To Stay In The Land: Investing In The Ten Commandments

Posted on August 7, 2025 by First.One.Through

When Moses addressed the Israelites in Parashat Vaetchanan, standing on the threshold of the Promised Land, his message was clear and urgent: Keep the commandments and you will live; abandon them and you will be driven from the land.

“You must observe His rules and His commandments that I am commanding you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you, and so that you may endure in the land that God, your God, is giving to you forever.”

Deuteronomy 4:40

It wasn’t a political warning. It wasn’t about borders, treaties, or weapons. It was spiritual. Covenantal. National.

He reminded them: God didn’t choose you because you were many or mighty. He chose you because He loved you. And what does God ask in return? Not sacrifices, not empty rituals, but love expressed through loyalty. Loyalty shown in deeds—by keeping His commandments and walking in His ways.

That covenant stands today.

Amid a global spike in antisemitism, war in Israel, and growing divides between Jews in Israel and the Diaspora as well as secular and religious Jews in Israel, it’s time to return to the constitutional core of Jewish life: the Ten Commandments.

There are 613 commandments in the Torah, but these ten were spoken directly by God to the entire nation at Sinai. They were repeated again by Moses in Deuteronomy for a reason. They are not just laws—they are foundations.

If we want to stay in the Land we must invest in them.

Here are ten national action items for Israeli and Diaspora Jews alike to bring the Aseret HaDibrot back to life:

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1. “I am the Lord your God” — Reclaim Faith

In Israel: Integrate emunah (faith) into national identity, not just religion. Teach the purpose of Jewish existence in the IDF, sherut leumi, and public schools.

In the Diaspora: Strengthen Jewish schools and programs that teach belief as something deeper than ethnicity or culture. Anchor identity in divine purpose.

The Shema prayer is in this parsha, a prayer to be read aloud with concentration. Let each session of the Knesset and Jewish day schools begin with that first sentence.

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2. No Other Gods — Confront Idolatry

In Israel: Take on modern idols—power, tech, money. Demand spiritual accountability from the startup- scaleup nation.

In the Diaspora: Counter the worship of celebrity and culture with Jewish meaning and humility. Lead with Jewish ethics, not trendiness.

Focus on Humble Faith to moderate the human tendency to exaggerate our worth and blind us to God’s gifts.

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3. Do Not Take God’s Name in Vain — Elevate Speech

In Israel: Clean up public discourse. Hold politicians, rabbis, and influencers accountable for words that desecrate God’s name.

In the Diaspora: Promote reverence and honesty in all Jewish communication—online, in media, and in leadership.

We all carry a global megaphone with us at all times of the day. Beware of proclamations and defamations made in the name of Judaism.

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4. Keep the Sabbath — Build National Unity

In Israel: The Haredi community must not sit out the war. They must serve through sherut leumi by helping others keep Shabbat—cooking meals, opening homes, dancing in the streets. Make Shabbat the shared joy of the nation.

In the Diaspora: Host Shabbat for unaffiliated Jews. Create communal spaces that let people taste sacred time—no judgment, just joy.

Jews have the special opportunity to show each other and the world the special nature of Shabbat. Make it holy for you and your family. From there, let it spread outward to the community, country and civilization.

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5. Honor Your Father and Mother — Care for the Elderly

In Israel: Train Israeli youth in elder care. It’s a disgrace that our Holocaust survivors and parents are mostly cared for by foreign workers.

In the Diaspora: Create teen-elder programs that pass down memory and dignity. Jewish continuity depends on honoring the past.

Modern psychology has taught many of us to center our being on ourselves and blame parents for our situations. Even – or especially – if that’s true, spend time showing honor to parents and in-laws. It is a pathway for a healthy society.

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6. Do Not Murder — Value All Life

In Israel: Try to end domestic violence and youth crime. Reclaim the sanctity of life as a national value, not just a slogan.

In the Diaspora: Jews must lead on mental health and abortion, the leading causes of preventable death.

Every life is a world. Whether one is in favor or opposed to abortion, treat life with the utmost respect and engage in debates that are centered on life.

