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What exactly is the First Commandment? Source Sheet by Rafael Kaiserblueth More info ╚

שמות כ׳:ב׳ Exodus 20:2 (ב) ָאֽנ ֹ ִ֖כ ֙י יְהָ֣וה ֱא ֶ֑֔הי ֲא ֶ֧שׁר הוֹ ֵצא ִ֛תי I am the Lord your God, who have (2) ֵמ ֶ֥א ֶרץ ִמ ְצַ֖ריִם ִמ ֵ֣בּ֥ית ֲע ָב ִ ֑דֽים׃ brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

Alternative translations: I the Lord, am your God I, am the Lord your God

Crescas (Spanish Jewish Philosopher 1340-1410): He who includes the list of positive precepts belief in the existence of God falls into a common error. The very character of the term mitzvah indicates by definition, that it can only apply to matters governed by free will and choice. But faith in the existence of God is one of those things which are not governed by free will and choice. Consequently, the term mitzvah cannot apply to it.

It is neither a negative or positive commandment. It is a declarative, or preamble.

Abravanel: The phrase, "I am the Lord your God..." constitutes no commandment, either dogmatic or practical, but is merely a preface to the subsequent commandments and injunctions, a declaration making known to the Children of Israel, Who was addressing them...

ספר המצוות לרמב"ם, מצוות עשה Sefer HaMitzvot LaRambam, Mitzvot א׳:א׳ Ase 1:1 (א) היא הצווי אשר צונו בהאמנת The first mitzvah is that He commanded האלהות, והוא שנאמין שיש שם עלה us to believe in the Deity, that is, the we believe that there is a cause and motive וסבה הוא פועל לכל הנמצאים, והוא force behind all existing things. This אמרו אנכי ה' אלהיך. idea is expressed in the statement, "I am the Lord your God."

משנה תורה, מצוות עשה א׳ Mishneh Torah, Positive Mitzvot 1

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() ִמ ְצ ָוה ִראשׁוֹנָה ִמ ִמּ ְצווֹת ֲע ֵשׂה, ֵלי ַדע The first commandment of positive ֶשׁיֵּשׁ ָשׁם ֱאל ַוֹהּ, ֶשׁנֶּ ֱא ָמר: "אָנ ֹ ִכי ה' commandments is to know that there is a God, as it is said, "I am the LORD your ֱא ֶהי" (שמות כ ב, דברים ה ו). .(God" (Exodus 20:2, Deuteronomy 5:6

What is the main difference between these two sources?

משנה תורה, הלכות יסודי התורה Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the א׳:ו׳ Torah 1:6 (ו) ִוי ִד ַיעת ָדּ ָבר זֶה ִמ ְצ ַות ֲע ֵשׂה ֶשׁנֶּ ֱא ַמר It constitutes the most fundamental of (6) fundamentals and pillar of all sciences to (שמות כ-ב) "אָנ ֹ ִכי ה' ֱא ֶהי". ְו ָכל know that there is a first cause bringing ַה ַמּ ֲע ֶלה ַעל ַדּ ְעתּוֹ ֶשׁיֵּשׁ ָשׁם ֱאל ַוֹהּ אַ ֵחר in to existence all existing things, and חוּץ ִמזֶּה. עוֹ ֵבר ְבּא ַתּ ֲע ֶשׂה ֶשׁנֶּ ֱא ַמר that all that exists on heaven and earth (שמות כ-ג) "א יִ ְהיֶה ְל ֱא ִהים ֲא ֵח ִרים and between them, exists only through the truth of God's existence... ַעל ָפּנָי". ְוכוֹ ֵפר ָבּ ִע ָקּר ֶשׁזֶּהוּ ָה ִע ָקּר The knowledge of this matter is a ַה ָגּדוֹל ֶשׁ ַהכּל ָתּלוּי בּוֹ: positive commandment, as it says, "I am the Lord your God" (Ex. 20:2). And anyone who brings upon his mind that there may be another god beside Him violates a negative commandment, as it says, "You shall not have other gods before Me" (Ex. 20:3). And this [thought] is complete heresy. For this [knowledge of God] is the greatest principle upon which everything else depends.

