Rabbi Sholom Twerski
July 24, 2026
There are subtle differences between the Aseres Hadibros in Parshas Yisro and those in Parshas Va’eschanan. One of these appears in the wording of the 5th of the 10 commandments.
כַּבֵּד אֶת־אָבִיךָ וְאֶת־אִמֶּךָ לְמַעַן יַאֲרִכוּן יָמֶיךָ עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר־ה אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ׃
Honor your father and your mother, that you may long endure on the land that your ETERNAL God is assigning to you.
כַּבֵּד אֶת־אָבִיךָ וְאֶת־אִמֶּךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוְּךָ ה אֱלֹקֶיךָ לְמַעַן יַאֲרִיכֻן יָמֶיךָ וּלְמַעַן יִיטַב לָךְ עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר־ה אֱלֹקֶיךָ נֹתֵן לָךְ׃
Honor your father and your mother, as the ETERNAL your God has commanded you, that you may long endure, and that you may fare well, in the land that the ETERNAL your God is assigning to you.
שָׁאַל רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בֶּן עָגֵיל אֶת רַבִּי חִיָּיא בַּר אַבָּא: מִפְּנֵי מָה בְּדִבְּרוֹת הָרִאשׁוֹנוֹת לֹא נֶאֱמַר בָּהֶם ״טוֹב״, וּבְדִבְּרוֹת הָאַחֲרוֹנוֹת נֶאֱמַר בָּהֶם ״טוֹב״? אָמַר לוֹ: עַד שֶׁאַתָּה שׁוֹאֲלֵנִי לָמָּה נֶאֱמַר בָּהֶם ״טוֹב״, שְׁאָלֵנִי אִם נֶאֱמַר בָּהֶן ״טוֹב״ אִם לָאו – שֶׁאֵינִי יוֹדֵעַ אִם נֶאֱמַר בָּהֶן ״טוֹב״ אִם לָאו; כְּלָךְ אֵצֶל רַבִּי תַּנְחוּם בַּר חֲנִילַאי, שֶׁהָיָה רָגִיל אֵצֶל רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי – שֶׁהָיָה בָּקִי בְּאַגָּדָה אֲזַל לְגַבֵּיהּ. אֲמַר לֵיהּ: מִמֶּנּוּ לֹא שָׁמַעְתִּי, אֶלָּא כָּךְ אָמַר לִי שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר נַחוּם אֲחִי אִמּוֹ שֶׁל רַב אַחָא בְּרַבִּי חֲנִינָא, וְאָמְרִי לַהּ אֲבִי אִמּוֹ שֶׁל רַב אַחַי בְּרַבִּי חֲנִינָא: הוֹאִיל וְסוֹפָן לְהִשְׁתַּבֵּר וְכִי סוֹפָן לְהִשְׁתַּבֵּר מַאי הָוֵי? אָמַר רַב אָשֵׁי: חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, פָּסְקָה טוֹבָה מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל
Rabbi Ḥanina ben Agil asked Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba: For what reason is the word good not stated in the first version of the Ten Commandments, whereas in the latter version of the Ten Commandments, in the context of the mitzva to honor one’s parents, the word good is stated there: “In order that it shall be good for you” (Deuteronomy 5:16)? … It does not mention the word good in the first tablets, since they were ultimately destined to be broken after the Jews made the Golden Calf. The Gemara asks: And even if it had mentioned the term good, and they were ultimately destined to break, what of it? Rav Ashi said: If this term had been mentioned in the first tablets, all good would have, God forbid, ceased from Israel once they were broken. Therefore, only the second version, which was written after the breaking of the tablets, contains the word good, so that there would always be good for the Jewish people.
We see from this Gemara that what is written in Yisro was on the first version of the Luchos that got destroyed when Moshe came back to find Klal Yisroel worshiping the Egel Hazahav, while the luchos in this week’s parsha was what Moshe inscribed on the second Luchos that we received on Yom Kippur.
The Chasam Sofer asks, “If the reason Hashem didn’t want Goodness written on the first luchos was because if it got broken, it would be symbolic of the nation’s goodness being destroyed, why did it have Length of Days written on the first luchos? Would that not pose the same problem?
He answers that the Length of Days that is spoken of in the second luchos means Olam Haba – the World to Come. However, in the first luchos, Chazal tell us that we rose to a level so lofty that we were above the power of the Malach Hamaves- the Angel of Death. If so, the lengthiness of days would have meant, at the very least, also our physical lifespan! When the luchos were broken, that indeed also broke and fell away. We were once again under the dominion of Death. What remains with us is a chance to earn eternity in the Next World.
“Good”, though, doesn’t mean an easy life, wealth, or health. If Hashem had written “Goodness”, it could only have meant the World to Come. It is only there that we are able to perceive True Goodness. And if that would have broken, there would be no coming back from that. So, Hashem, knowing that it would eventually be broken, made sure that it didn’t appear on the first set of luchos.
May we merit to keep all the mitzvos of Hashem, to have happiness in this world, and to merit lengthy days in the World to Come!
Have a good Shabbos!