Two in one – Va’et’channan
The Ten Commandments come twice in the Torah. The first version is in the sidra of Yitro, in Sh’mot. The second version is in today’s sidra of Va’et’chanan, from D’varim.
There are differences between them. One example comes at the beginning of the Shabbat commandment, which in Yitro is zachor (Remember) and here in Va’et’chanan shamor (Observe).
The change in wording must have puzzled our ancestors. If there are two versions, they must have asked, which one is correct? Which word did the Almighty actually say at the moment of Revelation at Mount Sinai?
Their answer is familiar to all who sing the Friday night hymn Lecha Dodi, which proclaims, Shamor v’zachor b’dibbur echad – “Observe” and “Remember” were in one utterance – i.e. God spoke both words at the same time, but since humans are not capable of doing as He did, one word was recorded in one place and the second in the other.
In practical terms this tells us there are two duties entailed in keeping Shabbat – the intellectual (Remember) and the practical (Observe). The first involves our heart and mind in the observance of the day of rest, the second that we don’t give Shabbat merely a passing nod of acknowledgment and fail to reflect the day in our actions.
But the intellectual duty does not simply mean that one should remember which day it is; more than this, the sages say that acknowledging Shabbat is evidence of belief in God who created the world in six days and brought Shabbat into being on the seventh.
