Yisro 5774 – Both Types of Mitzvos are Equal

Hashem spoke all these statements saying (Shemos 20:11)

Our Sages tell us that before Hashem delivered the Aseres HaDibros (commonly translated as the Ten Commandments) to us, he first said all of them together; he said all of the words together in one moment. Of course, this is something impossible for a person to do because we can only say one thing at a time, but for Hashem, He can do it. The reason He did this was to teach us that all of the mitzvos in the Aseres HaDibros are equal.

The Aseres HaDibros were on two tablets. The first tablet had the mitzvos between a person and Hashem. The second tablet had mitzvos between a person and another person. Hashem spoke all of these together to teach us that both of these types of mitzvos are equal.

My friend recently told me a story about when he was a camp Rebbe. He had a group of pre-teens who were not behaving nicely towards each other so he finally took matters into his own hands. He told the boys that it was time for a surprise test. The campers started complaining that there were no tests at camp, but he reassured them that it was an easy test. All they needed to do was raise their hand if the answer to the question is yes.

First question: did you say Modeh Ani this morning? All boys raised their hands.
Second question: did you wash your hands this morning? All boys raised their hands.
Third question: did you daven this morning? All boys raised their hands.
Fourth question: did you say brachos before eating? All boys raised their hands.
Fifth question: did you show respect to the other boys in the group? The boys became very quiet.
Sixth question: did you speak lashon hara against any of the other boys in the class? The boys started to feel uncomfortable.

The Rebbe continued asking more similar types of questions and then called the boys hypocrites. They are excellent when it comes to mitzvos between people and Hashem, but between people and people, they failed miserably. Both mitzvos are just as important as each other.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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