וַֽיְהִי־שָׁ֣ם עִם־יְהוָ֗ה אַרְבָּעִ֥ים יוֹם֙ וְאַרְבָּעִ֣ים לַ֔יְלָה לֶ֚חֶם לֹ֣א אָכַ֔ל וּמַ֖יִם לֹ֣א שָׁתָ֑ה וַיִּכְתֹּ֣ב עַל־הַלֻּחֹ֗ת אֵ֚ת דִּבְרֵ֣י הַבְּרִ֔ית עֲשֶׂ֖רֶת הַדְּבָרִֽים׃
And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he ate no bread and drank no water; and he wrote down on the tablets the terms of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
וַתִּקְרְב֥וּן וַתַּֽעַמְד֖וּן תַּ֣חַת הָהָ֑ר וְהָהָ֞ר בֹּעֵ֤ר בָּאֵשׁ֙ עַד־לֵ֣ב הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם חֹ֖שֶׁךְ עָנָ֥ן וַעֲרָפֶֽל׃ וַיְדַבֵּ֧ר יְהוָ֛ה אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם מִתּ֣וֹךְ הָאֵ֑שׁ ק֤וֹל דְּבָרִים֙ אַתֶּ֣ם שֹׁמְעִ֔ים וּתְמוּנָ֛ה אֵינְכֶ֥ם רֹאִ֖ים זוּלָתִ֥י קֽוֹל׃ וַיַּגֵּ֨ד לָכֶ֜ם אֶת־בְּרִית֗וֹ אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֤ה אֶתְכֶם֙ לַעֲשׂ֔וֹת עֲשֶׂ֖רֶת הַדְּבָרִ֑ים וַֽיִּכְתְּבֵ֔ם עַל־שְׁנֵ֖י לֻח֥וֹת אֲבָנִֽים׃
You came forward and stood at the foot of the mountain. The mountain was ablaze with flames to the very skies, dark with densest clouds. The LORD spoke to you out of the fire; you heard the sound of words but perceived no shape—nothing but a voice. He declared to you the covenant that He commanded you to observe, the Ten Commandments; and He inscribed them on two tablets of stone.
(א) כבד את אביך הנה השלים כל מה שאנו חייבין בדברי הבורא בעצמו ובכבודו, וחזר לצוות אותנו בעניני הנבראים, והתחיל מן האב שהוא לתולדותיו כענין בורא משתתף ביצירה, כי השם אבינו הראשון, והמוליד אבינו האחרון...
First God came to explain all of our responsibilities to our Creator...then commanded us regarding our relationships with others. God started with the father because there is a partnership between the Celestial Father and the Earthly father...
והנראה במכתב הלוחות שהיו החמש ראשונות בלוח אחד שהם כבוד הבורא כמו שהזכרתי, והחמש השניות בלוח אחד, שיהיו חמש כנגד חמש, כענין שהזכירו בספר יצירה (א ג) בעשר ספירות בלי מה כמספר עשר אצבעות, חמש כנגד חמש, וברית יחיד מכוונת באמצע ומזה יתברר לך למה היו שתים, כי עד כבד את אביך הוא כנגד תורה שבכתב, ומכאן ואילך כנגד תורה שבעל פה ונראה שלזה רמזו רבותינו ז''ל שאמרו (תנחומא עקב י) שתי לוחות כנגד שמים וארץ וכנגד חתן וכלה וכנגד שני שושבינין וכנגד שני עולמים. וכל זה רמז אחד, והמשכיל יבין הסוד:
And that which appears [correct] concerning the writing on the tablets is that the first five were on one tablet - as they are [for] the glory of God, as I have mentioned - and the second five on one tablet; such that they would be five corresponding to five, like the matter that is mentioned in the Sefer Yetzirah 1:3 about the ten spheres (sefirot) without what (mah) being like the number of the ten fingers, five corresponding to five, and the solitary covenant correspondingly in the middle. And from this it becomes clear to you why there were two [tablets] - since until Honor your father, it corresponds to the written Torah; and from here and further, it corresponds to the oral Torah. And it appears that it is to this that our rabbis, may their memory be blessed, hinted, as they said (Tanchuma Ekev 10), "The two tablets correspond to the Heavens and the Earth, and correspond to a groom and bride and correspond to two groomsmen and correspond to the two worlds. And all of this is one hint, and the enlightened one will understand the secret.
