When the Torah uses the phrase “He spoke... to say,” it usually means that the person being addressed should repeat what he is being told to a third party. For example, when G-d instructs Moshe regarding a particular mitzvah, the Torah writes, “G-d spoke to Moshe, to say,” meaning that Moshe should relay the command to Bnei Yisrael.
In light of that, the verse “G-d spoke all these words, to say,” which precedes the Aseres Hadibros, the Ten Commandments, demands explanation. Wasn’t the entire nation present when G-d spoke the Aseres Hadibros? In fact, according to the Midrash, the souls of all Jewish people—past, present and future—were present at Sinai! If everyone to whom the Ten Commandments were directed was present when G-d stated them, to whom must they be repeated?
The Maggid of Mezeritch explains, homiletically, that here the word “to say” alludes to the Asarah Ma’amaros, the “Ten Utterances” with which G-d created the world (e.g., “G-d said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light,” “G-d said, ‘Let the earth sprout vegetation,’” etc.). Accordingly, the verse that precedes the Aseres Hadibros is to be understood as a directive to draw the Torah contained in the Aseres Hadibros into the world that G-d created with the Asarah Ma’amaros.
Practically speaking, the Maggid’s explanation teaches us that we should not compartmentalize our lives, separating the Torah and holy aspects from the mundane. Our interactions with the “Asarah Ma’amaros,” i.e., the day-to-day of our physical lives, must be permeated with a Torah attitude and framed by a Torah lifestyle. Even our mundane activities must be guided not by the attitudes of the secular world, but by an outlook that reflects our attachment to the Aseres Hadibros, the eternal Torah.
—Likkutei Sichos, vol. 1, pp. 148–149