מכות כ״ג ב Makkot 23b דרש רבי שמלאי שש מאות ושלש Rabbi Simlai taught: There were 613 § עשרה מצות נאמרו לו למשה שלש ,mitzvot stated to Moses in the Torah consisting of 365 prohibitions מאות וששים וחמש לאוין כמנין ימות corresponding to the number of days החמה ומאתים וארבעים ושמונה עשה in the solar year, and 248 positive כנגד איבריו של אדם אמר רב המנונא mitzvot corresponding to the number of a person’s limbs. Rav Hamnuna said: מאי קרא (דברים לג, ד) תורה צוה לנו What is the verse that alludes to this? It משה מורשה תורה בגימטריא שית מאה is written: “Moses commanded to us וחד סרי הוי אנכי ולא יהיה לך מפי the Torah, an inheritance of the הגבורה שמענום congregation of Jacob” (Deuteronomy 33:4). The word Torah, in terms of its numerical value [gimatriyya], is 611, the number of mitzvot that were received and taught by Moses our teacher. In addition, there are two mitzvot: “I am the Lord your God” and: “You shall have no other gods” (Exodus 20:2, 3),

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the first two of the Ten Commandments, that we heard from the mouth of the Almighty, for a total of 613.

One of the earliest attempts to come up with the number 613.

דברים ל״ג:ד׳ Deuteronomy 33:4 (ד) תּ ָ֥וֹרה ִצ ָוּה־ ָ֖לנוּ מ ֹ ֶ֑שׁה מ ָוֹר ָ֖שׁה ְק ִה ַ֥לּת When Moses charged us with the (4) יַ ֲע ֽק ֹב׃ Teaching as the heritage of the congregation of Jacob.

Rambam - Guide to the Perplexed: They mean that these words (the first 2 commandments) reached them just as they reached Moses our Teacher. But it was not Moses who transmitted it to them. For these two principles, I mean the existence and unity of God, are knowable by human speculation alone. Now with regard to everything that can be known by demonstration, the status of the prophet and that of everyone else is equal...the Torah states: "Unto you it was shown..."

Malbim: In his Code, Rambam deliberately changed the wording from "believe" to "know". He wished to stress the intellectual basis of the precept. This as he pointed out in the Guide is based on the rabbinic dictum that we heard the first two commandments of the Decalogue directly from God, implying purely intellectual apprehension. In other words, the whole of Judaism apart from these two precepts is based on faith, faith in Moses as the messenger of God; faith that all he commanded constituted the authentic message of God. But these two commandments - the existence and oneness of the Divinity is attained by the direct exercise of men's intellectual faculties. The Lord implanted these concepts in him from Birth. They are innate ideas. A man has only to look into his own soul to discover them just as he develops all the rest of his faculties. There was no need to receive them from Moses as an act of faith. They were therefore imparted directly by God who fashioned man's soul. The precept consists of making every effort to clarify our knowledge of this, in accordance with the text (Job 12:9): Who cannot fail to discover that the hand of the Lord is behind all this".

Attempting to harmonise Rambam's view and Crescas' objection.

דברים ד׳:ל״ט Deuteronomy 4:39 (לט) ְויָ ַד ְע ָ֣תּ ַה ֗יּוֹם ַו ֲה ֵשׁב ֹ ָ֮ת ֶאל־ ְל ָב ֶב ֒ ִ֤כּי Know therefore this day and keep in (39) יְה ָו ֙ה ֣הוּא ָהֽ ֱא ֔ ִהים ַבּ ָשּׁ ַ֣מיִם ִמ ֔ ַמּ ַעל mind that the LORD alone is God in heaven above and on earth below; there ְו ַעל ָ־ה ָ֖א ֶרץ ִמ ָ֑תּ ַחת ֵ֖אין ֽעוֹד׃ .is no other

