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erev yitro 5778 ten commandments and swearing

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Erev Yitro 5778 Ten Commandments and Swearing Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein 2 February 2018 In a way it is strange that we rarely read the Ten Commandments in synagogue services. There are 3 occasions that we might read them as a Torah portion: Shavuot, this week in Exodus 20 and again when we get to Deuteronomy 6 where they are repeated. In the past they were quoted as the essential code of moral behaviour, represented by the two tablets over many an Ark, though never the full text just opening words or even just 10 letters. In many a Protestant church you get the full text emblazoned next to the altar. The passage was deliberately left out of the Jewish liturgy, it is said, lest we get led astray and think these are the only commandments, whereas we have 613 all equally the word of God. Lets break with tradition and read the Decalogue to give it its Greek name. Read Ten Commandments Siddur Lev Chadash p. 536 A valued American colleague of mine Rabbi Rifat Sonsino recently published an excellent book exploring each of the commandments and their relevance, as the subtitle says: to Contemporary Ethics. I had a few ideas from rereading it that I was going to use to develop tonight’s sermon, but these got trumped by an intriguing article by an anonymous commentator called Philologus. He or she writes a fascinating article each month on a web-magazine called Mosaic, and the following is based on that article. I said trumped and the dreaded President begins the theme. Evidently Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cursed the American President in a speech in Ramallah on 14 th January, in Arabic of course: Yichrib beytak which means literally “may your house be destroyed”. Clearly meaning more than the White House. A parallel Hebrew curse is “yimach shimcha” - “May Your name be erased.” In the Bible ones sheym ones name was vital: just think of all the otherwise boring lists of names in the Torah. The memory of one’s name was all one had to leave behind. Just think, for instance, of the Rabbinic quote: “ Rabbi Shimon said: ‘There are three crowns: the crown of learning, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of royalty; but the crown of a good name excels them all.” To have ones name erased was a mighty curse. It is as if you never lived. Similarly, for an ancient Arab culture, for the semi-nomadic Bedouin…to have ones ancestral tent destroyed left you without protection and destitute in this life just as loss of name left you bereft in the future life. Philologus then went on to remind us how curses, once powerful, seem to lose their effect and how seemingly mild curses in one culture are more powerful in others. Yichrib beytak or yimach shimcha might not cause us in Northwood to tremble or shock us. And think of possible English equivalents: “Go to hell”, Goddamn You” Once thought powerful but now quite mild. For most hell or even God have little awe or fear or even reality. But I suppose in certain fundamentalist Christian circles such words would need the offending mouth washed with soap. “Oh God” spoken lightly would often be corrected by keen

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Page 1: Erev Yitro 5778 Ten Commandments and Swearing

Erev Yitro 5778

Ten Commandments and Swearing

Rabbi Dr Andrew Goldstein 2 February 2018

InawayitisstrangethatwerarelyreadtheTenCommandmentsinsynagogueservices.Thereare3occasionsthatwemightreadthemasaTorahportion:Shavuot,thisweekinExodus20andagainwhenwegettoDeuteronomy6wheretheyarerepeated.Inthepasttheywerequotedastheessentialcodeofmoralbehaviour,representedbythetwotabletsovermanyanArk,thoughneverthefulltextjustopeningwordsorevenjust10letters.InmanyaProtestantchurchyougetthefulltextemblazonednexttothealtar.ThepassagewasdeliberatelyleftoutoftheJewishliturgy,itissaid,lestwegetledastrayandthinkthesearetheonlycommandments,whereaswehave613allequallythewordofGod.LetsbreakwithtraditionandreadtheDecaloguetogiveititsGreekname.ReadTenCommandmentsSiddurLevChadashp.536AvaluedAmericancolleagueofmineRabbiRifatSonsinorecentlypublishedanexcellentbookexploringeachofthecommandmentsandtheirrelevance,asthesubtitlesays:toContemporaryEthics.IhadafewideasfromrereadingitthatIwasgoingtousetodeveloptonight’ssermon,butthesegottrumpedbyanintriguingarticlebyananonymouscommentatorcalledPhilologus.Heorshewritesafascinatingarticleeachmonthonaweb-magazinecalledMosaic,andthefollowingisbasedonthatarticle.IsaidtrumpedandthedreadedPresidentbeginsthetheme.EvidentlyPalestinianPresidentMahmoudAbbascursedtheAmericanPresidentinaspeechinRamallahon14thJanuary,inArabicofcourse:Yichribbeytakwhichmeansliterally“mayyourhousebedestroyed”.ClearlymeaningmorethantheWhiteHouse.AparallelHebrewcurseis“yimachshimcha”-“MayYournamebeerased.”IntheBibleonessheymonesnamewasvital:justthinkofalltheotherwiseboringlistsofnamesintheTorah.Thememoryofone’snamewasallonehadtoleavebehind.Justthink,forinstance,oftheRabbinicquote:“RabbiShimonsaid:‘Therearethreecrowns:thecrownoflearning,thecrownofpriesthood,andthecrownofroyalty;butthecrownofagoodnameexcelsthemall.”Tohaveonesnameerasedwasamightycurse.Itisasifyouneverlived.Similarly,foranancientArabculture,forthesemi-nomadicBedouin…tohaveonesancestraltentdestroyedleftyouwithoutprotectionanddestituteinthislifejustaslossofnameleftyoubereftinthefuturelife.Philologusthenwentontoremindushowcurses,oncepowerful,seemtolosetheireffectandhowseeminglymildcursesinoneculturearemorepowerfulinothers.YichribbeytakoryimachshimchamightnotcauseusinNorthwoodtotrembleorshockus.AndthinkofpossibleEnglishequivalents:“Gotohell”,GoddamnYou”Oncethoughtpowerfulbutnowquitemild.FormosthellorevenGodhavelittleaweorfearorevenreality.ButIsupposeincertainfundamentalistChristiancirclessuchwordswouldneedtheoffendingmouthwashedwithsoap.“OhGod”spokenlightlywouldoftenbecorrectedbykeen

