על פני. כָּל זְמַן שֶׁאֲנִי קַיָּם, שֶׁלֹּא תֹאמַר לֹא נִצְטַוּוּ עַל עֲ"זָ אֶלָּא אוֹתוֹ הַדּוֹר (מכילתא):
על פני BEFORE ME — i. e. so long as I exist; and these apparently superfluous words are added in order that you may not say that no one received any command against idolatry except that generation which went forth from Egypt (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:3:2).
וטעם על פני כמו אם לא על פניך יברכך (איוב א יא), ועתה הואילו פנו בי ועל פניכם אם אכזב (שם ו כח). יזהיר לא תעשה לך אלקים אחרים, כי על פני הם, שאני מסתכל ומביט בכל עת ובכל מקום בעושים כן.
AL PANAI’ (BEFORE MY FACE). This is similar in meaning to these expressions: Surely ‘al panecha’ (to Thy face) he will blaspheme Thee; Now therefore be pleased to look upon me; for surely I shall not lie ‘al p’neichem’ (to your face). He thus admonishes here: “Do not make unto yourselves other gods, for they are before My face, as I look and gaze at all times and in all places at those who make them.”
וטעם על פני. כמו וימת הרן על פני תרח אביו. שהיה נמצא אתו וראה מותו. וככה ויכהן אלעזר ואיתמר על פני אהרן. והנה הטעם אחר שאני אלקיך. ואני נמצא תמיד בכל מקום. ואני רואה מה תעשה אין ראוי שתשתף עמי אלקים אחרים. ואמר אחד מחכמי לב אל תכעיס אדונך והוא רואה אותך. והנה זאת המצוה שהיא לא יהי' לך היא בלב גם בפה. כי אין בתורה מצות לא תעשה בלב כי אם זו.
[BEFORE ME.] Its meaning is like that of And Haran died before the face of his father Terah (Gen. 11:28), which means that Terah was with Haran and saw him die. Similarly, and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office before the face of Aaron their father (Num. 3:4). The meaning of our verse thus is, it is unseemly for you to worship any other god along with Me since I am your God and am always with you and see what you do. One of the wise men once said, “Do not anger your master when he sees you.” Now this commandment, namely, Thou shalt have no other gods is directed to the heart and to the mouth, for aside from this precept there is no other negative commandment in the Torah directed to the heart.
1. לא יהיה לך וגו'... 3. ירצה כי באמצעות העובד הוא ממציא הויה אחת שהיא אלקים מה שלא היה כן קודם...
5. עוד ירצה כי בעשותו אל זולתו יתברך מהנמנע שיהיה לו אחד והגם שהוא לא ירצה לעבוד אלא לאחד. יתחייב לעשות רבים כי אין אחד, והוא אומרו לא יהיה לשון יחיד וגמר אומר אלקים אחרים. או ירצה לומר כי כשיתחיל לעבוד אחד לסוף יעבוד רבים. וצא ולמד מדברי נביאי ישראל (סנהדרין ק''ב:) ריבוי האלוהות שהיו ישראל עובדים בארץ בעונות.
(1) לא יהיה לך אלוקים אחרים על פני, "Do not have any other gods before Me." ... (3) The word יהיה implies that an Israelite having idolatrous thoughts would invent such a deity... (5) As soon as a Jew makes an additional deity for himself he automatically cannot relate to G'd as the only G'd anymore. This is so even if he has no intention of serving the deity he has made. The Torah speaks of לא יהיה in the singular while concluding the sentence in the plural, i.e. אלהים אחרים, other deities (pl). The meaning is: "there will no longer be a single deity as soon as you have additional deities." Another meaning of this combination of singular and plural is simply that once a person adopts an additional deity this is bound to lead to a variety of other deities he is apt to worship. Sanhedrin 102 illustrates that the Israelites used to worship a large variety of deities proving the point we have just made.
Yeshayahu Leibowitz Jerusalem (1903–1994) - "The Uniqueness of the Jewish People" 1975 - The uniqueness of the Jewish people is a direction and a target. Were it a reality, it would have no value. The people of Israel were not the chosen people but were commanded to be the chosen people... The Jewish people has no intrinsic uniqueness. Its uniqueness rather consists of the demand laid upon it. The people may or may not heed this demand. Therefore its fare is not guaranteed.