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7. Do Not Commit Adultery — Strengthen Families

In Israel: Fund pre-marriage education and family counseling. Healthy families are the front line of Jewish survival.

In the Diaspora: Promote Jewish relationships and marriage through values-based education—not just dating apps.

Reorient Friday night dinners away from invited company for two Sabbaths every month to focus on personal relationships.

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8. Do Not Steal — Demand Integrity

In Israel: Tackle corruption. Ethical leadership is not optional in a holy land.

In the Diaspora: Teach financial and business ethics as part of Torah. Kiddush Hashem starts in the workplace.

At an early age, allow children to reserve certain toys for personal use as opposed to sharing with friends; it allows them to incorporate the idea of ownership and space both for themselves and others.

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9. Do Not Bear False Witness — Seek Truth

In Israel: End the plague of slander and fake news in politics and media. Truth is a national security issue.

In the Diaspora: Speak with compassion and accuracy. Lashon hara is poison. Truth builds communities.

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10. Do Not Covet — Practice Gratitude

In Israel: Reduce economic resentment by promoting gratitude and generosity. Envy destroys unity.

In the Diaspora: Celebrate others’ success. Give, volunteer, and stop keeping score.

Being truly grateful involves the public declaration of appreciation: to God in prayer, and fellow person in thanks. It centers the interplay between ourselves and the world in a healthy dynamic.

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Conclusion: Choose Life

Moses didn’t say this for nothing. The land doesn’t tolerate injustice, idolatry, or apathy. If we want to remain in Eretz Yisrael, we must remember what kept us from here: the first tablets were shattered on diaspora rocks and we wandered in the desert for failing to believe in God’s gift.

We must also remember what brought us to the land: God’s love—and a call to respond in kind.

The Ten Commandments are not old laws. They are today’s mission.

The Old City of Jerusalem including the Jewish Temple Mount/ Al Aqsa Compound

The Place and People for the Bible

Posted on October 8, 2021 by First.One.Through

By the eleventh chapter of the Bible, it appeared that mankind had reached perfection. United in time, place and purpose, the whole world appeared ready to accept the word of God. Yet God rejected this model of the human race, and instead opted to give his holy texts to a sliver of the world in entirely inverted circumstances. The message embedded in the choice is as timeless as it is important.

The Tower of Babel and the State

About 300 years after God destroyed the world in the flood, “the entire earth was of one language and uniform in words.” They assembled together in “a valley in the land of Shinar” and decided to make bricks to “build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens to make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered upon the face of the earth.” (Genesis 11:1-4)

This Tower of Babel was an incredible accomplishment. Ten generations – from Noah through Abraham – lived in this city and tower. The people were not just “of one language” but coordinated in a common goal. To a modern reader, this situation appears too good to be true – mankind working constructively to build a place where everyone could live together. It seems so aspirational that it puzzles the reader as to why God was upset and said “Lo! they are one people, and they have one language, and this is what they have commenced to do? Come let us descend and confuse their language, so that one will not understand the language of his companion’. And the Lord scattered them from upon the face of the earth and they ceased building the city.” (Genesis 11:6-8)

To appreciate God’s objection, biblical commentators compared this generation to that of the flood.

The Bible states that God destroyed the world in the flood because of “חָמָֽס” (Genesis 6:11) which is translated as ‘robbery’ by Rashi and the Ramban. While at first, robbery doesn’t seem so terrible a crime worthy of destroying a world, it does invite a reader to imagine the nature of such society.

If the world operates on the basis of theft – that the ownership of personal property has no inherent meaning – people prioritize stealing over work. In such environment, a person will invest his or her efforts in how to take the fruit, cattle or spouses of their neighbor rather than engaging in the actual work of cultivating such things. There would be no effort in saving or developing anything as it could be stolen, making people live for the day rather than invest in the future. Such a world cannot mature nor endure.

The society that built the Tower of Babel had a different notion about personal property. Rather than one person stealing another’s belongings for themselves, they collected it for the state. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik said “the generation… had a strict political code. The were not weakened by abundance [like those in the Flood]…. They were aggressive in undertaking, bold in design, and arrogant in execution. The ideology of Marxism as interpreted by Lenin and Mao Tse Tung could not have been better portrayed than in these verses.”