http://www.npls.org.uk/home/welcome/rabbi-dr-andrew-goldstein
Page 2: Erev Yitro 5778 Ten Commandments and Swearing

parents…theseprohibitionsbasedonthethirdcommandment–nottakingGod’snameinvain.ButwhorememberstheTenCommandmentsanymoreandeveninanagewhenwedid,Isupposethelateronesaboutnotstealingmurdering,orcommittingadulterywereconsideredmoreimportant.Ofcourseweliveinanagewhenswearwordslosetheirpower.WatchTVmostnightsandyouwillseewordsoncebeyondthepaleusedwithnosecondthought.The“f”wordoncecausedscandalwheninadvertentlyslippedintoaTVintervieworprogramme.The“c”wordacoupleofyearsagoagreedtobethelastwordbeyondthepale,buteventhatnowusedopenly.Oncenewspapersuseddotsbetweenthefirstandfinallettersofthesewordsbutincreasinglywegetthefullmontyasitwere.Butisthistrendgoingagainstthethirdcommandmentorisitjustasadreflectiononourpoorgraspofagenerousvocabulary?AndI’mnotsurewhereitgoesfromherebecausetheso-calledfourletterwordsusedsocasuallyhavealsolosttheirpowertoshock.Howwillonereallycurseinthefuture?RabbiSonsino,inhisbook,remindsusthattheHebrewfortheTenCommandmentsisAseretHa-dibrot“TheTenWords”whichofcoursearejustwhatwehaveaboveourArk.Tenwordsremindsusthatwordsthemselvescaneitherpraiseorcurse.ThoughthethirdcommandmentwasinfactmorethanjustaboutnegativeuseofGod’snamebutapositiveuseforwrongreasons.“YoushallnotswearfalselybythenameofGod….”Ithadtodowithtakinganoath,incourtorbusinessorprivatepromisesanddemonstratingonessinceritybysaying“mayGodstrikemedown”ifIdon’tkeepmyvoworIamnotsincereinthewordsIspeak.”HandingwitnessesincourtaBibleorotherholybookstillmakesadramaoutofthiscommandment…butIwonderforhowmuchlonger?Soweneedanewinterpretation.ThebestIcancomeupwithisinSonsino’sbook.ItisbyaChristianC.MathewMacMahon:

“WeuseGod’snameinvain…whenwelivehypocritically;whenweuseitinidlediscourse,whenweworshipwithourlipsandnotwithourhearts;whenwepraybutdonotbelieve;whenweteachbadtheology;whenwemakeapromiseanddonotkeepit;whenweuseourtonguesinawaythatdishonoursGod’sname;whenwemakerashvows;whenwegrumbleandgripeagainstGod;andfinallywhenwefalsifyapromise.”

Agoodlistworthremembering.Thoughthe12thcenturySpanishcommentatoribnEzramadeiteasiertorememberwithaoneliner:“Ifonedoesnotkeeponesword,thatistantamounttorepudiatingthenameofGod”


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