I am G-d your Almighty
Verse: אנכי ה’ אלקיך
Command: Believe in G-d
Shemos 20:2
Type: Positive
SMG Mitzva # 1
Cross-Ref: {link}
SMG
[α] [In the introductory note written by the SMG before the statement as to what the first Mitzva is, the SMG includes the following] “It is a positive Mitzva to believe that the one who gave us the Torah on Mount Sinai through Moshe our teacher is our G‑d who took us out of Egypt, as it says[i]…” [אנכי ה’ אלקיך אשר הוצאתיך מארץ מצרים מבית עבדים].
The first Mitzva is the positive Mitzva to believe that the one who gave us the Torah on Mount Sinai through Moshe our teacher, is the powerful G‑d who took us out of Egypt[1]. This is what was said when the Torah was given.
[1] And not the G-d who created heaven and earth? Rather, the meaning is, the command is issued in the framework of the personal. The requirement of the Mitzva is to believe in the G-d who interacts with the person in an individualistic manner – through personal diving providence and the occasional miracle.
[i] Shemos 20:2
AMUDAY SHLOMO
[α] Possibly, the reason [for the introduction] is along the lines as propounded in the Midrash; during the exodus from Egypt, G‑d appeared as a warrior, as it says ה’ איש מלחמה, and during the transmittal of the Torah, he appeared as an old wise man. In order that the heretics should not claim there is a duality in divinity, that is why G‑d stated “I am [the same] G‑d” etc.
It appears to us, that the [dismissed] claim of the heretics would be:
that the [first] god that caused the exodus from Egypt left, and this now is a new god coming to give the Torah. Why else wouldn’t the giver of the Torah have demanded service prior to the exodus. Obviously, the god who performed the exodus, had no interest in giving a Torah. In fact, that G‑d only demanded that the Jews perform a thank you offering in the wilderness – as explicitly stated נלכה נזבחה.
Kabbalisticly; the letter Vav [of G‑d’s tetragrammaton] that gave [or better translated as; by which emanation] the Torah [was given], which [letter] corresponds to [the Sefira of] Tifferes Yisroel.
This is the secret [or fundamental] meaning of the [term in the] verse “G‑d, your G‑d”. And also, the exodus from Egypt was [accomplished] by this attribute. This was what the Jews saw [after the exodus by the revelation on the shores of the Yam Suf] according to the secret [or fundamental] meaning of the verse210F[i] מוציא אסירים בכושרות and [undertake to] understand.1F1F[1]
[1] The scope of this work is not intended to delve into a Kabbalistic understanding of the Mitzvos, however, since Maharshal brough it up…
The verse in Tehillim translates as “He releases those bound in fetters”. However, Rashi, derives the plain meaning of the verse from the root word for בכושרות which would literally translate as “He releases those when it is Kosher” – and accordingly comments that G‑d is being praised for conducting the exodus during the month of Nissan, in the springtime which is a good time for traveling; neither too hot nor too cold.
Tifferes in Kabbalah is consistently associated with the attribute of blending Ĉesed with Gevurah, neither too hot nor too cold. Accordingly, the verse could be read as “He releases those with Tifferes”. Tifferes is also consistently associated with the patriarch Yaakov, the third pillar upon which the world stands – Torah. Furthermore, Tifferes is often called the third or interior bar of the Mishkan which was מבריח מן הקצה אל הקצה [Shemos 26:28] a connector from one extreme end to the other – from heaven to earth. As taught in the Midrash, during the time of the splitting of the Yam Suf, the heavens too were split, allowing the Jews to see G‑d in heaven. Similarly, at the giving of the Torah, G‑d split the heavens and earth allowing the Jews to witness there is no other. This was accomplished using Tifferes.
[i] Tehillim 68:7
דרך מצותיך
by the Tzemach Tzedek
Rambam states: 211F[i]And the knowledge of this [that which he explained in the previous 5 paragraphs] is a positive Mitzva as it says אנכי ה’ אלוקיך.
The Zohar212F[ii] states explicitly based on 213F[iii] וידעתם כי אני ה’ אלוקיכם – this is the first Mitzva before all other Mitzvos: to know that there is a rulership on high who is the master of the world, and who created this world in its entirety, heaven and earth, and all their hosts. This is the command in its’ general sense. Once this is known generally, then it should be taught to them the concept of כי ה’ הוא האלוקים 214F[iv]
The Ramban quotes Rambam as well as the Ba’al Halaĉos Gedolos (BHG) and establishes that according to the BHG the Mitzva to believe in G‑d is a prerequisite to the concept of being commanded and is a fundamental aspect of G‑d’s interaction with his people that is not subject to being commanded. It is a concept and requirement in and of itself.
The BHG questions those who would include this as a Mitzva, because in order to believe that there is a Mitzva in the first place to believe in G‑d one must believe that G‑d is issuing the Mitzva – which is a circular logic fallacy.
However, the Ramban’s own opinion is that this is enumerated as one of the Mitzvos, and yes, it is a prerequisite to all other Mitzvos, but in the same way that the negative Mitzva of לא יהיה לך אלוקים אחרים על פני is applicable, so is the positive component to believe in G‑d.
The Abarbanel follows Rambam, however he expands on the definition of the Mitzva as being a command to believe about the quality of G‑d’s existence being different than that of any created being. This would remove some of the strength of the BHG’s question since it is possible to believe one is being commanded by an entity other than the absolutely divine.
The Tzemach Tzedek continues to expound on this and to further define aspects of G‑dliness which would require belief vs self-evident concepts of G‑dliness which can be understood and known to some extent by human intellect.
In conclusion, the Tzemach Tzedek provides that the Mitzva is to know G‑dliness, and what he created, to the extent humanly possible; and thereafter to acknowledge that this created being’s understanding is limited and that regardless how great one can grasp and how deep the understanding, one can never truly know G‑d.
To know this concept is to believe in G‑d.
[i] Rambam 1:1:6
[ii] Raya Meh’hemna Vuh’Ayrah 25a
[iii] Shemos 6:7
[iv] Devarim 4:35
RASHI
Rashi clearly holds the opinion that belief in G‑d is a positive Mitzva.
- Rashi comments on the word 215F[i]לאמר that the Jews responded: “affirmative on the positive Mitzva and negative on the negative Mitzva”. That can’t refer to any other Mitzva, because [as we see later] only the first two were uttered by G‑d.
- All ten (10) utterances are punishable, as Rashi comments on the use of the title אלוקים, the Judge, associated with the utterances. Therefore, they must be Mitzvos or for what violation would there be a punishment.
[i] Shemos 20:1
Discussion by SMS
The argument by the BHG that there’s no need to command belief in the commander has no basis in פשט. The Torah uses the Exodus as the identification for the Mitzva to believe, which for that generation could be superfluous, but definitely required for every generation thereafter who would not automatically know their G-d in the same way. Indeed, as noted in the repetition of the Ten (10) Commandments, on the words על פני Rashi adds a new comment: that this means so long as G‑d exists.