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Formulation of a Principle

אבן עזרא על שמות כ׳:א׳:ג׳ Ibn Ezra on Exodus 20:1:3 שאלני רבי יהודה הלוי מנוחתו כבוד Rabbi Yehuda HaLevi, may His למה הזכיר אנכי ה' אלהיך אשר memory be an honor, asked me why it mentioned, "I am the Lord, your God, הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים ולא אמר ",that took you out of the land of Egypt שעשיתי שמים וארץ. ואני עשיתיך. and it did not state, "that made the וזאת היתה תשובתי אליו. דעי כי אין ".heavens and the earth and I made you And this was my answer to him: Know מעלות בני אדם שוות באמונתם בלבם. that the levels of people’s faith, in which שהם מאמינים בשם הנכבד כי הרבים they believe in the glorious God in their מאמינים להשמעות אזנים שיאמר להם hearts, is not equal. As the masses אדוניהם ככה. ולמעלה מהם שראו זה believe that which was heard by their ears, that their Master told them this. כתוב בדברי התורה שנתן השם למשה. And above them are those that saw it ואם יבא אפיקורוס לערער כי אין written in the words of the Torah that אלהים ישימו ידם לפיהם כי לא ידעו God gave to Moshe. And if a heretic להשיב ואשר נשאו לבו ללמוד חכמות ,comes to challenge that there is no God they will place their hands on their שהם כמו מעלות לעלות בהם אל מקום mouths, as they will not know [what] to חפצו יכיר מעשה השם במתכונת answer. And the one whose heart has ובצמחים ובחיות ובגוף האדם בעצמו – elevated him to learn the sciences שידע מעשה כל אבר ואבר כפי which are like stairs to rise up upon to the place of his desire – will recognize התולדות. ולמה הי' על זאת המתכונת. the work of God in the patterns and the ויגבה לבו אחרי כן לדעת דברי הגלגלים plants and the animals, and in his own שהם מעשי השם בעולם האמצעי שהוא human body - that he will know the עומד. וידע זמן מתי תקדר השמש או function of each limb, according to its development, and why it is [made] in הלבנה וכמה יקדר השמש ממנה. וגם such a pattern. And his heart will elevate ידע הלבנה למה נקדרה ומי גדם לה. him afterwards to know the matters of וכל אלה ידע בראיות גמורות שאין בהם the planets, that they are the works of God in the intermediate world – that he ספק. ומדרכי השם ידע המשכיל את should stand and know the time of when השם. וככה אמר משה הודיעני נא את the sun should appear or the moon and דרכיך ואדעך. והנה השם הנכבד הזכיר how much [of that time] the sun will בדבור הא' אנכי ה' אלהיך וזה לא יוכל appear. And he will also know why the moon appears and Who caused it [to do להבין רק מי שהוא חכם מופלא. כי כבר so]. And all of this, he will know with פרשתי בפ' ואלה שמות כי זה השם clear proofs that have no doubt. And לבדו הוא העומד בלא שנוי ואין זולתו from [these] ways of God, the שוכן עד. ולא כמוהו יושב קדם סלה enlightened one will know God. And so did Moshe say (Exodus 33:13), “show ומעמיד העולם העליון בכחו. והעולם ”.me Your ways and I will know You האמצעי בכח השם. ומלאכיו הקדושים And behold the glorious God mentioned שהם בעולם העליון. וזה העולם השפל in the first of the statements (of the Ten שאנו בו מעמדו בכח השם ובכח שני Commandments), “I am the Lord, your God” – and this can only be understood

