On Shavuot, we read the Ten Commandments in synagogue because it is their presentation to the Jewish people that inaugurates the Matan Torah (the giving of the Torah) process. As with all inaugurations, the giving of the Ten Commandments is an embryonic projection into the future. Indeed, the sages write that the Ten Commandments are really a distillation of all the 613 laws of the Torah -- both those between man and man and those between man and God.

Since the Ten Commandments given at Mount Sinai were the first laws given by God to the Jewish people as part of a covenant, it is their acceptance that denotes the Matan Torah experience that then continued throughout the years in the desert.

The first two of the Ten Commandments were also heard directly from God speaking to the Jewish people, and not through Moses as an intermediary. Jewish tradition explains that the experience was so powerful, that the Jews "died" from the impact -- their souls left their bodies from the force of the interaction, and God had to "revive" them. After this happened twice, the Jewish people said, "Enough! We're convinced - Moses can tell us the rest of them!"

Rabbi Artie Fischer:
The First Five Commandments

Someone once asked me: Why do we need the Ten Commandments at all? After all, isn't it possible to be a moral person or a moral society without them? But this question ignores another, and no less important, goal of the Ten Commandments. That is the goal of creating a holy society, a God-centered life.

The first five of the Ten Commandments are what the Rabbis call "bein adam lamakom", precepts that apply between people and God.

The first commandment, "I am the Lord your God who took you out of the Land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" shows through our personal experience that God is involved in history. The Egyptian experience created a nation that has an allegiance to God which must be total and unalterable; and, therefore, the next two commandments: "You shall have no other gods before you" and "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain".

The Shabbat creates a society which is holy and is reminded every week of its connection with God.

The fifth commandment "Honor your father and mother" raises a question: Shouldn't this commandment be among those that join human beings, and not among those that join us with God?

One possible answer is that it is through the parent-child bond that we have our first contact with our history and heritage. It is through our parents that we that we learn about our relationship with God. We learn that we are not just answerable to God, but more than that - we can still hear the voice of God in the unfolding process of history.

Gila Rosen:
The Last Five Commandments

The second half of the Ten Commandments comprise mitzvot (commandments) which structure interpersonal relationships - what the sages called "bein adam lechaveiro." These commandments form the basis of a just, ethical, and stable society. They also develop the way in which an individual views the world.

All of these commands are prohibitions. The first three are short and sharp, referring to murder, adultery, and theft. They reflect the human being's right to life, to loyal intimate relationships, and to property.

The fourth commandment in this set moves from action to speech: honest testimony.

The last moves inward, to thought and emotion, to the ability to perceive the boundaries between the self, its needs and desires, and the other. For it is insufficient to attempt to control action without working on inner development.

All of these commandments clarify that the covenant with God includes not only spiritual belief and rituals, but also the sense of the presence of God in every human being and in every daily interchange.