4. Mount Sinai

These laws and statues were given to the Hebrews when Hashem met with Moshe on Mount Sinai. This meeting was called by Hashem after Moshe met with his father-in-law Jethro in the land of Midian (what is modern day Saudi Arabia). Jethro saw the burden that Moshe carried as he tried to lead and keep order amongst the 600,000 plus Hebrews on his own. Though Hashem gave Moshe the strength to fulfill the duty on his own, Moshe conceded to Jethro’s suggestion to elect chieftains from each tribe who would help him to rule over the people. We read that Hashem connected to this arrangement in later books of the Torah (Numbers). With conceptual agreement, Hashem then set in place His Torah so that there would be one law by which to judge, rule, and keep order amongst His people.

The Torah, or mitzvot of Hashem, is most often thought of as simply the 10 Commandments; however, Hashem expounds the fulness of His law and rules throughout Exodus 20-40, The Book of Leviticus, The Book of Numbers, and the Book of Deuteronomy. These written forms of Torah are then expounded further in the oral Torah, which was eventually written down as the Mishnah and Talmud, with Rabbinical rulings in the form of Gematria. 

One must understand that when Hashem came to the Hebrews on Mount Sinai, all of the people heard the oral Torah. The only thing that was written down at that point was the 10 commandments. These 10 commandments are covenantal laws that are to be kept anywhere at any time. The rest of the Torah was given with the caveat “when you enter the land that I have promised you”. Meaning, when the Hebrews would be established as the Jewish Nation State, the Nation of Israel.