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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had the ten commandments been read at mt. sinai and been placed in the ark to never be read or repeated, the reality is evident. the ten commandments would have become a text lost qith antiquity. instaed, what came down from mt.sinai was the rabbeinu. the teacher of the commandments. thus, thou shat teach the next generation of the commandments as if they received them at mt. sinai is the eleventh commandment. the torah is explicit that the words of god are to be taught to the childre. thus, as we all exist today with the knowledge of the ten…sometimes we have to go to 11.
this realization was based upon dennis prager in a fireside chat being asked what he would propose as an eleventh commandment. in the fireside chat, he danced around the eleventh commandment and gave his standard sarcastic line that he would have a commandment to not drive slowly in the left hand lane of the road. before then, he made a statement about the moral obligation for jews and chrisitians to promote the ten commandments.
thus, we must do a digression.
islam played a large role in preserving greek classic texts. they were translated into arabic and they played a role in preserving and making known these texts. this preservation led to greater islamic scholarship with respect to the texts.
what would have happened to the greek classic texts without this preservation?
likewise, the provision of the ten commandments comes with the same construct. if the ten commandments has been delivered at mt. sinai and were simply placed in the ark of the covenant without any further action, would the ten commandments be relevant today?
when the ten commandments came down from mt. sinai, they did not come down alone. it took moses to carry them down and deliver the commandments to the people. thus, if the sun would have behind moses when he descended, there would have been a sillouette of two tablets, each with five commandments, and the one of a man. eleven. the shadow being a man who would deliver the ten commandments to the people and teach them of the commandments.
with the torah, there is the express need to transmit god’s words upon children.
thus, if not the eleventh commandment to teach and pass on the ten commandments to the next generation?
thus, while some individuals may be hesistant to believe in this assertion of the eleventh commandments, there is proof that it exists. the proof being is that the world, despite thousands of years since the deliverance of the commandments, are aware of them. generation after generation have committed to the commandments that they both did and did not know they had. portions such as the v havta include the mandate
dennis prager, in one of his fireside chats, was asked the question as to what his choice would be for an eleventh commandment. he danced on the subject and gave his comical response of individual not driving too slowly on the freeway. his tiptoeing, however made something evident. there is an eleventh commandment. there always was.
what was this eleventh commandment?
The Ten Commandments Project 