Why do the Jews believe that god gave them the ten commandments?

Answer 1

That is our tradition, handed down by the entire Jewish nation in an unbroken chain for 3300 years. There were over two million witnesses to the event.

• Some indications of the Divine origin of the Torah
  

1. No other religion claims a national revelation, because that is something that cannot be fabricated.
   
2. Moses was no zoologist, yet he knew all the species named in Deuteronomy ch.14 and the nature of their digestion (verses 7-8).
   
3. No Israelite of any tribe, had the Torah been a human invention, would have made Abraham the father of Ishmael, his firstborn (Genesis ch.16). No Israelite would have written that Isaac fathered Esau (Gen.ch.25). Nor would he have admitted the stigma that the Israelites had been slaves (Exodus ch.1). No Israelite would have penned the prohibition against warring with Ammon and Moab (Deut.2:4,9,19), who became enemies; nor would he have ascribed one of our important national institutions to a foreigner (Exodus ch.18).
   
4. In no other religious text can one find such criticism of its own protagonists. No one is immune to having his faults exposed: Abraham (Genesis 16:5), Reuben (Gen.ch.35), Simeon and Levi (Gen.ch.34 and 49), Judah (Gen.ch.38), Joseph's brothers (Gen.ch.37), Moses (Numbers ch.20), Aaron (Exodus 32:2-4), Samson (Judges 14:1-3), Eli's sons (1 Samuel 2:12), Samuel's sons (1 Samuel 8:1-3), Saul (1 Samuel ch.15), David (2 Samuel ch.11-12), Solomon (1 Kings ch.11), and many others.
   
5. No human would have forbidden farming for a whole year every seven years (Leviticus ch.25).
   
6. No other ancient record has such a coherent and detailed account of the genealogy of nations (Genesis ch.10).
   

A few examples of fulfilled prophecies:

1. The Torah predicts the settling of the Holy Land (Deuteronomy ch.12), the construction of the Sanctuary (ibid), the later Destruction and complete scattering of the Jews (ibid. ch.28), and the later Return (ibid ch.30, and Isaiah 43:5-6). All these have been fulfilled. It also predicts that the Jews would never be completely wiped out (Leviticus 26:44), which is itself a historical miracle.
   
2. Noah's blessing of "God will enlarge Japheth" (Genesis ch.9) has been fulfilled through the empires of Persia, Greece, Rome, Russia and America.
   
3. God's promise to make Ishmael into a great nation (Genesis ch.17) has been fulfilled through the wide band of Arab and Muslim countries stretching from western Africa to Indonesia, well over 1.5 billion people.
   
4. God's warning that "you shall go lost among the nations" (Leviticus 26:38) was fulfilled through the loss, to this day, of ten of the Israelite Tribes.
   
5. Moses' blessing to the Levites that God would "smite the loins of those that rise against him" (Deuteronomy 33:11) was fulfilled through the miraculous victories of the Hasmonean kohanim over the Seleucids.
   
6. The prophecy that "Edom will be inherited by Israel" (Numbers 24:18) was fulfilled when the Hasmonean king Hyrcanus subdued the Edumeans and converted them (Josephus, Antiquities 13:9:1).
   
7. The prophecy that the Torah would never die out (see Gen.32:33, Deut.31:21, Esther 9:28, Isaiah 59:21) has been fulfilled, against all odds.
   
8. The prophecy that the recently-barren Israel would once again bloom (Isaiah 41:18-20), has been fulfilled.
   
9. The prophecy that Egypt would no longer rule over other nations (Ezekiel 29:15) has been fulfilled. Until the time of Ezekiel, Egypt had dominated a number of nations. But for most of the past 2500 years, Egypt has been controlled by foreign powers, including the Romans, Ottomans and Europeans. Today, Egypt is independent again. In 1948, 1967 and 1973, Egypt tried to dominate Israel but was unsuccessful each time.
   
10. The prophecy that enemies of the Jews would reside in Israel (Leviticus 26:32) was fulfilled from the time of Nehemiah until today.
    
11. The prophecy that Babylon's kingdom would be permanently overthrown (Isaiah 13:19) was fulfilled. After Cyrus conquered Babylon, it never again rose to power as an empire.
    
12. The prophecy that Tyre's fortresses would fail (Amos 1:9-10) was fulfilled. The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar attacked the mainland of Tyre, and later in 333-332 BCE Alexander the great conquered the island of Tyre. Alexander's army built a causeway from the mainland to the island so that they could use a battering ram to breach the island's fortress.
    
13. The prophecy that Nineveh would be permanently destroyed (Nahum 3:19) was fulfilled. The prophet said that Nineveh, which was the Assyrian Empire's capital and perhaps the most powerful city at the time, would suffer a wound that would never heal. The city of Nineveh, as well as the Assyrian Empire, never recovered from its defeat at the hands of the Babylonians.

These are just a few examples.

Answer 2

The Torah was given to the descendants of Abraham in the merit of his piety. Abraham chose to serve God despite the fact that his generation was entirely idolatrous; and he taught others. In this merit, God gave the Torah to Abraham's children as soon as they had formed a complete nation, especially since they expressed their obedience to the Torah even before it had been given to them (Talmud, Shabbat 88a).

Answer 3

If you own a Bible, or can borrow one for a while, have a look in Exodus.

Get comfortable, read chapters 19 and 20, and then let's talk.

Answer 4

Traditionally, Jews say that the Torah contains 613 commandments, and that Jews are obligated to follow all of them. Of course, some cannot be followed because the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and with it, the entire system of sacrifices. Tradition says that all 613 commandments were given to Moses on Mount Siani. Tradition says that the entire Jewish community, including the souls of people not yet born and even the souls of converts, were present at the foot of Mount Siani and agreed to uphold the commandments.