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העולמים העליונים והנה יספיק למשכיל .by someone who is an outstanding sage בכל גוי דבור אנכי ה'. כי עשיית שמים As I have already explained in Parshat Veeleh HaShemot (Ibn Ezra on Exodus וארץ היום קרוב מחמשת אלפי שנה. that this God is alone and He exists (3:15 וישראל לבדם מודים בזה. וחכמי without change and there is none besides האומות אינם מכחישים כי השם הוא Him who is eternal and there is none like לבדו עשה שמים וארץ. רק הם אומרים Him that 'dwells from the beginning always.' And He supports the higher כי השם הוא עושה תדיר בלי ראשית world with His power and the ואחרית. והנה השם עשה אותות intermediary world with the power of ומופתים במצרים עד שהוציאם משם God, and His holy angels that are in the להיות להם לאלהים. וככה אמר משה או higher world. And this lowly world that we are in, He supports with the power of הנסה אלהים לבוא לקחת לו גוי והטעם God and with the power of the two כי השם עשה לישראל מה שלא עשה higher worlds. And behold, the לכל גוי. כי השם ברא העולם האמצעי. ”,statement, “I am the Lord, your God והוא מושל על העולם השפל כפי מה suffices for the enlightened one in every nation. As [while] only Israel concedes שיש במערכת מזל כל עם מטוב או רע to the making of the heavens and the כן יקרנו כי כן חלק להם השם. והנה earth which today is close to five היתה במערכת ישראל כפי כוכבי מזלם thousand years ago, the sages of the להיות עוד עבדים. והשם בכחו למען nations of the world do not deny that God alone made the heavens and the אהבת האבות חדש אותות בעולם השפל earth; just that they say that God always שלא היה בממשלת העולם האמצעי. makes [them] – without a beginning and והוציא ישראל מרשות המזלות להיותם an end. And behold, God made signs and wonders for Israel in Egypt until He לו לעם נחלה. ובעבור זה אמרו קדמוננו brought them out of there, ‘to be for אין מזל לישראל. ועוד אבאר זה בדרך them a God.’ And so did Moshe say משלי' בפ' כי תשא. והנה בעבור Deuteronomy 4:34), “Or did God) האותות שעשה השם במצרים. אמר venture to come and take for Himself a nation.” And the explanation is that God משה אתה הראת לדעת. שהכל ראו זה did to Israel that which He did not do to חכמים ושאינן חכמים גדולים וקטנים. all nations, since God created the גם הוסיף עוד בדבר מעמד הר סיני intermediate world that it govern the ששמעו קול השם. ע''כ אחריו מן lowly world according to the [astrological] system [over] everything – השמים השמיעך את קולו ליסרך. ואמר whether it is from the good or the bad, so באחרונה כי הדעת הגמורה שישיב will it happen, since so did God האדם אל לבו עד שיתברר לו בראיות apportion it to the [constellations]. And כי השם הוא לבדו. על כן אמר וידעת – behold it was in the system for Israel according to the stars of their היום והשבות אל לבבך. ואמר דוד constellation – to still be slaves. And ואתה שלמה בני דע את אלהי אביך God with His power – because of His ועבדהו. והדעת הוא בלב לא בהודעת love for the forefathers – introduced הפה. והנה הזכיר למשכיל אנכי ה' signs in the lowly world that were not in the power of the intermediate world, and והוסיף אשר הוצאתיך. שיבין המשכיל He took Israel out from the control of the ושאינו משכיל. ואמר אלהיך כי אתה constellations, so that they be a people חייב בעבור שהוצאתיך מבית עבדים that is an inheritance for Him. And because of this, our ancestors said להיות לי לעבד שתעבדני. ותהיה לי