“The Roman general (the evil) Turnus-Rufus once asked Rabbi Akiva: Why is God’s name found in the first five dibrot but not in the second five? Rabbi Akiva went to visit his villa . In one room, TurnusRufus displayed his spear. In another he showed him his special shield. In a third room was his armour and his weaponry. Then Rabbi Akiva lead him to the bathroom. He asked him: Why are none of your weaponry displayed in here? Turnus-Rufus replied that it would be inappropriate and indeed disrespectful to place his prize possessions in a place of filth. Rabbi Akiva said : It is the same with God’s name. The first five commandments are nothing but an honour for God. But the second five which contain adultery, murder, robbery, falsehood and desire for the property of others; God did not want his name included in that section.”
The traditional Jewish division is to divide the ten into TWO LISTS of five. The division into two lists allows for the commandments to be split between the TWO TABLETS of stone. “The Lord spoke these words... to your whole congregation at the mountain... He inscribed them on TWO TABLETS OF STONE” (Deut 5:19) On what basis might we divide the ten into two tablets. Intuitively we would suggest a symmetrical division and that each list of five has a different theme. In the concise definition of Nachmanides (20:12) “Of these Ten Commandments, five are for the honour of The Creator, and five are for the good of mankind.”
...[But regarding the division on two tablets:] One list is six times the length of the other! If they were to be written on two tablets, then one tablet would have to be far larger than the other, or the print much smaller! At any rate they do not match at all! The 5:5 division has a striking imbalance to it. (Although this does not invalidate this method of dividing the commandments, it requires us to work harder in justifying this way of structuring this list of ten commandments.)
QUESTIONS FOR STUDY AND THOUGHT:
Are the tablets necessarily FIVE AND FIVE? Must we believe that? Does it impact our relationship with the TEN COMMANDMENTS to think otherwise?
Are we sold on the Bein Adam L'Makom (and including the 5th Commandment) and Bein Adam L'Haveiro division, or is there another way to describe the five and five division?
Should we split the number of commandments differently? Is it FOUR / SIX split?!
How do the Ramban's and the Hizkuni's comments stand in deep contrast to each other?
We call them the Ten Commandments? Why are they referred to as the TEN UTTERANCES in the Torah? What does that say about God's perspective? Our perspective? Our free will?
Rabbi Samson Raphael HIRSCH has even stronger words to say as regards the THEMATIC unity of this division of the Ten Commandments. He explains and gives meaning to the contents of each section by describing a flow of ideas which pulses throughout these two lists, uniting them in a single idea.
He writes: “The demand for the recognition of GOD begins with a demand for the mind (Command #1&2: Belief etc.) but it is not satisfied with mere spirit; it demands the expression of this spirit in letter, in control of the word (#3 taking God’s name in vain), of activities (#4 Shabbat) and of the family (#5). The SOCIAL LAWS begin with a demand for letter, for control of deeds and words (murder, adultery, stealing, false witness), but are not satisfied with letter only, but demand control of spirit and feeling (#10 Do not covet). This expresses the important idea: All “religion”, all so called “honouring God in spirit” is worthless if the thought, the idea of God, is not strong enough to exercise its power practically in the control of our words and doings of our family and social life. Our deeds, our way of life must first prove that our “religion”, our “honouring of God” is genuine. And on the other hand all social virtue is worthless and crumbles at the first test, as long as it aims at letter, at outward correctness, is satisfied with being considered righteous and honest in the eyes of fellow men, but refuses inner loyalty, does not depend on .... that pure inner conscience that only God sees and God judges, and which has its root and ... nourishment only in quiet but constant looking up to God. All spirit must be developed into letter, into act. All letter, all acts, must have their source in spirit. That is the inspiration that hovers over these fundamental ideas of God’s Torah and fuses the two tablets; the “religious” and the “social”, into one inseparable whole.”