Numbers 22:2−25:9
D'var Torah By: Steven Kushner for ReformJudaism.org
"Blessed is the One who spoke and the world came to be . . ." (P'sukei D'zimrah, morning liturgy). It is among the most central of Jewish values. The power of the word. God created the universe by "speaking" it into being. The Torah, the link connecting God and Israel, is also known as mikra, "that which is (verbally) called." And the most essential communications of that sacred text, the Ten Commandments, are not actually referred to in the Jewish tradition as "commandments" but rather Aseret HaDib'rot, the "Ten Utterances."
The word is the currency of covenant. God speaks to us and we listen (Sh'ma Yisrael). Among the most serious breaches of our relationship with the Divine is to utter God's name in vain. Conversely, when our daughters and sons come of age to assume their place within the structure of that covenant we ask them to master the word. The list goes on and on.
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