Commandments are placed in the public realm, noting that the Jewish and Christian versions differ from each other.  If you want to see a listing of all 613 mitzvot, check out: http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm

http://www.ou.org/chagim/shavuot/aseret.htm presents the 10 Commandments as part of their description of the holiday of Shavuot.  They offer a review of the commandments with a commentary composed of traditional sources.  This is good material to use for a family discussion of the meaning of these Divine declarations.