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לעם. ואני אהיה לך לאלהים. ומשה Shabbat 156a), “There is no) פירש זה בפ' כי ישאלך בנך. כי טעם constellation (mazal) for Israel.” And I will also elucidate this in a metaphoric השאלה למה אנו חייבים לעשות מצות fashion in Parsht Ki Tissa (Ibn Ezra on השם יותר מכל האדם. והלא בורא אחד Exodus 33:21). And behold, because of לכלנו. והנה הזכיר שלש תשובות. הא' the signs that God did in Egypt, Moshe עבדים היינו לפרעה. והוא עשה לנו זאת said (Deuteronomy 4:35), “You have been shown, to know” – that all saw this: הטובה הגדולה ע''כ אנו חייבן לשמור ,the sages and those that are not sages כל מה שיצונו אפילו לא היינו יודעים the adults and the children. And he also טעם מצותיו. והב' כי אלה המצות אינם added about the matter of the stand at לצרכו כי אם לטוב לנו כל הימים Mount Sinai, that they heard the voice of God. Hence afterwards, he said לחיותינו. והשלישית וצדקה תהיה לנו. Deuteronomy 4:36), “From the) שנהיה צדיקים לנחול העה''ב. ואנשי Heavens, He made you hear His voice to המחקר מצאו כל דברי הגופות שהם י'. instruct you.” And he said at the end [of והם ראשים כללים אין למעלה מהם. this], that there is complete knowledge that a person can place into his heart הראשון הוא עצם כל דבר והוא עומד. until it is clarified in his heart that God is והט' דברים כולם מקרים וכולם נסמכים alone. Therefore, he said (Deuteronomy על הראשון ונלוים אליו וממנו יצאו. כי And you will know today and“ ,(4:39 הוא כמדות האחד בחשבון עשרה. כי place it upon your heart.” And David said (II Chronicles 28:9), "And you ממנו יצא כל חשבון וכל חשבון ימצא Shlomo, my son, know the God of your בו. כי הוא היסוד. והנה זה הדבור הא' father and serve him [with a complete שאמר השם הנכבד כולל כל מצות הלב heart]" - and knowledge is in the heart and not with the admission of the mouth. והלשון והמעשה. כי מי שאינו מאמין And behold it mentioned for the בלבו בשם אין עליו מצוה. וחייב אדם enlightened one, "I am the Lord"; and it להזכירו בכל רגע לכבודו. כי כל מה added, "that took you out," so that the שיעשה לא יעשנו כי אם בעבור כבודו. enlightened and the unenlightened one would [both] understand. And it said, ולא ימנע עצמו ממצות לא תעשה רק your God," since you are obligated" בעבור כבוד השם לבדו. כאדם נותן because He took you out of a house of צדקה לעני לא יתננו בעבור כבוד הגבאי bondage 'to be a servant to Me, that you ולא בעבור שישבחוהו בני אדם. כי אז should serve Me and that you should be a people for Me, and I will be for you a תהיה מעלת האדם גבוהה בעיניו God.' And Moshe explained this in the ממעלת כבוד השם שנתן לו הון. ועדף section, "And when your son will ask ממונו מה שיוכל לתת לקבל שכר you" (Deuteronomy 6:20), since the מהשם וככה העושה עבירה בסתר explanation of the question is, "Why are we obligated to do the commandments בעבור שלא יודע למלך. או יראוהו בני of God more than every man? And is אדם ויקל בעיניהם. והחושב זה הוא there not one Creator to all of us?" And משוגע כי כן כתוב אם יוצר עין הלא behold, he mentioned three answers.The יביט. והנה השם רואה במסתרים מה ’first is that ‘we were slaves to Pharaoh and He did us this great good; therefore שלא יוכלו בני אדם לראות בגלוי. כי we are obligated to keep all of what He השם יודע מחשבותיו וסודו. והנה פחד commanded us, even if we don’t know מהמלך שימות מחר שלא יענישהו. ולא .the explanation of His commandments And the second is because these יפחד ממלך האמת שנפשו בידו בעולם

