Edited by Rachel S. Mikva
Introduction by Lawrence Kushner
Afterword by Arnold Jacob Wolf
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 include:
Eugene B. Borowitz • Leonard Fein
• Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer • Laura Geller •
Lawrence A. Hoffman • Menachem Kellner • Peter S.
Knobel • Richard N. Levy • Zalman M.
Schachter-Shalomi • Levi Weiman-Kelman
“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
“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
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.
