Perek 5 of Devarim contains the second set of the Ten Commandments, or, as some like to call, the Decalogue. Many commentators have trouble with the Decalogue and why it's repeated twice in the Torah with all the changes made. Rav Naphtali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin gives an answer that, in my opinion, is far superior to any of the opinions out there. If you, my audience (not just my class but my countless viewers from Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and Italy), read my previous post about the Netziv's opinion on Perek 4 and Devarim as a whole, then you will see how this great Torah Scholar remains consistent with his opinions throughout the book of Devarim.
We always say that "all the mitzvot are found in the ten commandments." But, clearly, this is very hard to stand by since the Ten Commandments only consist of TEN commandments (not 613). Furthermore, though you may be able to derive things from these ten, it seems very unlikely to derive 613. The Netziv, however, finds a way to make this dream come true. The first and second sets of the tablets were, indeed, very different. On the first set, Moshe simply wrote down word for word what Hashem told him. The second set, however, was written with a new power that Moshe had acquired. The Netziv says the Moshe had the power "לחדש" in the second set. The second set of tablets are different because Moshe interpreted them using the 13 hermeneutic principles.
The Netziv then states that at first, when the Torah was first given at Sinai, only Moshe and his children had this power "לחדש." But in the plains of Moav and after Bnei Yisrael's sins, Moshe realized the people needed the power to derive laws for themselves for two reasons: the safekeeping of the nation and the teaching. The second tablets weren't given by Moshe because Israel didn't deserve something from Hashem. The message of the second tablets was to show how man and Hashem can work together and both participate in life together. It is not one-sided as most of Israel probably assumed up to this point. All of their needs were taken care of by Hashem and they didn't have to do much. The tablets preserved the nation in that they now were able to learn to take care of themselves through deriving laws themselves (With the help of Hashem of course). The Oral Torah, says the Netziv began at Sinai. The concept of tradition seems to play out here. Moshe taught the Oral Law (or "how to" the Oral Law) to the nation and it was then passed down from generation to generation.
Go Netziv.
