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Inscribed: Encounters with the Ten Commandments
This anthology gives voice to the many diverse and contemporary perspectives about each of the Ten Commandments. Written by an impressive collection of rabbis and scholars, the volume allots multiple chapters for each of the commandments in order to engage with the ways in which these timeless utterances have inspired contemporary laws, ethics, and moral guidelines.
232 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 21, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 31, 2026
This book was my preparation for Shavuot which marks revelation. This is an important book developed by the Central Conference of American Rabbis, (The CCAR) part of the Reform Movement. Each commandment is explained by two contributors. The introduction is a masterpiece. My study partner and I will be discussing this for years to come. I especially appreciated the essays on Do Not Murder when it comes to military issues and police violence, two separate essays. I also think the two essays on "Do not bear false witness" are especially important in this time and place. Well worth the read
August 1, 2021
This is a fascinating book of short commentaries on the meaning and significance of the 10 commandments from a Jewish perspective. As with any collection of essays, there is a wide variety of perspectives, insights and quality. Yet the many of the essays offer great wisdom including modern interpretations of the meaning behind the commandments.
I found some of the essays deeply moving, others wise and insightful and a few less interesting or meaningful. The introduction to the book sets a strange tone by squashing all sense of mysticism about the revelation of the 10 commandments and the bible's story of how they were revealed at Mount Sinai. It is an odd way to begin a book about one of the most deeply held articles of faith across the monotheistic religions and I found it disconcerting. Yet the introduction also says "Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously suggested that the entire Hebrew Bible is essentially a midrash" (a narrative story explaining sacred text) "about God's revelation of commandments at Sinai. It may logically follow from this assertion that all of Jewish existence is a commentary on the identity of God, whos speech knits divinity into human life."
There are interesting essays discussing revelation as the beginning of an ongoing conversation between G-d and the the Jewish people, the Exodus story as a narrative to pursue social justice, and even essays about the power of what's not said in the language of the 10 commandments.
For me there were two particularly powerful essays. The first, written by Rabbi Laura Geller deals with the commandment to honor your mother and father. For Rabbi Geller, the meaning of this particular commandment is powerfully real as she cares for aging parents (including a mother with Alzheimer's and all the emotion of losing touch with a person you love). It is a heart wrenching essay that not only reminds us of why this commandment remains important, but also gives concrete steps for making challenging and emotional decisions about caring for parents.
The second is an essay from Batya Ungar-Sargon who is Deputy Opinion Editor for Newsweek. In her essay related to the Ninth Commandment ("You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor"), Ungar-Sargon takes on the issue of fake news and the challenges of truth in our modern era. She powerfully sums up the divisive, divided and angry world we live in saying "we have become a nation of people unable to see things as the other half does and unable to comprehend how any decent person could disagree with us." She also calls on us a nation struggling with a tearing of social cohesion to "find a way to understand why your side might be wrong, and why the other side might be right, even if you ultimately find that you are right.... If you cannot see things from the perspective of the other side, you have no way of knowing whether your own argument is thorough."
Ungar-Sargon also posits that the way we have become is not what the Torah asks of us. "Instead, it asks us to constantly question whether we are right. It asks us to put aside even our strongest emotions in order to pursue justice. It asks us to have empathy for our enemies, to respect their boundaries and their way of life. This empathy is justice, the Torah tells us. The truth is not to be found in the pressure of the crowd, but in the loneliness of resisting the crowd, of speaking truth to the power of our convictions."
These are powerful words for our time and while the essays in this book are not all as consistently compelling or relevant to our modern world as Ungar-Sargon's or Rabbi Geller's, it would be worth reading this collection for these two writers alone.
I found some of the essays deeply moving, others wise and insightful and a few less interesting or meaningful. The introduction to the book sets a strange tone by squashing all sense of mysticism about the revelation of the 10 commandments and the bible's story of how they were revealed at Mount Sinai. It is an odd way to begin a book about one of the most deeply held articles of faith across the monotheistic religions and I found it disconcerting. Yet the introduction also says "Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel famously suggested that the entire Hebrew Bible is essentially a midrash" (a narrative story explaining sacred text) "about God's revelation of commandments at Sinai. It may logically follow from this assertion that all of Jewish existence is a commentary on the identity of God, whos speech knits divinity into human life."
There are interesting essays discussing revelation as the beginning of an ongoing conversation between G-d and the the Jewish people, the Exodus story as a narrative to pursue social justice, and even essays about the power of what's not said in the language of the 10 commandments.
For me there were two particularly powerful essays. The first, written by Rabbi Laura Geller deals with the commandment to honor your mother and father. For Rabbi Geller, the meaning of this particular commandment is powerfully real as she cares for aging parents (including a mother with Alzheimer's and all the emotion of losing touch with a person you love). It is a heart wrenching essay that not only reminds us of why this commandment remains important, but also gives concrete steps for making challenging and emotional decisions about caring for parents.
The second is an essay from Batya Ungar-Sargon who is Deputy Opinion Editor for Newsweek. In her essay related to the Ninth Commandment ("You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor"), Ungar-Sargon takes on the issue of fake news and the challenges of truth in our modern era. She powerfully sums up the divisive, divided and angry world we live in saying "we have become a nation of people unable to see things as the other half does and unable to comprehend how any decent person could disagree with us." She also calls on us a nation struggling with a tearing of social cohesion to "find a way to understand why your side might be wrong, and why the other side might be right, even if you ultimately find that you are right.... If you cannot see things from the perspective of the other side, you have no way of knowing whether your own argument is thorough."
Ungar-Sargon also posits that the way we have become is not what the Torah asks of us. "Instead, it asks us to constantly question whether we are right. It asks us to put aside even our strongest emotions in order to pursue justice. It asks us to have empathy for our enemies, to respect their boundaries and their way of life. This empathy is justice, the Torah tells us. The truth is not to be found in the pressure of the crowd, but in the loneliness of resisting the crowd, of speaking truth to the power of our convictions."
These are powerful words for our time and while the essays in this book are not all as consistently compelling or relevant to our modern world as Ungar-Sargon's or Rabbi Geller's, it would be worth reading this collection for these two writers alone.
May 22, 2020
The ethics and rules featured in the Ten Commandments form the basis for much of Western legal culture, so much so that there are debates in the United States about whether they should be printed on public property, such as court houses and legislative buildings. Yet, at a time when the historical accuracy of religion is under dispute, there is a need to look closely at the 10 statements (as they are actually called in Hebrew) and explore their meaning through the lens of contemporary times. That’s the purpose behind “Inscribed: Encounters with the Ten Commandments” edited by Rabbi Oren J. Hayon (Central Conference of American Rabbis). The essays challenge readers to look anew at this part of the Bible.
See the rest of my review at http://www.thereportergroup.org/Artic...
See the rest of my review at http://www.thereportergroup.org/Artic...
July 9, 2021
There are a number of writers whose essays I thought I would enjoy, but overall this collection fell flat for me. In any anthology, you're not going to love all of the essays, but some of them felt a little repetitive, and many of them felt a bit superficial. There were no revelations for me here. Even the ones that had great concepts tended to peter out. I'm not sure who this book is for.
September 30, 2024
I think this may be the most substantial book I have read on the Ten Commandments. Most focus on the mechanics of what people believe about the Ten Commandments. This book does a great job of discussing the meaning and breadth of the commands.
July 31, 2022
An interesting perspective on the Ten Commandments according to Judaism. I enjoyed some essays more than others but each one made very valid and clear points.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews