Observe and Remember: The Ten Commandments appear twice in the Torah (Ex. 20:7 ff, Deut 5:11 ff). In the first instance the word "zachor" (remember) is used, and in the second the word "shmor" (observe) is used. The Talmud (Shevuot 20b) explains that "remember" and "observe" were said in a single utterance, a miracle that only G-d could perform.

Observe: "Observe" corresponds to the 365 prohibitions of the Torah, and the root of their observance is the fear of Heaven.

Remember: "Remember" corresponds to the 248 positive commandments, of which love is the root, for it is only through their observance that a person can cleave to G-d.

Observe and Remember: "Observe" precedes "remember" here, even though the sequence written in the Torah is the opposite; this is because fear of Heaven must precede cleaving to G-d. Furthermore, "observe" is particularly pertinent at night, and "remember" during the day.

The One and Only Lord: One of the commentaries on Sefer Yetzira states that G-d's ability to fuse opposites is indicated by the description "meyuchad", which we have translated here as "One and Only." Here this refers to "remember" and "observe" that were uttered simultaneously.

G-d is One and His Name is One: On the Shabbat, malchut is united within the mystery of Oneness, so that the Oneness of the higher worlds may rest upon her. This takes place during the evening prayer of the Shabbat eve, for then the holy Throne of Glory [the life-force which brings all of Creation into being and sustains it] merges into the mystery of Oneness, and is ready for the holy transcendent King to rest upon it, i.e., for the transcendent revelation of God to be illuminate the lower worlds. (Zohar vol. II, 135a-b)

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Rabbi Moshe-Leib Miller, a guest teacher at Ascent when he lived in Israel, was born in South Africa and received his yeshiva education in Israel and America. He is a prolific author and translator, with some twenty books to his name on a wide variety of topics, including a new, authoritative, annotated translation of the Zohar. He currently lives in Chicago.