EXOD362 The Ten Words are usually divided into two tables. (J.H. Hertz, The Pentateuch and Haftorahs. Soncino, 1965, p. 295). This is the five-five division. The first table enumerates a person's duties toward God. The second table describes a person's duties to his fellow human being. I propose a different division for the purpose of ethics: the one-eight division. Let us call it the one-eight hypothesis. I perceive in the Ten Words one moral principle followed by eight moral rules. The Ten Words, thus, constitute the fundamentals of a moral system. What is the moral principle in the Ten Words? Can we find in them something comparable to the golden rule or the categorical imperative or the utilitarian principle? To discover it, we do not need to look beyond the second word: “Thou shall have no other gods before me.” [Exodus 20:3]. This principle is a source of moral rules and does not admit of exceptions. We are always called upon to resist idolatry--to keep our priorities straight by not making power, wealth, prestige or anything else but obedience to God our primary goal and fundamental loyalty. When faced with an ethical choice, we must ask: “Am I being loyal to God? Or am I obeying my nation, my social group, my selfish desires?” This is the principle of priorities. This principle cannot be separated from the first word which describes God as the redeemer from slavery. For the first word, with its emphasis on freedom, describes the kind of God who demands our loyalty. This is a God who cares, an ethical God. To such a God, we owe obedience. For the purposes of ethics, the first and second words are inseparable. Together, they form a compelling moral expression of ethical monotheism. Words three through ten are moral rules. Since they are rules, not principles, we can find exceptions to each. Earlier in this book, I quoted the case of Mrs. Bergmeier which constituted an exception to the Seventh Word. The Maccabees (Jewish freedom fighters of the second century B.C.E.) violated the Sabbath in order to preserve Judaism. Occasionally, there are truly sadistic parents who should not be honored. In some situations, stealing is justified. And so it is for every word.