The Ten Commandments in Parshat Yitro

The following is part of an email I received by Rabbi Eli Mansour regarding the 10 Commandments in this week's parsha.

The text of the Aseret Ha’dibberot (Ten Commandments), which appears in Parashat Yitro, contains allusions to all 613 Biblical commands, as well as to the seven Misvot ordained by Hazal. The commentators note that the text of the Aseret Ha’dibberot has 620 letters, and each letter corresponds to the one of the Misvot. Thus, for example, the final letter of the Aseret Ha’dibberot – Chaf, in the word “Le’re’echa” – corresponds to the Hanukah candle lighting, the final Misva ordained by the Sages. The word “Chaf” is spelled “Chaf”-“Peh,” which can be rearranged to spell “Pach” (“jug”), alluding to the “Pach Shemen” (oil jug) of the Hanukah miracle.

The significance of the Aseret Ha’dibberot is also expressed in the verse in which G-d says about Abraham Abinu, “Ekeb Asher Shama Abraham Be’koli” (“On account of the fact that Abraham obeyed Me”). The word “Ekeb” has the numerical value of 172, which is also the number of words in the Aseret Ha’dibberot. This verse thus alludes to Abraham’s observing all the Misvot, which are included within the Aseret Ha’dibberot, even before the Torah was given.

The Ten Commandments are so significant that, as the Gemara tells in Masechet Berachot, the Sages wanted to institute that the text of the Aseret Ha’dibberot should be read each day. They eventually decided not to institute this daily reading out of concern that people might accept the heretical belief that the Torah demands compliance only with these commands, and nothing else.
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