21
votes
Accepted
Can the 10 commandments be violated to save a life?
A general rule is stated in the Talmud (Ketubot 19a):
דאמר מר אין לך דבר שעומד בפני פיקוח נפש אלא עבודת כוכבים וגלוי עריות ושפיכות דמים בלבד
for a Master said: 'There is nothing that comes before the ...
- 49.9k
14
votes
Can the 10 commandments be violated to save a life?
I. Among the 10 commandments there are 3 that are not overridden by pikuach nefesh (i.e. יהרג ואל יעבור):
Idolatry
Murder
Forbidden sexual relations
II. Additionally, all other commandments cannot ...
- 23k
12
votes
Is the first of the 10 Commandments considered a mitzvah?
Rambam in Yesodei HaTorah ch. 1 explicitly uses this as the source for the commandment to know of Hashem’s existence.
יְסוֹד הַיְסוֹדוֹת וְעַמּוּד הַחָכְמוֹת לֵידַע שֶׁיֵּשׁ שָׁם מָצוּי רִאשׁוֹן. ...
- 34.7k
10
votes
Accepted
Is killing a gentile also forbidden with the לאו of לא תרצח?
Raavan (12th cent.) writes that the prohibition against murder includes killing non Jews:
ראב"ן בבא קמא
וכ"ש שאסור לגנוב לגוי דלא תגנוב דומיא דלא תרצח ולא תנאף דהוי בין לישראל בין לגוי.
...
- 35.9k
10
votes
Maimonides mentioning Esav
In the 8th ikkar in the Rambam's introduction to Perek Chelek, he writes:
ואין הפרש בין "וּבְנֵי חָם כּוּשׁ וּמִצְרַיִם וּפוּט וּכְנָעַן"
(בראשית י ו), "וְשֵׁם אִשְׁתּוֹ מְהֵיטַבְאֵל ...
- 14.6k
9
votes
Accepted
Which groups of people read the 10 Commandments using the "lower" trope?
It would seem that original Minhag Ashkenaz was to use ta'am elyon only on Shavu'ot, but on shabbat parashat yitro and shabbat parashat va'etchanan to use ta'am tachton. This can be seen in the ...
- 45.2k
9
votes
Accepted
Does 'thou shalt not steal' refer to general theft or specifically to kidnapping?
"Don't steal" includes don't steal someone's soda.
The "don't steal" commandment appears in both Exodus and Leviticus. Leviticus refers to property, as the next phrase is -- and don't lie or deny ...
- 135k
7
votes
Punishment for breaking the 10 commandments
The Mishna arranges laws topically, and so the ten commandments aren't discussed together.
I am the Lord your God: No punishment is discussed regarding this verse to my knowledge
Idol worship: ...
- 25.3k
7
votes
Source for the Aseres Hadibros being set up in pairs?
Rashi (Song 4:5) explains how each commandment on one tablet corresponds to one on the next:
שני שדיך על שם הלוחות תאומי צביה שהם מכוונות במדה אחת וחמשה דברות על זו וחמשה על זו מכוונין דבור כנגד ...
- 25.3k
6
votes
Accepted
What type of theft does Lo Signov refer to?
Rashi and Ramban hold (citing Rabbi Yoshiyah in Sanhedrin 86a) that "lo tignov" in Shemot 20:13 means that one should not kidnap another person. Rashi's reasoning is that those who break the ...
- 19k
6
votes
Accepted
Is the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) legislation for all the world?
Non-Jews are held responsible by seven laws, known as the Seven Laws of Noah. All of those laws are contained within the Decalogue, with exception to the third law1, the seventh law2, and to an extent,...
- 19k
6
votes
Accepted
What does "נגללים" mean about the tablets?
So there are a few sources that point to the fact that one of the miracles of the luchos were that they could be rolled up (as per your assumption).
Firstly, there is an intriguing פסוק in שיר השירים ...
- 33.9k
5
votes
Origin, need, and purpose of "Upper" trope for reading 10 Commandments
This short article (Hebrew) by Prof Yosef Ofer explains that the two sets of trope are essentially the products of two different mesorot:
The set known as ta'am tachton, which breaks the Decalogue ...
- 45.2k
5
votes
What type of theft does Lo Signov refer to?
Aside from the Seporno mentioned by Ezra, there a few other rishonim who also include monetary theft in Lo Signov.
R. Saadia Gaon writes:
לא תגנב לא תסרק
R. Avraham Ben Harambam writes:
פשטיה ...