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הזה ובעולם הבא. והגאון רב סעדיה commandments are not for His need, but חבר אזהרות וכלל כל המצות באלה rather ‘to benefit us all of the days and to keep us alive.’ And the third is that we עשרת הדברים ומצא השם הנכבד should be righteous [so as] to inherit the בחמשה דברים הראשונים. וכבר world to come. And the men of research פירשתי כי הדבור הא' הוא היסוד ועליו have found that all physical things are כל בניני המצות. ואחריו כתוב לא יהיה ten, and these are the main categories and there is none above them. The first לך. ופשע מי שאינו מאמין בשם גדול one is the essence of everything and it is מפשע עובד ע''ז. כי יש רבים שהם permanent, and the [other] nine things מאמינים בשם והם מזבחים ומקטרים are all contingent, and they all rely upon לע''ז כמו המקטרים למלכת השמים the first and accompany it and come from it. For it is like measurement of one שהם חושבים כי ייטיבו להם כאשר in the calculation of ten, since all of the אמרו ומאז חדלנו לקטר למלכת השמים calculation comes from it and every חסרנו כל. וכתיב את ה' היו יראים ואת calculation is found in it, as it is the אלהיהם היו עובדים וככה נעמן foundation. And behold, this first statement (of the ‘Ten Commandments’) בהשתחויתי בית רמון. והנה אלה מודים that the glorious God said includes all of בשם רק משתפים עמו אחר. ע''כ בדבור the commandments of the heart and the זה כתוב השם הנכבד. ובדבור השלישי tongue and the deed, as one who does גם הוא כתוב. כי פשע הנשבע לשקר not believe in God in his heart has no commandment upon him. And a person פחות מע''ז. רק הוא בוזה השם בגלוי. is obligated to remember Him at every אולי עשה זה בעבור כעם או צורך כי moment to honor Him; since all that he בלבו מאמין בשם ואינו משתף אחר עמו does, he should only do for the sake of His honor. And he [likewise] should only ובדבור הרביעי כתוב השם ששבת ביום [prevent himself from [transgressing השביעי. והנה העושה מלאכה בשבת negative commandments for the sake of הוא מכחיש מעשה בראשית. וזה הפשע the honor of God alone. As a man who פחות מאשר ישא את שמו לשוא. gives charity to a poor person should not give it for the honor of the sexton and ובדבור החמישי כתוב השם כי האבות – not in order that people will praise him משתפים עמו ביצירתו. ואם לא יכבדם as then, the level of man will be higher כאילו אינו מכבד השם. וחמשה דברים in his eyes than the level of the honor of הנותרים הם כנגד האדם. והראשון הוא God, who gave him assets – and he should prefer to [use] his money to give הקשה שהוא להפריד הנשמה מעל הגוף .what he can to receive reward from God ואשר אחריו אינם בגוף. ואשר אחריו And so [too], one who does a sin in לא תגנוב בממון. ואח''כ בלשון. ואח''כ secret so that it will not be made known חמוד בלב: to the king or that people [not] see him and he become light in their eyes. And someone who thinks this is crazy, since so is it written (Psalms 94:9), “if he creates the eye, does he not observe.” And behold, God sees in secret places that which people are not able to see in the open, since God knows his thoughts and his secret. And behold, he was afraid of the king that will die tomorrow, that he should not punish him, and was not

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afraid of the true King, in whose hand is his soul - in this world and in the world to come. And Rav Saadia Gaon authored “The Commandments (Azharot)” and categorized all of the commandments in these ten statements (‘Ten Commandments’) and found the glorious Name of God in the first five statements. And I have already explained that the first statement is the foundation, and all of the structures of the commandments [lay] upon it. And after it is written, “There shall not be.” And the sin of one who does not believe in the great God is greater than the sin of one who worships idolatry. As there are many that believe in God and they [nonetheless] sacrifice and burn incense to idolatry, like the ones that burn incense to the ‘queen of the Heavens’; as they think that it will cause good to be done to them, like they said (Jeremiah 44:18), “And since we have stopped burning incense to the queen of the Heavens, we have been lacking everything”; and it is written (II Kings 17:33), “The Lord they feared, but their gods they would worship; and so [too] Na’aman (II Kings 5:18), “in my bowing down in Beit Rimon.”And behold, these admitted [the existence of] God, however they combined another with Him. Therefore the Name of the glorious God is written in this statement. And in the third statement, It is also written, as the sin of swearing falsely is less than idolatry. He just disgraces the Name of God openly – perhaps he did this because of anger or a need, as in his heart, he believed in God and he does not combine another with Him. And in the fourth statement, the Name of God is written, as He rested on the seventh day. And behold, one who does work on Shabbat is denying the story of Creation. And this sin is less than the one who takes up His name in vain. And in the fifth statement, the Name of God is written, since parents partner with Him in [a person’s] creation. And if he does not honor them, it is as if he does not honor God. And the remaining five

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statements correspond to man – the first is the most difficult, as it is to separate the soul from on top of the body. And that which is after it is not in the body, and that which is after that – not to steal – is with money; and afterwards, it is with the tongue; and afterwards coveting is in the heart.

Judah Halevi's Answer (Kuzari): All other medieval authors, in presenting Judaism pass from the general to the particular. They dwell first on the justification of faith in God and consider hereby to have proved the justification of religion as a contact [sic] with God and as a belief in historical revelation. But Halevi does not start with natural phenomena and from there proceed to the Creator. The fact of revelation, recognised in ancient times and in their own days is the proof of the belief in God; whereas the attribution of organic wonders to a cosmic intelligence is firstly less convincing and acceptable, and secondly only leads to a God of metaphysics, and not to a God of religion who is concerned for the individual and expects a definite reaction from him.

God of Abraham: the soul yearns

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