Yitro - One Master

I am Hashem Your G-d, Who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall not have the gods of others in My presence. You shall not make for yourself a graven image or any likeness...

אָֽנֹכִ֨י ה' קלקיך אֲשֶׁ֣ר הֽוֹצֵאתִ֩יךָ֩ מֵאֶ֨רֶץ מִצְרַ֜יִם מִבֵּ֣ית עֲבָדִ֗ים
לא יִֽהְיֶ֣ה־לְךָ֩ אֱלֹהִ֨ים אֲחֵרִ֜ים עַל־פָּנַ֗י

לא תַֽעֲשֶׂה־לְּךָ֣ פֶ֣סֶל | וְכָל־תְּמוּנָ֡ה

Shmot 20:2-4

In the beginning of the Eseret HaDibarot, the Slonimer Rebbe asks some questions:

1. Why does it start with mentioning that Hashem took us out of Egypt, and not something seemingly greater that Hashem created the world?
2. Why does the pasuk seemingly repeat itself by saying, "out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" - isn't it implicitly understood that Egypt was the place of bondage?
3. (the famous question) why is this first commandment written in a statement form, rather than as a command?

Two Masters

Explains the Slonimer Rebbe, it says in the Yerushalmi (Brechot 3: 3), slaves are exempt from kriat shma. For it says, "Here O Israel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One", we have no other master but Hakodosh Baruch Hu. While the slave, actually has another master, the slave serves two masters.

This is the significance of the pasuk "אָֽנֹכִ֨י ה' קלקיך" that Hakadosh Baruch Hu is our G-d, our one and special master.

And that the pasuk "לא יִֽהְיֶ֣ה־לְךָ֩ אֱלֹהִ֨ים אֲחֵרִ֜ים עַל־פָּנַ֗י", this is the reality for any us. We don’t serve two masters - both our creator and our own inclination - rather we have no other master but Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

From this, the opening verse continues with "out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage", that as Jews we must work on the power to overcome being drawn towards our inclinations. We’ve risen out of a ‘house of bondage’, so also  we need to pull away from the bondage of our drives and inclinations. A power was ingrained in us by Hashem when He took us out of Egypt, that he seemingly took us "out of them" into a free world.

We need to be a slave in our service to Hashem and be free from the influence of our own inclinations. Even when we stumble and even sin, we are still neither a slave unto slaves nor enslaved to that state forever, but we can always rise back up, no matter how much our inclinations pull and try to influence us.

The Eternality of Leaving Egypt

Departing Egypt is an eternal concept.

As it says in the Haggadah, had Hashem not taken us out of Egypt, then we would still be slaves in Egypt...to this day. And with this in mind, says Chazal, that everyone is obligated to see himself as if he went out of Egypt, meaning that not just our forefathers were brought out of Egypt but us as well. That had we not left Egypt we would still be slaves to slaves! Thus Hashem is not just proud of our forefathers for heeding the call and leaving Egypt, but likewise, even for us it is as if He redeemed from Egypt. Every one of us has the power to "leave Egypt" to not be a slave to "two masters" - to not be under the influence of our own inclinations.

A New Reality

This is the meaning of the opening words:

“אָֽנֹכִ֨י ה' קלקיך אֲשֶׁ֣ר הֽוֹצֵאתִ֩יךָ֩ מֵאֶ֨רֶץ מִצְרַ֜יִם מִבֵּ֣ית עֲבָדִ֗ים”

That from the power of “leaving Egypt” thus “I am Hashem Your G-d” - your only master. And “You shall not have the gods of others in My presence”  This is less a command and more a discovery of a new reality. After leaving Egypt, Hashem instilled in us the power to not serve two masters - serving Hashem and our inclinations.

In One Statement

We learn the pasuk could have been stated in one statement “I am Hashem Your G-d, You shall not have the gods of others” - showing that one part is dependent on the other. That if we keep the first statement then we will obviously not have other gods - that we are pure.

So it says in between, “I am Hashem Your G-d, Who took you out of the land of Egypt” just as we achieve the level of leaving Egypt, at the same time we merit a connection with Hashem.

#4 Not a Commandment

Just as “I will take you out of Egypt” was not a commandment, but more of a wake up call, not based on the people’s merit, so also FAITH is a present that Hashem gives to the Jewish people regardless - faith is etched into the foundations of being  Jew.

This is all dependent upon the second verse “not have the gods of others”, for at the very least if we don’t contaminate ourselves with other beliefs, then we preserve the faith within us.

And so the mitzvah of Faith is not like all the mitzvot. For with all the other mitzvot, they are inherently doing something, connected to an action. Faith is more about preserving a quality that we already have, and we do that by keeping the verse “not have the gods of others”

In Summary

This is why the ten commandments starts with mentioning that Hashem took us out of Egypt, and not, for example, that Hashem created the world, that taking us out of Egypt established the power and foundations of our faith.

The pasuk is not repeating itself by saying, "out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" - but emphasizing two sides of this concept - taking us out of Egypt gave us an eternal power and the house of bondage represents the other side that we are striving to free ourselves from, the inclination that seeks to influence our decisions.

Finally this is not stated as a commandment, rather a statement, this is an internal feeling rather an action, a idea to continually to work on and enrich our faith.

In light of us, we are reminded of a story with the Rizhiner, the Rebbe of Rizhin.

Once a hasid came to him and said, “Rebbe,” he asked, “how is one to worship G-d without lying to oneself?”

“I’ll tell you how,” said the Rebbe, “Make believe that you’re an acrobat walking a tightrope high above. What can you do to keep your balance? Whenever your body pulls you to one side , YOU must pull to the other.”