Yitro: The Commandment to Know the Eternal - A Short Text Study
"I, the Eternal, am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage." Exodus 20:1 - The First of the Ten Commandments
"The foundation of all foundations and the pillar of wisdom is to know that there is a Primary Being who brought into being all existence. All the beings of the heavens, the earth, and what is between them come into existence only from the truth of His Being." Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 1
"Maimonides did not say: believe that there is a Primary Being... [but rather] that the commandment is to know this with the knowledge of the mind, and this is, as Maimonides said in A Guide for the Perplexed 2:33, 'these two commandments... a person can achieve with their mind' and it isn't necessary to receive them from Moses by way of faith..." Rabbi Meir Leibush Wisser (1809–1879) also known as the Malbim.
I am reminded of a saying that is in most Israeli synagogues: "Know before whom you stand." Rabbi Shefa Gold comments on this idea as follows:
"These words are inscribed on many synagogue walls and are meant to remind the congregants of the seriousness of prayer. In the past I’ve dismissed this phrase as being too stern, too much like 'Big Brother' watching and judging. Yet now, when I chant this phrase, an entirely new meaning emerges. The verb ידע yada to “know” also means to “be intimate with” (To know someone in the Biblical sense). As I chant, I am called into intimacy with The Great Mystery who stands before me. That Mystery is disguised as this world, as my life. As I stand before that Mystery I am called into my power, in order to fully engage. The veil between me and the world-as-God drops away, and I can experience the intimate knowing that I am not a separate observer, but rather an integral part of The Mystery of existence."
Shabbat Shalom Continued here... |
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