The Rational Bible by Dennis Prager

Author:Dennis Prager
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781621577997
Publisher: Regnery Publishing
Published: 2018-02-26T05:00:00+00:00

The Christian world is thus far the only non-Jewish civilization to have adopted the Ten Commandments, and societies that did so benefited immeasurably.

The Christian world is thus far the only non-Jewish civilization to have adopted the Ten Commandments, and societies that did so benefited immeasurably. The best example is the United States, the non-Jewish society that took the Ten Commandments the most seriously—as illustrated by the many sculptures of Moses holding the Ten Commandments throughout America, including on sculpted friezes inside and outside of the United States Supreme Court. Throughout their history, Americans widely observed the Sabbath (on Sunday) until the radical secularization of America that began after World War II.

The third reason the Shabbat Commandment is unique is it is the only one of the Ten Commandments for which a reason is given. This is not a coincidence. Obviously, the only way to ensure people understand the theological point of the commandment—to affirm God as the Creator—is to say so.

But there may be another reason for offering an explanation. The Torah recognizes a ritual is more compelling to many people when a reason is given for it. Sometimes, it is true, the reason for a ritual commandment is inscrutable, and we obey it solely because we believe God commanded it. But the human being is supposed to be a rational creature, and the Torah is overwhelmingly a rational document—meaning, a document that accords with reason.

God could have simply said “Keep the Sabbath” without giving any reason to do so. But it would not have had the cosmic and universal meaning it has. While the Shabbat has a great deal of intrinsic meaning—the power of a day of rest, a day of sacred time, a day to connect with family and friends—God wanted us to know there is a monumental reason for the Shabbat.

That reason is to affirm each week that God created the world, and just as He ceased from work on the Seventh Day, so do we.

This is another reason the Sabbath is applicable to non-Jews. The reason God gives for the Sabbath is a universal one, not a specifically Jewish one. When Moses restates the Ten Commandments in the book of Deuteronomy, he provides a specifically Jewish reason for the Shabbat: The Israelites are to observe it because God released them from slavery in Egypt, and free people, unlike slaves, can choose not to work one day a week. (I explain there why, I believe, Moses made that change—see commentary to Deuteronomy 5:12-15).

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