The Aseres HaDibros at Har Sinai: Hearing All Ten Commandments Simultaneously

This shiur explores Rashi (רש"י)'s statement on Parshas Yisro that Hashem (ה׳) spoke all ten dibros (commandments) simultaneously at Har Sinai before repeating them individually. Rabbi Zweig asks a fundamental question: why would Hashem perform this miracle? The Rambam (רמב"ם) teaches that Hashem never performs miracles merely to demonstrate power—every miracle serves a specific need. What need was served by speaking all ten commandments at once in a way that ordinarily could not be heard or understood? The shiur suggests that this miracle teaches a profound yesod about the nature of Torah (תורה): all of Torah is fundamentally one. When given simultaneously, the dibros have no hierarchy, no first or tenth—they are all equally important and interconnected. This reflects the Rav Saadia Gaon's teaching that all 613 mitzvos are included within the Aseres HaDibros, which in turn are all one unified wisdom. The practical application is that insights gained in one area of Torah naturally illuminate seemingly unrelated areas, as expressed in the Gemara (גמרא)'s principle "divrei Torah anim b'makom echad, anim b'makom acher"—Torah learned in one place is impoverished in another place, because all Torah is one indivisible whole.