And you shall teach them to your sons to speak with them
deuteronomy 11:19
there is an eleventh commandment. there always was and there always will be and there is proof.
a dennis prager’s fireside chat, #223, was an epiphany. ordinarily, i make it a point to avoid listening to commentators on a regular basis in order to be able to offer creative and fresh ideas. once in awhile, i enjoy watching mr. prager speak in a relaxed setting.
in the middle of the chat, he addressed a viewer question. the classic “what would be your choice for an eleventh commandment?” was asked. mr. prager did a wind-up to his answer. he mentioned the moral obligation that jews and christians to promote the ten commandments. in the end, mr. prager gave his stock “comic” answer; there should be a commandment to “not drive slowly in the left hand lane of a highway.”
mr. prager did not need to come up with an eleventh commandment. there is one. the fact that we today know of the commandments and are promulgating them to the next generation is the clue as to what is the eleventh commandment.
the ten commandments did not come down from mt. sinai all by themselves. a great teacher, a rabbeinu, moses, delivered them.
without that great teacher, the commandment tables could have been placed in the ark of the covenant to never be heard of again. they could have remained in antiquity with no promotion. a lost decree.
the ten commandments, however, had the teacher who passed the words onto a generation. further, this tradition has continued to this day. thus, the eleventh commandment is “thou shalt teach the ten commandments to the next generation as if they had been present at mt. sinai.”
this task is both simple and challenge. the simplicity is that we have the words that were given from mt. sinai. the challenge is to teach them in a meaningful way which bridges their initial receipt to their present day applications.
thus, our presence here today, with the knowledge of the commandments, and the sense of the necessity of teaching the commandments to the next generation is proof of this eleventh commandment. without it, they is no guarantee that the message of the ten will remain eternal to humanity.
be well!!
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