How many times do I find myself doomscrolling through social media and losing track of time? After a while I realized that I have an unhealthy obsession with news and anything that piques my curiosity. I catch myself feeling that it’s almost as if being a responsible person means being emotionally plugged into the entire planet. Then, I realize that this need to know creates an information bank, but doesn’t necessarily create wisdom. More often, it simply generates anxiety, tension and the need to chase the next hit of dopamine.
This week, in a shiur with my mentor, Rav Yehoshua Gerzi, we spoke about the concept of daas. Daas is many things, but at its simplest level, it’s intentional thinking. It’s the awareness that fills the space between stimulus and response. We discussed how thoughts, feelings, and emotions are not the same as our neshama; they’re the domain of the nefesh. Daas is the conscious choice of what you let into your space. It’s the ability to live inside your own life rather than getting pulled into the noise of the world.
This theme is discussed often in our chabura. This week, however, Rav Gerzi said something that struck a nerve. We live with the belief that we need to know everything happening in the world. But we really only need to know what’s going on with ourselves, our homes, and our communities. We don’t need to get sucked into the information vacuum. We do need to know our space and what belongs in it. We need to focus on being aware of what’s within us instead of everything outside us.. It’s about knowing what belongs to you—your inner world, your people, your mission—and letting the rest stay “out there” without trying to carry it.
I immediately responded, “That’s what Yisro did when he divided the court system into cohorts.”
Yisro saw that Moshe was serving as judge for the entire nation and realized this system was unsustainable. People were waiting all day, and it was creating a burden for everyone. As great as Moshe was, he couldn’t be everywhere or do everything. Even he needed to step back from being the center of it all. Without structure, everything would burn out.
Rav Moshe Dovid Vali explains that at first, Yisro considered a darker possibility: maybe Moshe wanted to keep all the authority for himself, like a leader who refuses to delegate. But Yisro Knew Moshe was not seeking honor, he was humble and mission-driven. So he assumed there must be a real reason and investigated.
When Moshe realized that Yisro suspected him of hoarding authority, he clarified that this was never about ego. People came to him for necessary reasons. First, to “seek God,” because only Moshe had prophetic access. Second, for legal disputes, because the people trusted Moshe’s Ruach HaKodesh to yield truth. Third, he was constantly receiving and teaching new laws. These weren’t burdens that Moshe sought, rather they were part of the Divine leadership role assigned to him.
Yisro accepted that Moshe wasn’t doing this for power. Still, Yisro showed Moshe that not every matter requires prophecy. Legal disputes can be handled by others. If only prophets could judge, the system could never function. It’s enough for judges to be wise and righteous, then Divine assistance will guide their rulings.
Rav Vali explains that Moshe must retain certain roles: direct prophecy, seeking God on behalf of individuals, and teaching the chukim and Torah, which require prophetic depth. Moshe must also guide them in derech mussar, the moral path, which is the foundation of Torah observance. Rav Vali points out that when mussar weakens, the sitra achra enters through self-indulgence and shallow speech, leading them away from mitzvos.
Those set aside, ordinary legal disputes should be delegated. A layered court system prevents bottlenecks and burnout. Moshe remains essential, but he doesn’t need to handle everything alone. He appoints judges, because only he can recognize who is truly fit, with clarity and Ruach HaKodesh.
Rav Vali adds that once Moshe isn’t overloaded, he becomes a better vessel for Divine instruction. When the container is calm and clear, it can hold new light. That’s why Yisro concludes: If you do this—and God commands you—you will be able to stand and go home in peace.
Yisro’s advice starts out as management tips and then turns into a model of daas. The steps can be listed as: delegate, create layers, define your space, and make room for the light to dwell. The recipe for success and shalom is structure. Everything and everyone needs their space. You can have a one-man band—but a one-man nation is unsustainable.
As the week went on, this theme kept replaying in my mind. We need to be informed, but not consumed. I started adjusting my own life, letting go of things I didn’t need, that were just taking up precious mental space. I realized then, this wasn’t just a story about courts, rather it’s the heart of Parashas Yisro.
The core event of the parsha is Matan Torah. It was a unique spiritual experience, perhaps the most powerful moment in history with Divine revelation on full display. Yet, the people stepped back. After Hashem spoke, they moved away and said to Moshe: “You speak to us... but let not God speak to us, lest we die”1.
This awareness was Daas. It was a moment where we understood our space. Bnei Yisrael realized that while Moshe could stand directly in the fire, they couldn’t. They asked for a boundary, a container, so the light would be able to be appropriately retained in them and not destroy them.
Before we move into the Aseres HaDibros, I want to return to an idea I shared in an earlier post, because it sets up everything that comes next.
If the Torah has 613 mitzvos, why did Hashem give only ten at Sinai? Why not all of them at once?
