Devar/5768/Yitro
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< Devar | 5768
עברית
English
I am the LORD thy God (Ex 20:2)
With these simple words, God begins to command the Children of Israel -- for the first time as Jews rather than Gentiles, since they had gone through the conversion process. (see Laws of Forbidden Relationships 13:1)
He did not start like this in order to introduce Himself, since they already knew "Who He was". Rather, in order to implant in them the foundation of the true religion, as the Rambam states: The foundation of foundations, and pillar of wisdom, is to know that there is a first Being… This Being -- he is the God of the universe, Master of all the land… and knowledge of this matter is a positive commandment, as the verse states, "I am the LORD thy God". (Laws of the Foundations of the Torah 1:1-4)
Just as He did not permit them to wander aimlessly in the desert -- so too he did not permit their minds to wander aimlessly after falseness and to think to themselves there is neither justice nor Judge. For that purpose did He begin with this announcement: "I am the LORD…" and there is none beside Me. "I am the LORD…" and you shall worship Me, and safeguard and perform My commandments.
Note that the Rambam wrote, "knowledge of this matter is a positive commandment". Knowledge, not supposition or considering, but knowledge -- that is, knowing that He, may He be blessed, exists -- exactly as one knows of himself that he exists. The path to achieving this knowledge is long, but the best approach in my opinion is to start learning "Mishne Torah" from the beginning, and to repetitively learn it, and to think about what he writes there.
The normal printed edition -- that is, the "Vilna" from which most people learn -- is very inaccurate and it is forbidden to learn practical halachah from it -- since one may come to do the opposite of the halachah, God forbid, in many cases. One who is zealous for God's words and His Torah, will prefer to learn from the online edition at Mechon-Mamre, which is carefully checked against the majority of ancient manuscripts. One who prefers to learn from a book can acquire the Mishne Torah in one volume, which matche s the text of R' QaafiH of blessed memory, whose edition is no longer easily available.
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