At the revelation at Mount Sinai, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave us the Ten Commandments. Within these commandments are matters that stand at the greatest possible distance from one another: the first commandments—“I am the L-rd your G-d” and “You shall not have the gods of others,” —deal with the deepest concepts of Divine unity, whereas later come simple injunctions such as, “you shall not murder” and “you shall not steal,” commands that are self-evident even to average human intellect.
Why did Hashem include within the Ten Commandments both extremes, these two types of commandments?
This expresses the wondrous innovation brought about by the giving of the Torah—the union of the lower and the higher realms. This is the central theme of the revelation at Mount Sinai: creating a bond between the loftiest matters and the lowest ones.
G-d's Desire
This bond operates in two directions: (a) the higher descend to the lower, and (b) the lower ascend to the higher. G-d’s will is that the highest matters descend all the way to the lowest. Even in commandments such as, “you shall not murder” and “you shall not steal,” the Divine foundation—“I am the L-rd your G-d”—must be felt.
Even simple and fundamental commandments must be observed by a Jew because they are Divine commands, not because human intellect happens to agree with them. This must be the primary reason for fulfilling a commandment: the fact that it is commanded by the Holy One, blessed be He.
Unifying All Actions
Separating “you shall not murder” from “I am the L-rd your G-d,” and handing the command over to human reasoning, is dangerous and contrary to G-d’s will. First, one cannot rely on intellect, for “love covers all transgressions,” and a person’s self-love can confuse him to the point that his intellect will “understand” that a transgression is even a “mitzvah.”
Furthermore, if one fulfills the commandment because of intellect alone, the unity between human intellect and G-d’s will is lacking. Yet the mission G-d gave to humanity is to unite all one’s actions—even the simplest—with “I am the L-rd your G-d,” and to observe even the rational commandments out of acceptance of the yoke of Heaven.
Ascending to Higher Realms
Even this, however, is not sufficient. There must also be “the lower ascending to the higher.” G-d desires that even the lowest of people—those who are capable of murder and theft and therefore must be warned, amid thunder and lightning, “you shall not murder!” and “you shall not steal!”—even they are required to “ascend to the higher.” They too must reach understanding and awareness of G-dliness, of “I am the L-rd your G-d.”
A Jew is required to elevate himself and rise until he reaches the feeling and recognition that “Havayah” is “your G-d”—that the Divine Name Havayah, which signifies, “He was, He is, and He will be as one,” the G-dliness utterly transcending creation, should become “your G-d,” a G-dliness that you can grasp and internalize within yourself.
(from the teachings of the Rebbe, Likkutei Sichot, volume 3)
