Weighing the essence of the Asseret HaDibrot

The most celebrated section of our parasha, Yitro, is that of the Asseret HaDibrot. It begins with the well-known words: “And Elokim spoke all (kol) these words saying.”

The Mechilta of Rabbi Yishmael focuses on the word kol and suggests: “This comes to teach us that the Asseret HaDibrot were said in one utterance (b’dibbur echad), something that is impossible for a human being to say in this manner.” In his Rashi cites this statement nearly verbatim, signaling that this is the correct interpretation.

This citation is further interpreted by the Maharal (Rabbi Yehudah Loew ben Betzalel), in his supercommentary on Rashi’s Commentary, entitled Gur Aryeh: “This is to say that the entire Torah is one entity and one word — inyan echad v’dibbur echad.” He bases his interpretation on two premises:

•The entire Torah is derived (yotzim) from the Asseret HaDibrot.

•These Asseret HaDibrot were stated b’dibbur echad; therefore, the entire Torah was [initially given in] one pronouncement.

In an interpretative tour de force, the Maharal expands on this approach in his sefer, Tifferet Yisrael, chapter 34:

“Based on the aforementioned, we can state that the Asseret HaDibrot were said in one word. This is coming to teach that the entirety of the Torah is one, and it is one ordered and inseparable entity. This is the case, since all of the mitzvot derive from the Asseret HaDibrot, and that each of the Taryag (613) mitzvot are included therein. Moreover, the Asseret HaDibrot were stated in one word, which teaches us that the Torah is completely indivisible. It is, therefore, proper to say, [as well,] that it is one order (seder) [that is, an undividable object].

Closer to our own time, the Rav provides a different analysis of the Mechilta. Rather than suggesting that the word kol encompasses the entire Torah, the Rav limits its scope to the Asseret HaDibrot:

Apparently, the Mechilta and Rashi have interpreted va’yidabare Elokim ate kol hadevarim ha’aleh in the holistic sense, and translated it as follows: G-d proclaimed the whole, the entirety, or the totality, of those Commandments. They did not interpret kol as referring to each and every one of those Commandments. Kol is not interpreted as in terms of every Commandment, rather, it is interpreted as referring to the totality, the organic unity of all Ten Commandments … lol injects a new idea, a new world.

What exactly is the “new world” that is revealed in the word, kol?

As the Rav explains:

The Decalogue is not an incidental sum consisting of mutually unrelated precepts. Rather, the Decalogue constitutes a primordial entity, whose unity and integrity are inherent in the very essence of the system. In other words, there are not Ten Commandments. There is one Commandment which branches out into ten aspects. The practical consequence of this concept is clear and obvious. The Decalogue is indivisible. One either accepts all of the Commandments or none at all. … All of the precepts were pronounced and promulgated in one utterance, within an indivisible, infinitesimal period of time.

Rav Saadia Gaon, cited in Rashi’s Commentary on Sefer Shemot, takes this one step further: “All 613 mitzvot are included in the Asseret HaDibrot.”

I believe this the true essence of the Asseret HaDibrot, and the reason why they have captured our attention since time immemorial. For on the day they were given, the entire Torah was revealed to klal Yisrael, and we became Hashem’s nation forevermore.