Hadawar hasheni  הַדָּבָר הַשֵׁנִי

I am יהוה thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make unto thee a graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow down unto them, nor serve them; for I יהוה thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments. (2M 20:2-5)

Question: What does the second commandment order us?

Answer:

1. To believe that there is only One God, the Creator of everything that exists,

2. To pray to God alone and submit our feelings contained in prayers to God and no other.

Question: What does the second commandment forbid us?

Answer:

The second commandment forbids us:

1. To give honor and tributes to someone other than God.

2. To depict God as an image or statue or to associate God with anything physical.

3. To believe in superstitions and in the existence of the mystical and the occult. This forbids us to predict the future or find out our fortune and destiny through occult practices and magic.

As the Holy Scripture tells us:

The soul that sinneth, it shall die; the son shall not bear the iniquity of the father with him, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son with him; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. (Eze 18:20)

For ye saw no manner of form on the day that יהוה spoke unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire - lest ye deal corruptly, and make you a graven image, even the form of any figure, the likeness of a male or female. (5M 4:15-16)

There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one that useth divination, a soothsayer, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, or a charmer, or one that consulteth a ghost or a familiar spirit, or a necromancer. (5M 18:10-11)

Question: What else does the  second commandment teach us?

Answer:

The Second Commandment also teaches us that all evil will be punished and all good deeds will be rewarded.