Charlotte and Isabelle Littman
This week’s Torah portion is Yitro: Exodus 18:1 — 20:23
This week’s Torah portion is Yitro. In this portion, the Israelites camp outside of Mount Sinai on the sixth day of Sivan, and they are told that God chose them because they are a holy nation. God descends from the mountain, there is thunder and smoke, a shofar is blown, and God proclaims the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments are the most famous out of the 613 Jewish laws given in the Torah. The Ten Commandments tell us to believe in God, not worship idols or say God’s name in vain, keep Shabbat, honor our parents, and not to murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness, or covet others’ property.
One of the commandments that we find meaningful in our life is don’t worship idols. For us, this commandment is about not copying what other people are doing just because they are doing it and following what you want to do and doing your own thing. This is hard because a lot of the time, people don’t want to be different, and they just do what others are doing.
However, if you follow what others are doing, you will also follow them in their bad decisions. This commandment reminds us to do what we want to do and what we think is the right thing to do, and not to just follow what others are doing.
Another commandment that we relate to is not to covet, which means to want something that others have. To us this means to be grateful for what you do have. It’s very hard not to get jealous because things look better when someone else has them. But not coveting helps us to feel gratitude, and gratitude makes you feel better about yourself and makes you happy with what you have.
After learning about the Ten Commandments, we researched a little more about why people need these laws.
We found an interesting article from Rabbi David Aaron via aish.com, titled “What is the Purpose of the Torah?” He says that the reason that Jews received the Ten Commandments and other laws is because we as people have the power to choose. Jewish laws help us to choose goodness, and through those choices to serve God. The idea is that there is always the risk that we can fail, but we also have the opportunity to succeed. He talks about how we are presented with different opportunities and we could make the wrong choice, but there is always also the option to do good. According to Rabbi Aaron, “we are able to destroy, but also to build.” In our world today, people make a lot of bad decisions. But we believe that most of the time, there is a better option. This world doesn’t need more negativity or destruction; instead, we should create more good things in the world. We need the Torah because it helps us make a better world.
In the same source, Rabbi Aaron talks about how people being able to change relates to receiving the laws in the Torah. The Talmud teaches us that a person cannot be connected to the Torah unless they have failed and changed for the better. If we were already perfect, there would be no use for the Torah. The Ten Commandments help people change and act better because they teach us ways to live a moral life.
Charlotte and Isabelle Littman are seventh-grade students at Krieger Schechter Day School.
