January 5, 2013
WSJ: Tepid Job Growth Fuels Worry
WA Post: Jobs report builds hope
NYT: Job Creation Is Still Steady Despite Worry
In a word or short phrase (3 words) why are the headlines different?
WA Post: Jobs report builds hope
NYT: Job Creation Is Still Steady Despite Worry
In a word or short phrase (3 words) why are the headlines different?
Two Versions of the Ten Commandments
| Exodus 20:8-11 | Deuteronomy 5:12-15 |
| Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. | Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. |
| Six days you shall labor and do all your work, | Six days you shall labor and do all your work, |
| but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God: you shall not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. | but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the stranger in your settlements, so that your male and female slave may rest as you do. |
| For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. | Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the LORD your God freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the sabbath day. |
- What is the most striking difference between the commandment of Shabbat in Exodus and Deuteronomy?
- How would you characterize this difference?
- How might this difference change your observance of Shabbat or your attitude in observing Shabbat?
The 10 Commandments in Jewish Ritual Life
וְקוֹרִין עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְּרוֹת ״שְׁמַע״, ״וְהָיָה אִם שָׁמוֹעַ״, ״וַיֹּאמֶר״, ״אֱמֶת וְיַצִּיב״, וַעֲבוֹדָה, וּבִרְכַּת כֹּהֲנִים. אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה אָמַר שְׁמוּאֵל: אַף בִּגְבוּלִין בִּקְּשׁוּ לִקְרוֹת כֵּן, אֶלָּא שֶׁכְּבָר בִּטְּלוּם מִפְּנֵי תַּרְעוֹמֶת הַמִּינִין.
The Gemara related above that the priests in the Temple read the Ten Commandments, along with the sections of Shema, VeHaya im Shamoa, VaYomer, True and Firm, Avoda, and the priestly benediction. Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: Even in the outlying areas, outside the Temple, they sought to recite the Ten Commandments in this manner every day, as they are the basis of the Torah (Rambam), but they had already abolished recitation of the Ten Commandments due to the grievance of the heretics, who argued that the entire Torah, with the exception of the Ten Commandments, did not emanate from God (Jerusalem Talmud). If the Ten Commandments were recited daily, that would lend credence to their claim, so their recitation was expunged from the daily prayers.
Kiddush Friday Night
Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, how has sanctified us with his commandments and favored us, and given us in love and favor his holy Shabbat as an inheritance, as a remembrance of the act of creation. For this day is the beginning of all holy days, a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt.
Blessed are you, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, how has sanctified us with his commandments and favored us, and given us in love and favor his holy Shabbat as an inheritance, as a remembrance of the act of creation. For this day is the beginning of all holy days, a remembrance of the Exodus from Egypt.
Kiddush Shabbat Day
Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God: you shall not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11)
Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God: you shall not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11)
Public Reading
We stand when we the Ten Commandments from the Torah in the synagogue in Parashat Yitro, Parashat Va’etḥanan, and on the festival of Shavu‘ot.
We stand when we the Ten Commandments from the Torah in the synagogue in Parashat Yitro, Parashat Va’etḥanan, and on the festival of Shavu‘ot.
Modern Analysis
Dr. Rabbi Norman Solomon, "The Two Shabbats of the Decalogue"
Exodus 20:8-11 ... focuses on the mythic and sacral; we re-enact God’s rest after Creation. Deuteronomy, with a theology that rejects the anthropomorphic notion of God “resting” (see similarly Isaiah 40:28), uses the story of Israel’s bondage in Egypt and God’s freeing them from their bondage as the reason behind the Shabbat laws.
Exodus 20:8-11 ... focuses on the mythic and sacral; we re-enact God’s rest after Creation. Deuteronomy, with a theology that rejects the anthropomorphic notion of God “resting” (see similarly Isaiah 40:28), uses the story of Israel’s bondage in Egypt and God’s freeing them from their bondage as the reason behind the Shabbat laws.
Sidnie White Crawford, "The Many Recensions of the Ten Commandments"
In Exodus the reason is theological, harking back to the creation story in Gen 1:1-2:4a, where God rests on the seventh day after the labor of creation (Gen 2:2). In Deuteronomy the reason is historical remembrance; as the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt, they should allow their own slaves one day of rest per week. This is in keeping with Deuteronomy’s humanistic emphasis and concern for the social good.
In Exodus the reason is theological, harking back to the creation story in Gen 1:1-2:4a, where God rests on the seventh day after the labor of creation (Gen 2:2). In Deuteronomy the reason is historical remembrance; as the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt, they should allow their own slaves one day of rest per week. This is in keeping with Deuteronomy’s humanistic emphasis and concern for the social good.
Benjamin Sommer, "The Bodies of Goda dn the World of Ancient Israel"
Acknowledging a God who can rest [e.g. the Exodus version], in turn, fosters a Sabbath conceived of and practiced in a concrete (that is to say, a halachic) manner, not only a symbolic or spiritual one. (... Not coincidentally, in Deuteronomy's version of the Decalogue … the Sabbath is no longer based on divine rest. … [Deuteronomy’s] notion of the Sabbath is more practical and ethical. It connects the Sabbath to Israel's release from the labor of Egyptian bondage. To be sure, D[euteronomy]'s notion of the Sabbath is also legal and not merely spiritual in nature, because the demand of the Redeemer retains covenantal force; but the absence of the priestly idea of Sabbath, in which humanity imitates the rest of a physical God, underscores the basic contrast between ... [deuteronomic and priestly world views].)
Acknowledging a God who can rest [e.g. the Exodus version], in turn, fosters a Sabbath conceived of and practiced in a concrete (that is to say, a halachic) manner, not only a symbolic or spiritual one. (... Not coincidentally, in Deuteronomy's version of the Decalogue … the Sabbath is no longer based on divine rest. … [Deuteronomy’s] notion of the Sabbath is more practical and ethical. It connects the Sabbath to Israel's release from the labor of Egyptian bondage. To be sure, D[euteronomy]'s notion of the Sabbath is also legal and not merely spiritual in nature, because the demand of the Redeemer retains covenantal force; but the absence of the priestly idea of Sabbath, in which humanity imitates the rest of a physical God, underscores the basic contrast between ... [deuteronomic and priestly world views].)
Discussion
Which reason for Shabbat is more consistent with your understanding or practice of Shabbat?
What ramifications do these two reasons for Shabbat have for you?
How might this study impact your understanding or practice of Shabbat?
What ramifications do these two reasons for Shabbat have for you?
How might this study impact your understanding or practice of Shabbat?