What has been said about the holiness of the people is also valid with regard to the holiness of the land. Exalting the land itself to rank of holiness is idolatry par excellence.
Franz Rosenzweig (German - 1886-1929) - “Names change but polytheism continues. Culture, civilization, people, state, nation, race, art, science, economy and class - here you have what is certainly an abbreviated and incomplete list of the pantheon of our contemporary gods. Who will deny their existence? No ‘idolator’ has ever worshiped his idols with greater devotion and faith than that displayed by modern man towards his gods… a continual battle has been going on to this very day in the mind of man between worshiping the One and the many. Its outcome is never certain.
(4) Assyria shall not save us,
No more will we ride on steeds;
Nor ever again will we call
Our handiwork our god,
Since in You alone orphans find pity!”
ויש בכלל זה הע"א הגדול' המצוי' היום בעולם מציאות חזק והוא רפואת כל המחשבות והעסקים לקבוץ הממון והצלחות הנכסים... נזהר איוב כמו שנתבאר באומרו (איוב ל״א:כ״ד-כ״ה) אם שמתי זהב כסלי ולכתם אמרתי מבטחי אם אשמח כי רב חילי וכי כביר מצאה ידי.
Akedat Yitzhak (Spain - R. Isaac ben Moses Arama - c. 1420 – 1494) 41:1- “Under the category of idolatry, we must include a form which is particularly virulent today - the devoting of all energies and thoughts to the accumulation of wealth and achievement of worldly success….. Job proclaimed that he had never been tainted by it, in the text: “If I have made gold my hope, and have said to fine gold: You are my confidence; if I rejoiced because of my wealth was great and because my hand had gotten much (Job 31:24-25)”
לָמָּה נִקְרְאוּ תְרָפִים. לְפִי שֶׁהֵן מַעֲשֵׂה תֹרֶף, מַעֲשֵׂה טֻמְאָה. וְכֵיצַד הָיוּ עוֹשִׂין. מְבִיאִין אָדָם בְּכוֹר וְשׁוֹחֲטִים אוֹתוֹ וּמוֹלְחִים אוֹתוֹ בְּמֶלַח וּבְשָׂמִים, וְכוֹתְבִין עַל צִיץ זָהָב שֵׁם רוּחַ טֻמְאָה, וּמַנִּיחִין הַצִּיץ בַּמְכַשְּׁפוּת תַּחַת לְשׁוֹנוֹ, וּמַנִּיחִין אוֹתוֹ בַּקִּיר, וּמַדְלִיקִין לְפָנָיו נֵרוֹת וּמִשְׁתַּחֲוִים לוֹ,
Midrash Tanchuma, Vayetzei 12 - Why are they called teraphim? Because they were works of toref (“filth”), works of uncleanness. And how were they constructed? They would take a firstborn male child, kill him, and sprinkle him with salt and spices. Then they would write a demon’s name upon a gold tablet and place it beneath the child’s tongue while performing certain magical rites. After this, they inserted the corpse into a recess in the wall and lighted candles before it and bowed down to it.
(9) And the LORD said to Moses, “I will come to you in a thick cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so trust you ever after.” Then Moses reported the people’s words to the LORD,
Peninei Torah on Ex. 18:13 (Based on teaching of the Lubavitcher Rebbe): R. Schmuel Salant was once asked why he didn’t have specific reception hours for people coming to him with questions… He answered, a Jew, and especially a Jewish leader, must follow in the ways of God and try to emulate God’s attributes. God’s way is to answer every person at the time that the person comes to God.
אין לשאול: למה אמר ״הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים״ ולא אמר ״אשר עשיתי שמים וארץ״, כי הוא זכר להם החביב עתה
לא תחמוד. ...ככה כל משכיל צריך שידע כי אשה יפה או ממון לא ימצאנו אדם בעבור חכמתו ודעתו. רק כאשר חלק לו השם.
THOU SHALT NOT COVET.
... so must every intelligent person know that a person does not acquire a beautiful woman or money because of his intelligence or wisdom, but only in accordance with what God has apportioned to him.