Ten Suggestions?

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Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

February 6-7, 2026 • 20 Shevat 5786 • Yithro (Exod 18-20).

This should be an easy question for your table:

Can you name the 10 Commandments?

Bonus: In correct order?

It's interesting but no random accident that they have become such an icon of Western culture and wherever Christianity has spread.

Albeit not without controversy. For instance, in 2018, Communist Party authorities in Henan Province forced a church there to remove one of the commandments, creating the world's first 9 Commandments.

Then there's the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone - ever heard of that (not to be confused with the Bat Creek Inscription)?

For many have argued (including Winston Churchill and Dennis Prager - click the above image) that the 10 Commandments are the foundation of Western Civilization. 

Let's perhaps put this thesis to the test.

Chances are that not everyone at your table will be able to name all ten in the correct order, so let's help them out.

First of all, as you can see in this screenshot from the Wikipedia page, there are major controversies over just what are the exact ten.

According to Jewish tradition, they are:

 1. Be a monotheist.
 2. Don't be a polytheist, pantheist, animist, scientist, atheist, or any alternative to monotheism.
 3. Don't misuse the Divine name.
 4. Keep and remember the Shabbat.
 5. Honor your parents.
 6. Don't murder.
 7. Don't commit adultery.
 8. Don't steal.
 9. Don't lie.
 10. Don't yearn to have something that isn't yours and isn't for sale.


So now that we have the What, what about the Why?

As Prager would say, Who can explain them in a way that makes sense to the modern eye and ear? 

Prager can.

But is Prager right that they create the moral foundation of Western Civilization? Or are they only a vestige of Medieval religious fanaticism?

Or, to put the question in more practical terms, could one create a totally moral society based on only nine of the ten commandments as proposed by Chinese Communist Party hacks?

Be circumspect in your answer, for how you answer the question could impact the future of Western Civilization!


Shabbat Shalom

PS — Do you know how many days until Purim and Pesach?

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This message may also be read online at Blogspot and Times of Israel (with an even cooler graphic).