The mitzvot of Yitro

The commandment of belief in God

Positive · Exodus 20:2

The root of this mitzvah is plain to all - belief in God's existence is the foundation of the whole faith, and one who does not hold it denies the very principle. Belief means that a person fixes in his soul that this is the truth and nothing else is possible, and says so aloud to anyone who asks, for speech brings what is in the heart from potential into action and strengthens it. And one who rises in wisdom until he understands it by clear proof fulfills the mitzvah in the choicest way.

That we not believe in a god besides God alone

Negative · Exodus 20:3

The Sefer HaChinuch writes that the root of this mitzvah is plain and known to all. It is the great principle of the Torah on which everything depends, and so the sages said that one who acknowledges idolatry is as if he denied the entire Torah. Faith in God alone is the foundation on which all the other mitzvot stand.

To not make a statue

Negative · Exodus 20:4

The root of this mitzvah is well known - to keep idols far from the world and from the heart. So the Torah forbade even the very making of an idol, even if its maker does not worship it, in order to remove the stumbling block at its source.

To not bow down to idolatry

Negative · Exodus 20:5

The Sefer HaChinuch writes that the root of this mitzvah is well known, and it is the root of all the prohibitions of idolatry - that we believe in God alone and honour no created thing as a deity. Bowing down is the clearest gesture of submission, and so it is reserved for God alone.

To not worship idolatry in that which is its way to be worshiped

Negative · Exodus 20:5

Here too the Sefer HaChinuch writes that the root of this mitzvah is well known. Every manner of worship in which an idol is customarily served is forbidden to us, so that we do not give any power or created thing the honour due to God alone.

To not swear in vain

Negative · Exodus 20:7

The mitzvah comes to fix in our hearts and strengthen the faith that God endures forever, and there is no existence like His. So when we mention His great name we must do so with awe and reverence, not lightly, as one speaks of passing things. From the same root a false oath is forbidden too, for one who swears is like one who commits that his words will stand unchanged, just as God endures and does not change.

The commandment of the sanctification of Shabbat with words

Positive · Exodus 20:8

Through the act of Kiddush we are stirred to remember the greatness of the day of Shabbat, and we fix in our hearts the faith that God created the world in six days. So we were commanded to make Kiddush over wine, which sustains, gladdens and stirs a person, for a person is shaped by what stirs him and by his deeds.

To not do work on Shabbat

Negative · Exodus 20:10

We are free of our work in honour of Shabbat in order to fix in our souls the faith in the creation of the world, which is the rope that draws along all the foundations of religion. When the whole people rests one day a week and people ask what this rest is for, the answer is that in six days God made heaven and earth, and everyone is strengthened by this in the true faith. Moreover, Shabbat recalls the exodus from Egypt, where we were slaves and could not rest when we wished, and God brought us out from there and commanded us to rest on the seventh day.

The commandment to honor father and mother

Positive · Exodus 20:12

A person ought to acknowledge the good done to him by one who has treated him kindly, and not be ungrateful, which is a bad trait, loathsome in the eyes of God and man. His father and mother brought him into the world and toiled over him greatly in his childhood, so it is fitting that he honour them and benefit them as much as he can. And when this trait is fixed in his soul, he rises from it to acknowledge the goodness of God, who is the cause of his existence and that of all his forefathers, who gave him a soul and understanding and provides for all his needs all his days.

To not kill the innocent

Negative · Exodus 20:13

The root of this mitzvah is plain and known to all. God created the world and commanded us to be fruitful and multiply so that it would be inhabited, and so He forbade us to destroy it with our own hands by killing human beings, who are those who settle the world.

To not reveal the nakedness of a man's wife

Negative · Exodus 20:13

God wanted the world to be settled in its proper order, and for every person to know who his father is. Adultery blurs this, and so it harms many mitzvot - honouring father and mother, when children do not know their fathers, and the prohibitions of close relatives, when people do not know who their relatives are. It also has an element of theft, which reason itself rejects, and it arouses fierce jealousy and not rarely even leads to bloodshed.

To not steal a soul of Israel

Negative · Exodus 20:13

The Sefer HaChinuch writes that the root of this mitzvah is plain to all. One who kidnaps a person and sells him robs him of his freedom and of his very self, and the evil of it is clear to anyone with understanding.

To not testify falsely

Negative · Exodus 20:13

The root of this mitzvah is plain - falsehood is loathsome in the eyes of every thinking person. Moreover, the world stands on true testimony, for all the disputes between people are decided by witnesses. So false testimony brings about the ruin of settled society.

To not covet

Negative · Exodus 20:14

Coveting is an evil thought that causes a person many stumbles. One who has resolved in his heart to take what he covets pays heed to nothing - if his fellow does not want to sell, he will take it from him by force, and if he stands against him, he may even kill him. So it happened to Navot, who was killed for his vineyard that Achav coveted.

Not to make the form of a man, even for decoration

Negative · Exodus 20:20

Man was created in the image of God, which refers to the intellect placed within him, for there is no real likeness at all between God and His creatures. The Torah forbade making the form of a human being even for decoration, in order to keep idolatry far away.

To not build with hewn stones

Negative · Exodus 20:22

The altar is the place through which atonement for sin, blessing and peace come to us, so we were commanded not to build it with a tool made for destruction - iron, which cuts and constantly serves for bloodshed. A person is shaped by his deeds and his thoughts follow them, so it is fitting that our deeds too match the purpose of things.

To not take steps on the altar

Negative · Exodus 20:23

As in the previous mitzvah, the aim here too is to fix in our souls awe of the place and its importance, so we were warned not to behave with levity there in any way. Everyone knows that the stones neither see nor hear nor mind any disrespect, but the main thing is to impress upon our hearts the honour of the place, for the heart is shaped by the deed.