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

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).