By Daniel Silverman:
This week’s parasha, Va’etchanan, contains two cornerstone texts of Jewish tradition – the Ten Commandments (Deuteronomy’s version) and the first paragraph of the Shema. Each is a centrepiece of how to live Jewish lives, but their proximity within the parasha teaches us an additional important lesson.
The Ten Commandments instruct us to revere God and follow God’s laws. By presenting these rules at the moment of divine revelation at Sinai, they take on a greater level of importance in our tradition—not that other laws can be ignored, but that these ten laws are at the centre of our relationship with God and with each other.
The Shema instructs us to love God, to demonstrate that love through the following of laws, and to pass that love and instruction to our children. While Sinai was a moment in time, the Shema grounds us in the ongoing work of Jewish continuity from one day to the next and from one generation to the next.
It is not surprising, therefore, to note that it is the Shema that made its way into our prayer book to be recited twice a day, and not the Ten Commandments. A list of laws is designed to live on a shelf, readily accessible when needed. The daily performance of living out the law, however, is ongoing.
When read in their original context in the parasha, the purpose of the Shema text becomes clearer. It is the activation key for the rules and laws of the Ten Commandments and beyond. We are able to maintain some of the closeness of revelation through our daily practice of loving God through the fulfillment of Mitzvot and in passing that love along to children, grandchildren and the broader community. This is what makes Judaism unique and rather amazing: the law exists not to only be followed, but rather to be followed and passed down as a demonstration of connection to God. This is what has sustained us for millennia, and what will continue to strengthen us and give us purpose going forward