Rabbi Solveitchik combined two principles in his critique of this society – one led by an authoritarian leader and one based on Socialism. He criticized this society that “tried to create a new social world order. In order to realize this ideal, they destroyed individual freedom, dictating to everyone what to do and how to live.” People can see this at play today in the alt-left’s efforts to institute a new social order under the marketing banner of the common good as it advocates for “canceling” those who break with their orthodoxy while they attempt to redistribute personal property.

Rampant robbery for personal gain that existed before the Flood was obsessed with the indulgence of living in the moment and needed to be wiped out as it destroyed the possibility of long-term development. The seizing of personal property for the state during the Tower of Babel, needed to be disrupted as well. God had previously directed Noah and his children to “be fruitful and multiply upon the earth” three times (Genesis 8:17, 9:1 and 9:7) and instead they constrained themselves to a small valley, thereby limiting their progeny and directed their efforts to building man-made structures rather than cultivating the land for personal use.

God “came down” (Genesis 11:7) to this authoritarian socialist society and did not see an ideal society worthy of receiving his holy words, and decided to “confuse their language” and “scattered them from there upon the face of the earth, and they ceased building the city.“

Which makes one consider the society that actually did receive the Torah.

The Tower of Babel and Mt. Sinai

God handed the Ten Commandments to a very different society in a very different place. Mount Sinai and the Tower of Babel could not be more different:

Mount Sinai	Tower of babel
Natural mountain	Man made structure
Located in remote desert away from people	Center of the world with all humanity
In the afterglow of the Exodus and destruction of Egyptian army	In the shadow of the destruction of every living thing in the Flood
Only Moses ascended the mountain and the Israelites barred from approaching it	The entire world inhabited the tower
God “descended” to Mt. Sinai to see a man he had spoken to before who had followed his command	God “descended” to find a society which ignored the direction he had given to some of them (Noah and his children)
Laws given to a single man to teach to a single tribe over time	Laws not given to the entire world at a moment in time
That tribe was scared and acting out, looking for leadership as the commandments were being given to Moses	The world was working seamlessly in concert, building their man-made city and tower which didn’t need a God as it reached the heavens via the work of its own hands

When God dispersed mankind in the year 1996 after Creation, He set in place the ability for humanity to follow his command to “be fruitful and multiply upon the earth” but simultaneously made engaging with everyone more difficult, as God’s preference for speaking to one person at a time would require multiple prophets to interact with local communities and tribes, even as the miracles would capture the attention of the whole world.

As noted above, God opted to give the Ten Commandments to a people who were just freed from slavery and eager for leadership and a new society. This was in sharp contrast to the people on the Tower of Babel who may not have been receptive to taking upon themselves the word of God, having seen the impacts of global devastation. Consider that they decided to build their city and tower in a valley. They were highly confident in their own abilities to reach the skies, almost as a further insult to God as they didn’t want any advantage from the natural world.

The Shortened Life

The dispersion had ramifications beyond the change in language, the abandonment of the tower and setting in motion the establishment of nations around the world. The lifespans of people dropped considerably as well.

Peleg, a descendant of Shem, died during the dispersion. Curiously, he was either named with prophesy as the name was derived from the Hebrew word for dispersion, or he was renamed at his death כִּ֤י בְיָמָיו֙ נִפְלְגָ֣ה הָאָ֔רֶץ (Genesis 10:25).

Peleg died when he was 239 years old, considerably less than his father, grandfather and great grandfather who were 464, 433 and 438 years old, respectively. The reduction of 225 years of Peleg’s life relative to his father is the numerical equivalent of the word scattered in Hebrew “הֱפִיצָ֣ם” (Genesis 11:9). From this day on, the lifespan of people continued to decline – all the way to 120 years old, the lifespan of Moses, the great teacher of the Torah.

There are people today – like Senator Bernie Sanders and the Democratic Socialists – who view the idea of collective global action on behalf of a powerful state that shuns religion as an ideal to be pursued. The Bible clearly instructs otherwise, as conveyed in the short story of global unity at the Tower of Babel.