IDOLATRY-2/Know My Holy Names

1: The First, positive Commandment

We are using Moses’ Ten Commandments as a platform for learning the IDOLATRY Commandment. In principle it pertains, as we’ve seen, to all Mankind. Yet there are some differences in strictness and punishment between the nations and Israel. Israel is treated more harshly.

As we’ve seen, Moses IDOLATRY Commandment comes in two parts:
The First, ‘positive’ Commandment tells us whom we should worship
The Second, ‘negative’ Commandment tells us about the idols, whom we should worship not.

Let’s start our study with the first,’ positive’ part, that says:

1. “I am
2. The Lord (written YHVH) your G-d (written ELoKiM)
3. Who took you out of Egypt Land.”

Line 1 presents the Essence
Line 2 presents the Attributes (Mercy and Judgment)
Line 3 presents His Kingship (His intervention in human history)

G-d spoke them by Himself
Both the positive and the negative Commandments of IDOLATRY are given in the first voice. In the First, (I Am) the Speaker presents himself. In the Second he says: “Thou shall not make another ELKM over MY face…”

The rest of the Ten Commandments are given in the third voice, the speaker speaking about G-d.

Hence the notion that only the first two were spoken to Israel by G-d Himself, while the rest were given to Moses who in turn delivered them to Israel (Rashi.)

This fact sets the first two Commandments apart from the rest. They are paramount; the base of everything else in the Torah.

let’s observe the first line in the First Commandment “I Am”…
The language here is NOT authoritative, carrying no tone of a Command.
Yet the RaMBaM (Maimonides) counts it as a separate Commandment “to believe in the existence of G-d!” (Book of Mitzvot).

On that, another Jewish Spanish philosopher, Karkash (15 century) asks: how can anyone command someone else to believe in his existence? It does not make any sense!

But the RaMBaM himself writes in another book that the first line (I Am) is a commandment not to believe, but rather to “get to know G-d” (Yad Hachazakah). It commands us to start a process of learning, which at the end would lead to recognize G-d and love him. This process of learning, says the RaMBaM, entails studying Nature as well as the Torah.

But there is a problem: learning science may NOT necessarily bring a person to believe in G-d’s existence. Many scientists, like Einstein, came to believe in an ‘intelligent entity’ that prompted everything and set up the rules of Nature, yet they would not necessarily accept this entity as their KING. Nor would they believe that this aloof entity has any interest in our morality and our history.

In the same token, not every Torah scholar comes to believe in the existence of G-d.

This is why other commentaries regard the “I Am” as an introduction to the Ten Commandment, rather than a Commandment by itself.

But going back to the Talmud, we see that the ancient rabbis regarded the “I Am” as a Command and an instruction to KNOW G-D by these Names, and ADDRESS Him in our prayers and blessings by these NAMES and in the same order they appear in the Commandment.

Thus, for example, the rabbis decreed to bless G-d for bread in the fooling manner: