A short thought to share with you. There are no coincidences in life. Why is it that the reciting of the ten commandments again occurs this time of year, specifically for Shabbat Nachamu, after the commemoration of destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, and the beginning of the trajectory to the high holy days.
A review of the ten commandments is a great place to start for comfort.
I am your G-d, know that you are in My hands. There are no other G-ds, so don’t be confused or waylaid into putting time and dedication to another deity, I am It, the one who cares for you.
Don’t swear My name in vain, for belittling G-d is to deny that He is omnipotent, and can do all for His chosen people.
Keep Shabbos, for it is the essential means by which you give up your daily machinations, believing that all you have is in your hands, when in truth, Shabbos reveals that you can stop your daily grind, and G-d will carry you.
Honor your mother and father. And their customs, practices and traditions, for they will carry you forward in ensuring that you stay on the right path. There are three parents, your mother, father and G-d. You have to believe in tradition to sustain it forward.
Don’t kill, because each life is precious.
Don’t be envious of what another has, because it prevents you from being satisfied in life, the core of happiness. Be happy he has it, and work hard to attain for yourself.
Don’t steal, what you attain, no one can take from you, materially and spiritually.
Don’t be a false witness against another, for that is at the core of the justice system, and there can be no community without a pure justice system.
Don’t covet your friend’s wife, core of family values and keeping your base instincts in check.
The commandments go to the core of the relationship with G-d and people. They are the rules of having a happy life, a satisfied life. These rules in and of themselves should bring solace to each person, in that following these rules reveal G-d’s love for us.
We didn’t follow these rules in the time of the two temples, and they were destroyed. But in the book of Deuteronomy reviews the Jewish history and reveals that when we sin, G-d does not completely destroy us, though He has the power to do so. When we resume our observance of G-d’s laws and repent, He forgives us and we can resume a happy life.
Today is Tu B’av an auspicious day for women to find men. It comes right after the destruction as a core means of rebuilding the Jewish family unit, a rebirth.
G-d in His wisdom gave us the tools to rebuild after the destruction. He gave us Tu B’av, a physical means of rebuilding Jewish life, and we recite the ten commandments, the blueprint for rebuilding Judaism within ourselves and our community.
Shabbat Shalom.
-Suri