Broken Tablets: Restoring the Ten Commandments and Ourselves

Let the Ten Commandments command your imagination … and enrich your life. When the Holy One gave the Torah, no bird chirped, no fowl flew, no ox lowed, not one angel stirred its wing or sang its song. The sea did not roar, creatures did not speak—the whole world was hushed into breathless silence; it was then that the voice went forth: "I am the Lord your God…." —Exodus Rabba 29:9 Even people who claim not to be "religious" will generally maintain that they do observe the Ten Commandments. Why is it that these ten statements, thousands of years old, continue to have such a special hold on us? Here, twelve outstanding spiritual leaders from across the spectrum of Jewish thought bring us to the life and soul of the Ten Commandments' unusual power. In voices that are personal and diverse, they help us take a closer look at the ten utterances that not only touch every aspect of our lives, but also present each of us with a profound challenge. Contributors: Rabbi Eugene B. Borowitz • Leonard Fein • Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer • Rabbi Laura Geller • Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman • Dr. Menachem Kellner • Rabbi Peter S. Knobel • Rabbi Lawrence Kushner • Rabbi Richard N. Levy • Rabbi Rachel S. Mikva • Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi • Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman • Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Introduction by Rabbi Lawrence Kushner Perspectives on the Ten Words by Rabbi Rachel S. Mikva 1. The First Commandment I, Adonai your God, [am the one] who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from a slavehouse. First Words: I [Am the One] by Rabbi Eugene B. Borowitz 2. The Second Commandment Have no other god before Me.... First Words: No Other by Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi (z"l) 3. The Third Commandment You shall not lift up the name of Adonai your God for vain purpose, for Adonai will not clear one who uses the Name in vain. First Words: Thou Shalt Not Take the Name by Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer 4. The Fourth Commandment Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.... First Words: The Meaning of Shabbat: A Virtual Domain in Time by Rabbi Lawrence A. Hoffman 5. The Fifth Commandment Honor your father and mother that your days may be prolonged on the soil that Adonai your God is giving you. First Words: I Was Young, and I Have Also Grown Older by Leonard Fein 6. The Sixth Commandment You shall not murder. First Words: Undoing Creation by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman 7. The Seventh Commandment You shall not commit adultery. First Words: Sacred Boundaries by Rabbi Peter S. Knobel 8. The Eighth Commandment You shall not steal. First Words: A Bit of a Thief by Rabbi Richard N. Levy 9. The Ninth Commandment You shall not answer against your neighbor as a false witness. First Words: Competing Values by Rabbi Laura Geller 10. The Tenth Commandment You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female slave, or his ox or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor’s. First Words: Desire by Dr. Menachem Kellner Ten More Words by Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf Sources and Notes About the Contributors

About the Author :
Rachel S. Mikva is committed to sharing with others the rewards of spiritual study and the power of a relationship with God. She is rabbi of Community Synagogue in Rye, New York, and was ordained at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion. While she serves on the Reform movement's Commission for Religious Living as well as on the Responsa Committee and on numerous other community and national not-for-profit boards, she dedicates most of her time to teaching, which she considers her most important work. Lawrence Kushner, author, lecturer and spiritual leader, is regarded as one of the most creative religious thinkers and writers in America. A commentator on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, he has focused us on spiritual renewal with wisdom and humor. Through his books and lectures, people of every faith and background have found inspiration and new strength for spiritual search and growth. It has been said that some spiritual leaders blend religion and psychology to help us walk better on the ground, but Lawrence Kushner draws on the wisdom of the mystics to help us dance better on the ceiling. Kushner's acclaimed books include I’m God; You’re Not: Observations on Organized Religion & Other Disguises of the Ego; Honey from the Rock: An Easy Introduction to Jewish Mysticism; Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary; The Book of Letters: A Mystical Hebrew Alphabet; Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians; and In God’s Hands, an inspiring fable for children, with Gary Schmidt (all Jewish Lights). Kushner served as rabbi at Congregation Beth El in Sudbury, Massachusetts, for almost thirty years; he is currently the Emanu-El scholar at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco, and an adjunct faculty member at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion. He is fascinated by graphic design and computers (designing most of his Jewish Lights books). He enjoys Mozart, hanging around sailboats, and making his granddaughters giggle. Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf was ordained at Hebrew Union College in 1948 with honors in theology and homiletics, and was later awarded a Doctorate of Divinity. He is responsible for more than two hundred fifty essays and five books, most recently Jewish Spiritual Journeys and Unfinished Rabbi. He was a founding editor of Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility and is presently an editor for Judaism. Rabbi Wolf is a board member of the Jewish Peace Fellowship, the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs and other social action organizations. He was founding rabbi of the avant-garde Congregation Solel on Chicago's North Shore, and Jewish Chaplain at Yale University .Arnold Jacob Wolf is rabbi emeritus of K. A. M. Isaiah Israel in Chicago, Illinois, where he served as senior rabbi from 1980 to 1999. Rabbi Eugene B. Borowitz is the Sigmund L. Falk Distinguished Professor of Education and Jewish Religious Thought at Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City, where he was ordained. His books include Renewing the Covenant: A Theology for the Postmodern Jew and A Touch of the Sacred: A Theologian's Informal Guide to Jewish Belief (Jewish Lights).

Review :
"What really happened at that mountain in the wilderness? ... Consider the implications, for instance, if Moses simply concocted the whole thing or if those words on the tablets are literally God's words. Are these two options mutually exclusive?" —Lawrence Kushner "By too easily claiming and naming God, by encouraging others to do the same, did I take the name of the Lord in vain?" —Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer “Real idolatry today is the worship of money, technology, addictions, absolute political systems—even of 'Judaism' and of the personal ego.” —Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi (z"l) “According to the Talmud, the first question that we will be asked in the World to Come is 'Were you honest in your world?’ The question challenges us on many different levels. Were you honest in your dealings with other people, in your public life, in your private life, with your family, with your friends? And it also pushes us to ask an even harder question: Were you honest with yourself?” —Laura Geller