Rabbi David E. Ostrich, Congregation Brit Shalom
Clergy Column for The Centre Daily Times
To be published Sunday May 17, 2026; 597 words
While most people are aware of the Ten Commandments, fewer know about the mysterious banquet that celebrates the Covenant between God and Israel. After the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and an additional fifty-three mitzvot/commandments (Exodus 21-23), the Israelite leadership is invited up the mountain:
“Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy elders of Israel ascended; and they saw the God of Israel: under God’s feet there was the likeness of a pavement of sapphire, like the very sky for purity. Yet the Lord did not raise a hand against the leaders of the Israelites; they beheld God, and they ate and drank.” (Exodus 24.9-11)
The story of the banquet with God is curious, but so is the place God chooses to stand. What is this “pavement of sapphire stones,” and why is God standing there? The Torah itself does not explain, but an ancient Midrash (Rabbinic legend) offers the following thought: “The pavement is what God builds while in slavery alongside the Hebrews in Egypt.” While the Hebrews are enslaved and building the store cities of Pithom and Ramases, God is also enslaved and building the pavement of sapphire.
In other words, God is so invested in human welfare that, when people are oppressed and suffering, God is oppressed and suffering too. God cares about us so much that a good part of religion is ethical—as opposed to ritual. Consider the Ten Commandments, one of the most important of religious documents—but one in which most of the commandments are not particularly religious.
I. I am the Lord your God…you shall have no other gods beside Me.
II. Do not make any idols or graven images and worship them.
III. Do not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain.
IV. Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy. (And give everyone the day off.)
V. Honor your father and your mother.
VI. Do not murder.
VII. Do not commit adultery.
VIII. Do not steal.
IX. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
X. Do not covet.
As I count them, God benefits from the first three, and people benefit from the last six—with the Sabbath Commandment benefitting both God and people. The same pattern can be found in the additional fifty-three commandments: most are ethical and instruct us how to treat people with respect and fairness. God cares deeply about how we treat each other.
By the way, the Rabbi who wrote the Midrash about “God being in slavery with us” was not the only ancient Jew who thought along these lines. Another one is quoted in Matthew 25.40 of The New Testament: “Whatsoever you do unto these, the least of my brethren, so you do unto me.”
After the banquet, God gives Moses the instructions for making the Mishkan—the Tabernacle or Tent Temple that the Israelites use for worship. There is an interesting list of materials, but more significant is the purpose of God’s instructions: “Let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.” (Exodus 25.8)
If we look at the whole story—from the Ten Commandments to the instructions for the Mishkan, a very clear lesson emerges. God wants to dwell among us, and the mitzvot—both ritual and ethical—are the ways that we can make God feel welcome in our world. If we want to make the Lord feel “at home,” then our dual path is clear. We are to cleave to God ritually in worship, and we are to manifest God in lives filled with kindness and good deeds.