Rav Reuven Sasson explains: what we received at Har Sinai wasn’t the complete Torah as it would later unfold. It was the concentrated energy, the spiritual DNA that contains the capacity to unfold Torah through history, and through Torah to reveal the development of the world hidden within it.
Think about a human blueprint. One genetic code can express itself through countless faces, temperaments, and lives. Torah works the same way. The Ten Commandments are the spiritual blueprint from which all 613 mitzvos expand.
The Ten Commandments represent more than a list. They function as the core spiritual DNA that carries the koach to expand into the rest of Torah as history unfolds. Each dibbur reveals another foundational boundary, another dimension of spiritual placement. In the lens I am seeing it, each one teaches a version of the same root skill. Knowing your place. That’s what creates holy space.2
The Aseres HaDibros teach us how to live with boundaries, avoid being consumed by ego or comparison, and remain anchored in holiness.
If you look inside a Sefer Torah, the Aseres HaDibros are surrounded by extra space. It teaches us that the space is just as important as the commandment.
It reminds me of the famous story of Rabbi Moshe Shapiro who was once giving a lecture when one of the students set up a tape recorder that paused during silence. When Rabbi Shapiro noticed this, he remarked that the pauses are there for a purpose, the pauses allow the teachings to be internalized. They are Torah too.3
The way I see the Aseres HaDibros through this lens is as follows:
Each commandment teaches us a different way to protect and inhabit our space—with Hashem, with others, and with ourselves.
Anochi Hashem
What Hashem is telling us: I am the Creator. You are the creation.
How we reflect that: Let go of the illusion of control. Your role is not to run the universe. Humility opens the space for God to dwell. Yes, hishtadlus matters, but obsession drains the soul.
Lo Yihyeh Lecha, no other gods
What Hashem is telling us: Don’t let anything else occupy My space.
How we reflect that: We need to recognize and respect our inherent self-worth. Our identity should be grounded in who we are, not dictated by fleeting trends or popular opinion. The key is to know yourself and maintain a clear focus on the relationship between God, yourself, and others. Do not elevate others to the position of God; always remember Who is truly in charge of the world.
Lo Tisa – Don’t take God’s name in vain
What Hashem is telling us: Don’t profane sacred space.
How we reflect that: Speak with integrity. Don’t use holiness for personal status or manipulation or to serve your agenda. Words shape the spiritual atmosphere.Zachor Et Yom HaShabbos – Remember the Shabbos
What Hashem is telling us: Make time holy.
How we reflect that: You don’t need to be productive all the time. Shabbos is a pause that creates presence. Time becomes space when we honor it. When we don’t, time controls us.Kabeid Et Avicha V’et Imecha – Honor your father and mother
What Hashem is telling us: Respect the roots of your space.
How we reflect that: You didn’t start here. See yourself in the context of generations. Gratitude expands your sense of place. Realize the bigger picture, not just the here and now.Lo Tirtzach, Do not murder
What Hashem is telling us: Every life holds sacred, inherent value.
How we reflect that: We must not erase or override others, whether physically or emotionally. This means respecting personal boundaries, holding back anger and ego that seek to “delete” a person, and refusing to play God with someone else’s journey.Lo Tinaf – Do not commit adultery
What Hashem is telling us: Intimacy belongs in protected space.
How we reflect that: Recognize your proper place, honor what’s sacred, and resist impulses. Stay loyal to your commitments, as boundaries are what shield love from becoming self-centered.
Lo Tignov – Do not steal
What Hashem is telling us: Don’t take what isn’t yours.
How we reflect that: That includes time, energy, and emotional bandwidth. Respect what belongs to others—tangibly and intangibly. The core message is to trust that the portion designated for you is indeed your portion.Lo Ta’aneh Ve’rei’acha Eid Shaker – Don’t bear false witness
What Hashem is telling us: Don’t distort shared space. Adhere strictly to reality and reject baseless speculation.
How we reflect that: Falsehood corrupts reality. Online or offline, honesty sustains the invisible space between people. Engaging in the spread of falsehood, even seemingly minor acts like liking a misleading social media post or participating in the rumor mill, amplifies the lie and elevates the status of the deception. The corruption of truth is a fundamental assault on the integrity of society itself, as truth is the essential framework that holds it together.Lo Tachmod – Do not covet
What Hashem is telling us: “Stop living in someone else’s life.” Their mission is their mission. Your mission is yours.
How we reflect that: Everyone has a pekel. Comparison steals joy and peace, and it also steals identity. When you measure yourself through other people, you abandon your own purpose in creation. We like to think that the grass is greener on the other side, but really we all have our pekel. Our job is to focus on ourselves, on our joy and inner peace. When you compare yourself to others you are committing spiritual identity theft and you abandon your own purpose in creation.
