EXOD1044 See [[DEUT1382]] Deuteronomy 24:15 poor SPERO 52-3

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EXOD1045 Do not work the land during the Sabbatical Year. See [[EXOD882]] Exodus 23:11 rest CHINUCH 56

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EXOD1046 See [[EXOD892]] Exodus 23:19 boil SACTAB 57-9

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EXOD1047 See [EXOD891]] Exodus 23:19 boil SINAI3 42

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EXOD1048 See [EXOD893]] Exodus 23:19 boil TELVOL2 303

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EXOD1049 See [[EXOD895]] Exodus 23:19 bring TEMIMAH 312

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EXOD1050 See [[GEN666]] Genesis 9:3 eat SACTAB 273-4

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EXOD1051 Religion and Ethics Inseparable. If we understand them as a moral system, it makes little difference whether we call them Ten Words or Ten Commandments. A Jew, however, must on some occasions, at least, use the designation Ten Words, because for him they are more than a moral system. They are the conditions of the covenant between God and Israel. (Exodus 34:27-8) They are, thus, ethics in the context of a covenantal relationship. Such an ethic we may call covenant ethics. In covenant ethics in particular, as in Judaism in general, the religious and the ethical are inseparable. The awesome religious experience has an enduring ethical content. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, but “Thou shalt not” was heard. (Exodus 19:16-18) The noblest ethical teaching has a powerful religious dimension: “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself: I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:18) Religion and ethics inseparable! In every single word there is both the duty to God and the duty to persons. The first two words proclaim the authority and sovereignty of God. But they also commend freedom and established priorities. The third word proscribes the misuse of God's name. But it also involves, in the making of an oath, the obligation to keep our promises. The fourth word sets aside the seventh day for God, but the manservant, the maid servant, the stranger and the cattle must share in it. Parents are the subject of the fifth word, but God is remembered as the ultimate giver. Then comes that powerful series of ethical commands, four staccato imperatives and then the concluding fifth, behind each word the authority of a commanding God. Each word is religious. Each word is ethical. A human being and God meet on a bridge of Ten Words.

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EXOD1052 To be ethically-minded is to be pure in the eyes of God [Num. xxxii.22]; avoiding the slightest breath of suspicion [Hull. 44b], and being always pleasant [Ket. 17a] and respectful of another's views. In the words of Derekh Eretz Zuta -- he must not be "Awake among those who sleep, or asleep among those who are awake; not weeping when others laugh, or vice versa; not sitting when others stand, or vice versa; not learning out loud, when others are reading quietly, or the reverse". In general, he will not be awkward or angular in the company of others. He will be considerate of others. When the three angels visited Abraham in his tent they ate and drank with him, although it was not their custom so to do [Gen. xviii.8]. When Moses ascended on high he did not eat for forty days and nights, for such was the custom in heaven [this verse].

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EXOD1053 The most significant individual fast in the Torah is Moses's abstinence from food and drink for forty days and nights on Mount Sinai. (This verse). When Moses retells the story in Deuteronomy 9, he reports a second forty-day period of fasting. The midrash teaches that this supernatural abstinence raised him to the status of celestial, non-corporeal beings and prepared him to meet with the Holy One. Embodied readers know that a fast of several hours produces a somewhat altered state of consciousness; how much more so a fast of days and weeks! “As Moses came down from the mountain bearing the two tablets of the Pact, Moses was not aware that the skin of his face was radiant, since he had spoken with God” (Exodus 34:29). Both his body and his spirit were transformed by his fast and his encounter. While Jewish tradition focuses on communal, rather than individual fast, a full or partial fast to mark singular personal events, particularly one’s wedding and the observance of a parent’s yahrzeit, offers a unique opportunity to focus on and be attentive to one's relationship with oneself, one’s beloveds, and with the Source of all love. In addition to the fast of the firstborn that is observed primarily by traditional Jews on Erev Pesach, some may choose to refrain from eating or drinking to prepare themselves for communal service, such as serving as sh’lichei tzibur [i.e., communal prayer leaders—AJL]. And some contemporary Jews may fast as a way to atone for or distance themselves from negative behaviors or actions. It is not uncommon today to fast in preparation for medical tests or procedures. We may consider these periods of intentional abstinence as an opportunity for reflection or spiritual growth. At times of intense engagement or at times of stress, we may find ourselves forgetting or unable to eat. Recognizing the spiritual energy of such times may help us to be more intentional about naming and claiming this abstinence as intentional rather than accidental. (By Sue Levi Elwell, “TZOM: Fasting as a Religious/Spiritual Practice”)

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