Ten Commandments

Question

Dear Rabbi,

Is there a reference in the scripture for publicly displaying the Ten Commandments? Did God command us to put the Ten Commandments on public display?

Answer

According to the Bible, the Ten Commandments were engraved on stones traditionally by G-d Himself. G-d than ordered Moses to place those Tablets of the Covenant inside the Ark of the Covenant, which would in turn be placed in the Tabernacle and finally rest in the Holy of Holies in the Temple in Jerusalem (see Exodus 25: 16,21; Deut 10:2-5; I King 8:9). Even though the Tablets were hidden from view, the Ark of the Covenant rested in the center of the people's encampment and the people were therefore fully aware of their presence in their midst, so you could say that they were put in a very public place.
Moreover, according to the Mishnah, the Decalogue was originally included in the daily Temple service (Mishnah Tamid. 5:1), and recited along with the three paragraphs of the Shema. It is interesting to note that some teffilin found at the Dead Sea, included the text of the Decalogue. Outside the Temple, the people also wanted to include the Ten Commandments in the daily service, but were forbidden from doing so in order to refute the contention of heretical sects that only the Ten Commandments were divinely given (Talmud Berakhot 12a). As a result, the Decalogue does not form part of the statutory daily liturgy. The only emphasis given to it is that the congregation rises when it is read as part of the regular weekly Torah reading cycle and on the festival of Shavuot.
I hope this answers your question.

Rabbi Monique Susskind Goldberg
May 2005