Immediately after the Aseres HaDibros, Hashem tells Moshe a few additional mitzvos :
Don’t make images of celestial beings4
Don’t use a sword to fashion the Mizbeiach5
Use a ramp, not steps, on the Mizbeiach6
At first glance, these mitzvos feel almost random. Why are davka these mitzvos listed and why are they listed here after the revelation at Har Sinai?
The meforshim explain that these mitzvos teach the quality and depth of what it means to receive Torah. Consider this: three of the Aseres HaDibros warn against idolatry, murder, and adultery. These are universal foundations, already binding on humanity through the seven Noachide laws. So why highlight them at Har Sinai, of all places?
The answer lives in what comes next. Moshe tells the people, in effect, that Jewish life takes the basics and raises them to a higher level of observance and sensitivity. While the overt sins are clearly forbidden, even their subtle manifestations are off-limits. The new mitzvos relate to the domains of the cardinal prohibitions.
Regarding idolatry the Torah also warns against creating even symbolic forms, including images of celestial beings. For murder, the Torah also removes the tools of violence from the place of avodah. The Mizbeach represents life, repair, and closeness, so its stones are shaped in a way that reflects that. In terms of physical immorality, the Torah also guides us away from behavior that carries a flavor of immodesty. Rashi explains that steps create a certain kind of exposure, and a ramp preserves tznius.
Hashem uses the placement of these specific mitzvos to indicate and acknowledges that even after receiving the Torah, the struggle against idolatry, violence, and immorality continues. This serves as a reminder for us that receiving the Torah elevates every aspect of life to refine even their faintest traces. Torah means living with more space, more awareness, and more kedushah in the details.
Chazal teach that on the first day of Creation, Hashem made a light so bright it reached from one end of the world to the other. But Hashem saw how that light could be misused, so He concealed it and saved it “for the righteous in the future”7. This is the Ohr HaGanuz, the hidden light, a trace of the Ohr Ein Sof. A person can crave that kind of light but a person can also get hurt by it.
When we try to see everything, hold everything, and carry the whole world inside our minds, we take in light without building a vessel. The result looks spiritual, and it feels frantic. Light passes through you, and it never settles inside you. To carry light in this world, we need inner boundaries. We need daas. We need a sense of what belongs with us, and what belongs out there.
When Bnei Yisrael asked Moshe to be their intermediary, that request expressed spiritual maturity. They understood something real about themselves. They had acquired daas.
In the Aseres HaDibros, Hashem gave us a receptacle for day-to-day life, to hold light without being burned by it.
This theme is found throughout Tanach. The sale of Yosef shows what happens when a family loses clarity about roles, boundaries, and purpose. Nadav and Avihu had holy intentions, but they went too far. Korach argued that everyone could be holy, and he erased the space that allows holiness to live inside a system. When everyone claims the same role, the structure collapses. The story repeats again and again, from Uzzah to Shaul to Achan, as people reach for what feels close and right, and cross the line that keeps the world intact.
When we lose our place, history becomes painful fast.
In our lives, this temptation often shows up as information. We crave for more context, more updates, more awareness. However, what we really need is a stronger vessel: one built with Daas and knowing what is mine as well as what is not mine. Through learning how to live with contentment inside my space. Daas, is our spiritual goal and that is the ability to live fully inside your space: your mind, your home, your community. It’s trusting that Hashem runs the rest.
In order to be holy, we need to relate to our experience with awareness, and pause to ensure the space is creating a real, intentional life. Sometimes the holiest thing you can do is close the feed and go back to your life.
This was Yisro’s message: Don’t try to do it all. When Moshe accepted that advice, he didn’t become less, instead he became a better kli for more ohr. He thrived with space.
That is also the meaning of the space around the Aseres HaDibros in the Sefer Torah. Take your space and fill it with kedushah. Then the hidden light becomes livable, you become a vessel for light which iscapable of holding the spiritual DNA of the Aseres HaDibros that keeps unfolding through history, and through us.
Shemos 20:16
This idea is expressed in B’or Ponecha on Yisro by Rav Reuven Sasson, where he masterfully constructs this explanation based on the words of the Admor HaZaken (Torah Ohr, Yisro, Zachor Et Yom HaShabbat), as explained by Rebbe Nachman (Likkutei Moharan Kama, Torah 34). This idea is also expressed by the Ramchal (Daas Tevunos 2, p. 22; see also §158 and Klalim Rishonim, Klal 30).
Told in L’Gedolim, vol. 2, Sivan Rahav Meir, quoting Rav Yehoshua Hartman.
Shemos 20:20
Shemos 20:22
Shemos 20:23
Chagigah 12a
Phenomenal and a beautiful way to see the Aseres HaDibros with a new light!