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The Ten Commandments of Character: Essential Advice for Living an Honorable, Ethical, Honest Life by Joseph Rabbi Telushkin
The Ten Commandments of Essential Advice for Living an Honorable, ...
Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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91 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Telushkin
49 books170 followersJoseph Telushkin (born 1948) is an American rabbi, lecturer, and best selling author. His more than 15 books include several volumes about Jewish ethics, Jewish Literacy, as well as "Rebbe", a New York Times best seller released in June 2014
Telushkin was raised in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Solomon and Hellen Telushkin. He attended Yeshiva of Flatbush where met his future co-author Dennis Prager. While at Columbia University, they authored Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism and Why the Jews?: The Reason for Antisemitism.
While at University, Telushkin was an active leader of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry. As part of his position, Telushkin visited the Soviet Union where he met with dissidents such as Andrei Sakharov. He was eventually listed by the KGB as an anti-Russian agent.
An Orthodox rabbi by training, Telushkin serves as a spiritual leader of Los Angeles’ Synagogue for the Performing Arts, founded in 1972 by Rabbi Jerome Cutler. He is an associate of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and a former director of education at the non-denominational Brandeis-Bardin Institute. Telushkin is also a Senior Associate with CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, and is a member of the board of directors of the Jewish Book Council. He has been on the Newsweek's list of the 50 most influential Rabbis in America since 1997.
Telushkin is the author of sixteen books on Judaism. His book, Words that Hurt, Words that Heal, inspired Senators Joseph Lieberman’s and Connie Mack’s Senate Resolution #151 to establish a National Speak No Evil Day in the United States, a day in which Americans would go for twenty-four hours without saying anything unkind or unfair about, or to, anyone. His book, Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History, is one of the best-selling books on Judaism of the past two decades. More than two decades after its publication, the book remains a foundation text for Jews, non-Jews, and prospective converts alike. The first volume of A Code of Jewish Ethics, entitled A Code of Jewish Ethics: You Shall be Holy, which Telushkin regards as his major life's work, was published in 2006. The second volume, entitled, A Code of Jewish Ethics: Love Your Neighbor, was released in 2009.
In 2013, Telushkin was invited by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres to speak before the commission in Geneva.
In 2014, Telushkin released "Rebbe: The life and teachings of Menachem M. Schneerson, the most influential Rabbi in Modern History" which appeared on all the major best seller lists including New York Times Best Seller list, Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly.
Telushkin tours the United States as a lecturer on Jewish topics, and has been named by Talk Magazine as one of the fifty best speakers in the United States. He wrote the episode 'Bar Mitzvah' on Touched by an Angel guest starring Kirk Douglas.
Telushkin was raised in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Solomon and Hellen Telushkin. He attended Yeshiva of Flatbush where met his future co-author Dennis Prager. While at Columbia University, they authored Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism and Why the Jews?: The Reason for Antisemitism.
While at University, Telushkin was an active leader of the Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry. As part of his position, Telushkin visited the Soviet Union where he met with dissidents such as Andrei Sakharov. He was eventually listed by the KGB as an anti-Russian agent.
An Orthodox rabbi by training, Telushkin serves as a spiritual leader of Los Angeles’ Synagogue for the Performing Arts, founded in 1972 by Rabbi Jerome Cutler. He is an associate of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership and a former director of education at the non-denominational Brandeis-Bardin Institute. Telushkin is also a Senior Associate with CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, and is a member of the board of directors of the Jewish Book Council. He has been on the Newsweek's list of the 50 most influential Rabbis in America since 1997.
Telushkin is the author of sixteen books on Judaism. His book, Words that Hurt, Words that Heal, inspired Senators Joseph Lieberman’s and Connie Mack’s Senate Resolution #151 to establish a National Speak No Evil Day in the United States, a day in which Americans would go for twenty-four hours without saying anything unkind or unfair about, or to, anyone. His book, Jewish Literacy: The Most Important Things to Know About the Jewish Religion, Its People and Its History, is one of the best-selling books on Judaism of the past two decades. More than two decades after its publication, the book remains a foundation text for Jews, non-Jews, and prospective converts alike. The first volume of A Code of Jewish Ethics, entitled A Code of Jewish Ethics: You Shall be Holy, which Telushkin regards as his major life's work, was published in 2006. The second volume, entitled, A Code of Jewish Ethics: Love Your Neighbor, was released in 2009.
