The First Ten Commandments

It's seems to me that Jews who read the Hebrew Scriptures, par'sha by par'sha each year sometimes think the huge non-Jewish part of  the Judeo-Christian world is unduly satisfied with the first ten comandments; whereas they--we--have to deal with six hundred and three more (less those, of course, which are impossible to follow today, because they involve a temple and an altar and some still-volatile lighter fluid).

Yet, this past Saturday at services in my synagogue, we had an evocative discussion about, among other things, the "first ten." And it came to me--I'm ashamed to admit, for the first time--that these are more than "starter" commandments. They provide a fairly complete guide to living a good life. By which, of course, I do not mean "the" good life, as in one with expensive accouterments. I mean a life lived with awareness that one is only one among many; a life in which we listen as well as talk; a life in which we share some of what we have with those who have less;  a life in which we love without a list of pre-conditions; a life in which we honor our elders, no matter how old they are; a life in which we teach the young mainly by example; and a life in which we show gratitude to God for everything--violets and Bach and all the greens grass grows in and the helpful criticism of a good friend and church thrift shops and the Frick and the color of Roman buildings and ripe nectarines and the Sea of Galilee and the poems of George Herbert and cherries every June and the thrillers of Alan Furst and Middlemarch and Mitsouko perfune and people who know how to make ailing computers work again.  For a start. And, dear-God-how-could-I-leave-it-out, for 72% chocolate.

Well, my list is long and could be a lot longer, but to my point: beyond gratitude to God for all life's pleasures, there is gratitude to God for the first ten commandments, which if we take each one to heart and mind and spirit, offer us guidance enough to live a good life.

I vote for the sanctity of behavior over observance every time. I suspect and, yes, pray that God does, too.

Amen.