- 49.9k
5
votes
Changing name of 10 Hadvarim to 10 Hadibrot
Meir Gruber, in Beit Mikra 27:1 (pages 16-21) suggests that this change during Tannaic period in order to combat the growing Christian understanding (see Mark 10:19, which refers to them as the ...
- 21.2k
5
votes
Accepted
You shall not have any other gods
R' Samson Raphael Hirsch's translation1 of this verse is similar to the convention you cite:
Thou shalt have no other God before My Presence.
However, R' Hirsch's commentary on this verse does ...
- 48.4k
5
votes
Correct translation of "לא תרצח" - Thou shalt not kill or murder?
See "Chizkuni" (Shemos 20:13)
ולשון זה של "רציחה" לא שייך רק במיתה שלא כדין, אבל לשון מיתה ולשון הריגה, בין בדין בין שלא כדין
Chizkuni differentiates between הריגה ("killing") and רציחה ("murder"). ...
- 5,172
5
votes
Is the first of the 10 Commandments considered a mitzvah?
Sefer Hachinuch counts this as Mitzvah 25.
In short, the Mitzvah is belief in G-d.
מצות האמנה במציאות השם - להאמין שיש לעולם אלה אחד, שהמציא כל הנמצא
ומכחו וחפצו היה כל מה שהוא ושהיה ושיהיה לעדי ...
- 6,883
5
votes
Accepted
Who else says the Jews violated the Ten Commandments during the first Temple
Someone pointed out to me the source is Eicha Rabbah 1:1:
אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה. שָׁאֲלוּ אֶת בֶּן עַזַּאי אָמְרוּ לוֹ רַבֵּנוּ דְּרשׁ לָנוּ דָּבָר אֶחָד מִמְגִלַּת קִינוֹת, אָמַר לָהֶם לֹא גָּלוּ ...
- 20k
5
votes
Accepted
The Luchos Connected or separate
When Moshe decended Har Sinai, the luchot were separated by two hand-breadths of space, according to Talmud Yerushalmi, Taanit 4:5:2
Rebbi Samuel bar Naḥman in the name of Rebbi Jonathan: The tablets
...
- 9,078
4
votes
Does G-d equate women to objects?
You can look at laws and therefore tell what problems exist. A sign in a subway car says do not lean on doors? Because people probably do. Does the sign in the subway car say do not shave yourself ...
- 135k
4
votes
Why does Rambam learn the prohibition for adultery from Parashat Acharei Mot and not Yitro?
In my experience Rambam will always cite the verse that expresses the idea most clearly as the primary source. That is not to say that the yisro commandment isnt referring to adultery and doesnt count ...
- 3,405
3
votes
Changing name of 10 Hadvarim to 10 Hadibrot
It's not only a difference in masculine and feminine forms of the same word. In the bible the term used is דברים, from דבר (Davar), loosely translated as a "the items that were spoken about". In ...
- 606
3
votes
Changing name of 10 Hadvarim to 10 Hadibrot
I'm not sure what the earliest source might be, but it was already called Aseres Hadibros, in Berachot 5a:
וא"ר לוי בר חמא אמר ר' שמעון בן לקיש מאי דכתיב ואתנה לך את לוחות האבן
והתורה והמצוה אשר ...
- 3,879
3
votes
Source for the Aseres Hadibros being set up in pairs?
Ramban (Exodus 20:13) mentions that the Ten Commandments are split between the two tablets, with the first five paralleling the latter five, but he does not discuss the specific links.
והנראה במכתב ...
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3
votes
Accepted
613 mitzvos in the aseres hadibbros
Azharot – אזהרות are liturgical poetical compositions dealing with the 613 precepts (see Jewish Encyclopedia. There are many authors of these compositions.
According to p127 of An Introduction to ...
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3
votes
Different words for "desire"
לא תתאוה refers simply to having a desire.
לא תחמד refers to not only desiring someone's stuff but acting on that desire to actually get it.
If one takes it from him forcefully, he's violated the ...
- 34.7k
3
votes
Correct translation of "לא תרצח" - Thou shalt not kill or murder?
Neither "do not kill" nor "do not murder" is really an accurate translation of "לא תרצח" (at least according to common understandings of those English words). There are certainly times when it's ...
- 25k
3
votes
What is the significance of the title of Parshat Yitro?
I think it's simply that Yisro is the first interesting word in the text. (As Al Berko wrote in his comment.)
But we shouldn't underestimate how much his contribution added to the giving of the Torah....
- 9,931
3
votes
Why is the 7th commandment restricted to adultery?
The "big ten" are basically category headers for the major categories of Mitzvos (see Rashi on Shemos 24:12). Stealing is the archetypal example of property crimes, and "Do Not Steal" is the main ...
- 1,877
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