Why Did G-d Give Us The Ten Commandments Anyway?
Tech Tribe Dispatch #202
💡 Think:
This coming Thursday night, we celebrate the holiday of Shavuot. Central to the celebration is the giving of Ten Commandments, and thus the entirety of the Torah, on Mt. Sinai.
It was a sublime moment, an epoch in world history.
But there’s something about the commandments, specifically the first one that seems out of place:
“I am the L-rd, your G-d, Who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.”
Think for a moment about those words. We’re talking about the first of the Ten Commandments. We’re talking about the ultimate expression of the unity of G-d . . . why is the Creator of All, called the one “Who took you out of the land of Egypt?”
Wouldn’t it have been greater if G-d said: “I am the L-rd, your G-d, Who Created the Heavens and Earth”?
I mean, what’s a bigger deal The Exodus or Creation?
The answer lies in the very accomplishment of the Torah itself.
If we look at the Ten Commandments . . . Why are they so special?
Don’t Steal? Don’t Murder? Don’t covet?
For basically not being a schmuck, we needed the THX Dolby Digital Surround Sound experience of Sinai?
These commandments should be self-evident!
Rather the entire purpose of the Torah is that the “I” of G-d — the essence of the Holy One who is so sublime, so profound, that no name can express it — that transcendent “I” should drawn down and revealed in the most basic and mundane parts of our lives. Don’t murder! Don’t steal!
We bring down the infinite essence of G-d into the dross physicality of the world.
And that’s why it’s the G-d of the transcendent Exodus, that breaks boundaries, that we refer to. Not the G-d Who created the Heavens and the Earth. On some level, G-d as the Creator is involved with limited, finite things.
The Torah let's us take G-d in His Transcendent, nameless essence . . . and bring it down into the most basic parts of our daily lives.
🏃 DO:
🧀 Shavuot With Tech Tribe! Join us Friday, May 26th for an al fresco feast, drinks and the Ten Commandments, as we celebrate Shavuot!
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👻 What does the Torah have to say about self-driving cars? What happens when AI needs to react? Snapchat, join us for our next lunch and learn 1pm, Wednesday, June 7th.
🤖 Will The Robots Rob Me? Find out at next week’s #FirstFriday Society, Friday, June 9th!
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📚 Read:
📖 The most expensive book ever sold is also the oldest complete copy of the Tanach. Codex Sassoon acquired for ANU Museum of the Jewish People for $38.1 million.
🍰 Right before Shavuot: CheesecakeWizard.ai serves up 64,000+ variations of personalized gourmet cheesecake recipes
✍️ New, handwritten Maimonides texts discovered at Cambridge University Library.
🤖 As AI consumes search, what will be left for us humans?
🔥 Lit:
This week, light Shabbat candles in NYC at 7:52pm
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