So this week on the Ultimate Issues Podcast I am featuring a class I taught regarding the Sixth commandment: Do Not Murder ("Lo Tirtzach" לא תרצח׃). I originally learned these ideas from my rabbi Dennis Prager when he taught this verse, so this class is based on the notes that I have from his class. Prior to him, I just read over the line with little hesitation.
Now its true that for many generations it has been this commandment has been understood as Thou Shalt Not Kill, as this was the translation used in the King James Version. But as I have learned (apologies for not remembering the source) "kill" was understood with a different connotation back in the 17th century England in comparison with 21st century America.
In modern American english we have two different words with two different and distinct meanings:
Kill & Murder.
Same is true in the original hebrew:
Harog (Kill) & Rotzeach (Murder, or Slay)
So in your own mind you should ask yourself what if any is the difference between murder and killing?
As I discussed in my class, the act of killing can be either good or bad... as no act is ALWAYS wrong (or right). Context matters. Context determines whether a sexual act is rape or love making. Same is true here. Context determines whether it killing is murder or justifialble homocide or killing.
And also you should ask yourself: Assuming murder is wrong... Why? Why is murder wrong? Why is it Sixth in the "10 Commandments"? Shouldn't it be number one or two?
Again, as discussed more fully in the podcast, the first five commandments are the holiness code and the second set of five are the ethical code.
The first five pertain to the vertical God - Man relationship, and His demand that we act Holy.
The second five pertain to the lateral Man - Man relationship, and His demand that we act ethical.
And as I have learned from Dennis Prager: Holiness Protects Ethics. If the Holiness goes away, eventually the ethics go away as well. This is best illustrated by the "Cut Flower Culture" analogy of Will Herberg taught to me by Dennis Prager:
The attempt made in recent decades by secularist thinkers to disengage the moral principles of western civilization from their scripturally based religious context, in the assurance that they could live a life of their own as "humanistic" ethics, has resulted in our "cut flower culture." Cut flowers retain their original beauty and fragrance, but only so long as they retain the vitality that they have drawn from their now-severed roots; after that is exhausted, they wither and die. So with freedom, brotherhood, justice, and personal dignity — the values that form the moral foundation of our civilization. Without the life-giving power of the faith out of which they have sprung, they possess neither meaning nor vitality. ~ W. Herberg "Judaism and Modern Man"
On the other hand, one cannot be holy and act unethical. Do not even claim to have that vertical relationship if you are determined to act unethical. For prior to the commandment "No Murder" is the commandment "Do Not Carry the Lord's Name in Vain." To act unethical and claim to be Holy or religious goes directly against this profound commandment. Nothing does more harm to God's name than when so-called religious or holy people act unethically. Hence why this commandment and its punishment are there in the first place.
Also we discussed why the first five Holiness laws have explanation and/or elaboration, and yet the next five ethical laws are tersely announced.
Basically, since the first five pertain to the relationship between Man and God (and parents - who are partners with God), meaning matters. That is to say that, what you are thinking and feeling when engaged in this relationship matters.
But in regards to ethical laws, no one cares why you don't murder or steal... they just care that you do not do it. Your reasons or feeling toward the action are largely irrelevant morally speaking.
Its the deed that matters with regards to the ethical laws, and its the mind and heart that matters in the Holiness laws.
This is just part one, and the following classes will be shared later. I truly hope you enjoyed this class and special podcast. If you want to engage in more Torah study, please visit my other site and podcast TorahMeansTeacher.com.
And if you have any questions or comments please share below in the comment area below.
The Ten Commandments (Ex. 20 NIV)
1And God spoke all these words:
2“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3“You shall have no other gods beforea me.
4“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lordyour God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9Six days you shall labor and do all your work,10but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13“You shall not murder.
14“You shall not commit adultery.
15“You shall not steal.
16“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”
