(UNDATED) Beginning at sunset next Thursday (May 28) and concluding 48 hours later, the biblical festival of Shavuot (Hebrew for “weeks”) will be celebrated in synagogues with special prayers, intensive study sessions, and distinctive music.

Coming seven weeks and one day after Passover, Shavuot recalls the moment about 3,200 years ago when Moses received the word of God on Mt. Sinai, a small mountain in the peninsula between Egypt and Israel. While Jewish tradition teaches that the entire Hebrew Bible was given to Moses on Shavuot, the Ten Commandments are frequently the most highlighted.

It’s a good thing the “Big Ten” were accepted back then, because Moses would face harsh resistance if he attempted to gain public approval for them today. Each commandment would offend various interest groups who would work to scuttle the entire enterprise.

Indeed, the Great Lawgiver would have to negotiate with each group to win adoption of the Ten Commandments. That would be difficult for Moses since he brooked no compromise or accommodation with opponents. He angrily shattered the original set of divine tablets when he saw the freed Hebrew slaves worshipping an idolatrous Golden Calf and rebelling against his leadership.

Moses’ problems would start with the very First Commandment: “I am the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt.” Those words would spark opposition from assertive atheists and agnostics. One of their leaders would confront Moses saying, “If you drop this commandment, we might buy the other nine.”

The Second Commandment: “You shall have no other gods beside Me” would never pass muster from the many polytheists in America, or from those who think worshipping at the altar of St. La-Z-Boy is an acceptable alternative for getting to their house of worship on the Sabbath.

The Third Commandment: “You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image or any likeness” of God. Moses wouldn’t have a chance with this one. If fully observed, many painters and sculptors would be out of business. They would cry, “Artistic freedom has been stifled.” Besides, what would happen to Michelangelo’s world-famous Sistine Chapel painting of God touching Adam? Fuhgetaboutit!

The Fourth Commandment: This one would also spell trouble for Moses: “Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.” America once had a series of restrictive “Blue Laws” that prohibited many commercial establishment from operating on Sunday, the Christian Sabbath. Almost all such laws have been repealed. Many Jews faithfully refrain from work or commerce on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath, but for other Americans it is one of the busiest days of the week. And you can bet the Chamber of Commerce would do its best to torpedo this commandment.

The Fifth Commandment: “Honor your father and mother” might actually have a good chance of getting approved. However, children who have been physically or psychologically abused by their parents might seek an exemption, arguing it is asking too much to “honor” parents who have hurt or abandoned them. However, Moses might win this one because of support from greeting card companies.

The Sixth Commandment: “You shall not murder” has been mistranslated as “you shall not kill.” Lawyers know there is a significant difference between “killing” (self-defense, manslaughter, or warfare) and “murder” (pre-meditated crime). But supporters of both the death penalty and medical “mercy killings” would form a strange alliance to sink No. 6.

The Seventh Commandment: Moses shouldn’t even try to get approval for “You shall not commit adultery.” Too many political and entertainment figures would oppose it, along with millions of others, all claiming, “Moses, the bar is too high; we’re only human.”

The Eighth Commandment: “You shall not steal,” sounds good, but fierce opposition would come from drug dealers, dishonest financiers, organized crime, and corrupt politicians. This commandment would set off a huge debate about the precise definition of “stealing.”

The Ninth Commandment: “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor,” if adopted, would cause lots of people to be thrown out of work, including propagandists of warring nations, gossip columnists and authors of tell-all “get even” books seeking revenge for alleged insults and hurts. “Everything in the world was created by God,” an ancient rabbi once wrote, “except the art of lying.”

The Tenth Commandment would probably be the toughest to sell to the public: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house…your neighbor’s wife…or anything that is your neighbor’s.” At this point, Moses would recognize the difficulty in getting the Ten Commandments approved, and he would return to Mt. Sinai to await further divine instructions.

(Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser, is the author of “The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right’s Plans for the Rest of Us.”)