In 2013, Telushkin was invited by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres to speak before the commission in Geneva.
In 2014, Telushkin released "Rebbe: The life and teachings of Menachem M. Schneerson, the most influential Rabbi in Modern History" which appeared on all the major best seller lists including New York Times Best Seller list, Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly.
Telushkin tours the United States as a lecturer on Jewish topics, and has been named by Talk Magazine as one of the fifty best speakers in the United States. He wrote the episode 'Bar Mitzvah' on Touched by an Angel guest starring Kirk Douglas.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
November 20, 2018
This author provides about 300 pages of advice column material that is devoted around ten ethical principles that are clearly meant to parallel the ten commandments of the Hebrew scriptures. There is little that can be said against these ten principles: 1. Know your weaknesses. 2. When ethics and other values conflict, choose ethics. 3. Treat all people with kindness in the understanding that they too were created in God's image. 4. Be fair. 5. Be courageous. 6. Be honest. 7. Be grateful. 8. Practice self-control. 9. Exercise common sense. 10. Admit when you have done wrong, seek forgiveness, and don't rationalize bad behavior. And while these principles are admittedly easy enough to understand and relate to, at the same time this book is not quite as solid as one would expect. In general, I must admit that my ambivalence and lack of acceptance of the approach of pitting some aspects of God's truth against others, and my dislike of rabbinical reasoning, makes this book less enjoyable to read than it otherwise would be, as there are definitely some cases where the author and I have very different interpretations of the law with very serious repercussions.
Despite being conceived as a book about ten principles, the book itself, after introducing the principles, is organized into eight unequally sized chapters that discuss the application of these principles in various aspects of life, namely family (1), children (2), friends (3), work (4), money (5), medical ethics (6), everyday dilemmas (7), and community (8). In many cases, the author's discussions are commonsensical. In reading this advice column, one could picture yourself looking at a conservative Jewish version of Dear Abby or something like that. At times the author will deal with issues that are personally relevant to him--in one case the author addresses a situation involving forgiveness that he was to blame for, handled elegantly by a couple that was upset that he went on a sabbatical and didn't officiate their wedding after having counseled them. At other times the author finds himself puzzled when his comments concerning the understandable lack of attraction a husband may have for a wife who let herself go are treated by angry readers with immense scorn. At still other times, as when the author makes a bogus interpretation of the law concerning harm done to the unborn, the author demonstrates the gulf between the Bible (and Christianity) and Judaism when it comes to abortion issues that make a mockery of God's command that mankind be fruitful and multiply and to do justice to those who murder those created in the image of God, there is a wide gulf between the author's views and my own.
Despite these serious imperfections, though, in general the book is an enjoyable one to read. If the author is not a particular authority whose views I would respect automatically, he is at least someone whose advice can be taken as interesting and who provides a thoughtful perspective that one can learn from. And I can say that for all of the superficiality of much of these questions and answers, there are at least a few things that I was able to take from this book as habits worth applying for myself. In particular, I thought the author did a good job at commenting on his own praying that emergency vehicles would safely reach the hospital as a way of being less annoyed at the disruptions they caused to traffic flow. If I don't read books of this kind that consist of advice columns, this is at least an enjoyable example of that genre and would probably be enjoyed for the most part by anyone with serious moral views and especially those who have a high degree of interest in and respect for interpretations based on biblical law and rabbinical tradition.
Despite being conceived as a book about ten principles, the book itself, after introducing the principles, is organized into eight unequally sized chapters that discuss the application of these principles in various aspects of life, namely family (1), children (2), friends (3), work (4), money (5), medical ethics (6), everyday dilemmas (7), and community (8). In many cases, the author's discussions are commonsensical. In reading this advice column, one could picture yourself looking at a conservative Jewish version of Dear Abby or something like that. At times the author will deal with issues that are personally relevant to him--in one case the author addresses a situation involving forgiveness that he was to blame for, handled elegantly by a couple that was upset that he went on a sabbatical and didn't officiate their wedding after having counseled them. At other times the author finds himself puzzled when his comments concerning the understandable lack of attraction a husband may have for a wife who let herself go are treated by angry readers with immense scorn. At still other times, as when the author makes a bogus interpretation of the law concerning harm done to the unborn, the author demonstrates the gulf between the Bible (and Christianity) and Judaism when it comes to abortion issues that make a mockery of God's command that mankind be fruitful and multiply and to do justice to those who murder those created in the image of God, there is a wide gulf between the author's views and my own.
Despite these serious imperfections, though, in general the book is an enjoyable one to read. If the author is not a particular authority whose views I would respect automatically, he is at least someone whose advice can be taken as interesting and who provides a thoughtful perspective that one can learn from. And I can say that for all of the superficiality of much of these questions and answers, there are at least a few things that I was able to take from this book as habits worth applying for myself. In particular, I thought the author did a good job at commenting on his own praying that emergency vehicles would safely reach the hospital as a way of being less annoyed at the disruptions they caused to traffic flow. If I don't read books of this kind that consist of advice columns, this is at least an enjoyable example of that genre and would probably be enjoyed for the most part by anyone with serious moral views and especially those who have a high degree of interest in and respect for interpretations based on biblical law and rabbinical tradition.
May 25, 2022
As always with Telushkin, he very clearly applies Jewish thought and teachings to reall world issues clearly, using very accessible language. Also as always with Telushkin, perhaps because of the simplicity, it begins to feel repetitive and condescending three-quarters of the way through
July 31, 2022
Rabbi Telushkin has done it again.
Extremely readable. An "Ann Landers" format with a traditional Jewish twist. Dealing with everyday insights into the practicalities of life - friends, marriage, medical matters, community.
Who wouldn't be interested in such a book?
Extremely readable. An "Ann Landers" format with a traditional Jewish twist. Dealing with everyday insights into the practicalities of life - friends, marriage, medical matters, community.
Who wouldn't be interested in such a book?
December 11, 2017
Great accessible read with lucid case studies that Show how ethical dilemmas can play out, even unintentionally. Lives up to its title.
September 13, 2020
Rabbi Teluskin writes great books. This book has letters written to his advise coloum. He explains the Ten Commandmants of Character and uses the letters to show examples.
Read
March 2, 2021Valuable Values
I read some of these to my young children at bedtime.
The lessons stay with them. Telushkin has many good books
I read some of these to my young children at bedtime.
The lessons stay with them. Telushkin has many good books
February 12, 2024
Eh. I might have liked it more in it's time. A good conversation starter, but not sure I'd have gotten this book if I knew the entire thing was just an "Ask the Rabbi" compilation.
February 19, 2017
A few interesting tidbits, but not great.
October 2, 2007
Written like a ethical "Dear Abby" collection, Rabbi Telushkin's book is comprised of moral questions asked of him over the years in the areas of family, money, friends, everyday dilemmas, and work. Ex-hippie parents wonder if it's okay to hide their pot smoking from their teenage children; a millionaire wonders if he can deny his wealth to the wife he is divorcing; a woman wonders how she should have responded to a tactless, hurtful comment at a party. Not only are the questions often riveting, but Telushkin's thoughtful, sensitive answers will help everyone become a more ethically evolved individual. Well written, never pedantic or preachy.
August 1, 2012
I thought this was going to be a nonfiction exploration of the Ten Commandments from a Jewish perspective but found instead that it was almost entirely a question and answer format like an advice column. Since I enjoy reading those, I found the book a quick and interesting read. While I disagreed on some things, overall I appreciated the insights, especially the emphasis on treating people with dignity and behaving with honor.
December 9, 2010
I enjoy Rabbi Telushkin's books very much, finding a great deal of insight and good common sense in them, for anyone whether or not you happen to be Jewish. Very much recommended.
For the complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_13551...
For the complete review, please go here:
http://www.epinions.com/content_13551...
February 14, 2008
Amazing.
Read
September 14, 2009The Ten Commandments of Character: Essential Advice for Living an Honorable, Ethical, Honest Life by Joseph Telushkin (2003)
Want to read
June 12, 2015I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13416724
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13416724
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews