The Ten Commandments: How Our Most Ancient Moral Text Can Renew Modern Life [Hardcover]

David Hazony (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 7, 2010

ACROSS THE WESTERN WORLD, the Ten Commandments have become a source of inspiration and controversy, whether in court rulings, in film and literature, or as a religious icon gracing houses of worship of every denomination. But what do they really mean? 

According to polls, less than half of all Americans can even name more than four of them. For most of us, agnostics and faithful alike, they have been relegated to the level of a symbol, their teachings all but forgotten. In Western life today, the Ten Commandments are everywhere--except where we need them most. 

In The Ten Commandments, David Hazony offers a powerful new look at our most venerable moral text. Combining a fresh reading of the Bible's most riveting stories with a fearless exploration of what ails society today, Hazony shows that the Ten Commandments are not just a set of obscure laws but encapsulate a valuable, relevant approach to life. 

The Ten Commandments begins with a daring claim: Although they have become a universally recognizable symbol of biblically based religion, they are not, strictly speaking, a religious text. Rather than addressing faith or mystical realms, they contain a coherent prescription for how to make a better world. At their core stands what Hazony calls the "spirit of redemption," which he describes as one of the two basic spiritual components of Western civilization. While the Greeks gave us the "spirit of reason," teaching that we should be free to explore and express our views, the spirit of redemption teaches that every individual can, and should, act to improve the world. This spirit reached us from ancient Israel and has stood at the heart of the greatest social movements in our history. 

Going through the commandments one by one, Hazony shows how each represents a poignant declaration about honesty, the self, life, love, freedom, community, and inner peace. Each commandment adds another piece to the puzzle of how the redemptive spirit may help us become more caring, world-changing individuals.

Part memoir, part scholarship, part manifesto for a vital approach to life, The Ten Commandments tackles some of the most painful human questions that stand at the heart of who we are as modern, thinking people--and offers answers that are sure to start a new discussion about the meaning of one of our most enduring, yet least understood, traditions.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In the Supreme Court’s legalistic rulings on public display of the Ten Commandments, Hazony finds disturbing evidence that even when the Decalogue stirs up controversy, it does not receive serious scrutiny. Dispelling the common misconception that it is an irrelevant artifact of a theocratic age, Hazony shows that this set of biblical commandments fosters social health in ways that should matter even to the secularly minded. Even the first commandment—the warning against putting any god above the God of Abraham—yields a social imperative when Hazony draws from it a humane moral vision that will sustain redemptive action in an oppressive world. Similarly insightful readings open up the second commandment’s prohibition against graven images into an invitation into the richer life that awaits those who will smash the narcissistic idols of wealth and fashion; similarly, Hazony converts the fifth commandment’s injunction to honor our parents into a basis for intergenerational moral understanding. And in the final commandment’s admonition against covetousness, readers will discover a shelter against insecurity and a harbor of peace. Ultimately, Hazony finds in the Ten Commandments not a reason for discouragement because of our inevitable individual failings but, rather, a source for renewal of vibrant communities. A timely reappropriation of ancient moral wisdom. --Bryce Christensen

Review

"Drawing on the Bible and classical rabbinical commentaries on the Bible, David Hazony adds his own insights to illuminate the central significance the Ten Commandments possess for modern life.  In this broad ranging work, Hazony addresses the most existentially pressing issues of human concern--community, integrity, relationships, values, repair of the world--and judiciously mines these central biblical directives for the guidance and inspiration they provide for human life both personal and communal.  This is a book of genuine wisdom."

-David Ellenson, President Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion

“One of the greatest of Jewish literary arts is that of spinning brilliant and relevant disquisitions out of terse ancient texts, and David Hazony is a master at it. An exegesis of the Ten Commandments is precisely the book that needed to be written right now, and we are lucky that Hazony was around to write it.”  –Judith Shulevitz, author of The Sabbath World: Glimpses of a Different Order of Time

“David Hazony accomplishes the seemingly impossible: He manages, after three thousand years of commentary, to extract new, even startling meaning, from the Ten Commandments. He has written a book of truth and beauty that avoids pieties and renders these half-remembered injunctions profoundly relevant to our lives today.”

–Yossi Klein Halevi, author of At the Entrance to the Garden of Eden: A Jew’s Search for God with Christians and Muslims in the Holy Land

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; 1ST edition (September 7, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416562354
• ISBN-13: 978-1416562351
• Product Dimensions: 1.1 x 6.1 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #320,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

My first book, "The Ten Commandments: How Our Most Ancient Moral Text Can Renew Modern Life" (Scribner) is on sale now! For info about the book, events, and more, visit my website at http://davidhazony.com

Over the years I've published pieces on religion, Israel, and more in The New Republic, Forward, Moment, Commentary, CNN.com, The New York Sun, the Jewish Chronicle, Policy Review, the Jerusalem Post, and others. I also blog regularly at Contentions, the blog of Commentary Magazine. On the more scholarly side, I spent 4 years as editor of Azure, the quarterly journal of Jewish public affairs, have edited 3 books of Jewish and Israeli thought, and have a Ph.D in Jewish Philosophy from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. I also translated Emuna Elon's novel "If You Awaken Love," which was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in 2007.

You can catch me on Twitter at @davidhazony, or visit my book's Facebook fan page at http://on.fb.me/NJpQpn Hope to see you there!

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The most important text ever given to man. September 29, 2010

By David Kenney

Format:Hardcover

So what happened was this - I have a few "facebook Rabbis" as friends, so since facebook knows my "preferences" - I sometimes get Hebrew related advertisements. Hey, who couldn't use a discount on Matza?

Anyway, one day I get an advert in my upper right corner about this new book by David Hazony on the 10 Commandments. I think to myself, `I like books, I like books on the Old Testament, and this guy David Hazony sounds like a "dope authority" on the subject. So why not pick it up?

Hazony did his doctoral studies in Jewish Philosophy, he also translated Emuna Elon's novel "If You Awaken Love," which was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in 2007.

From 2004-2007, Hazony served as editor-in-chief of Azure, the quarterly journal of Jewish public thought published by the Shalem Center; and his writings have appeared in The New Republic, the Forward, Commentary, Moment, The Jewish Chronicle, Jewish Ideas Daily, The New York Sun, Policy Review, the Jerusalem Post, Azure, and others. He also blogs regularly at Contentions, the blog of Commentary Magazine.

To start, I loved this book - fell in love with it right away. Hazony's voice is easy to read and his chapters break down easily as he takes each "commandment" a chapter at a time. Not only does he give you a clear understanding of each commandment, but he takes it a few more steps - how the Hebrews would have understood them in history, how they often are observed today and what the "deeper" thought is behind each one.

"The 1o Commandments is neither an archaic remnant of a dead past nor an arbitrary set of laws handed down to a hundred generations of hungry supplicants and rebellious fools. The commandments represent rather, a whole attitude to life, one that recognizes both the weaknesses and the unfathomable potential of humanity - a worldview that has largely been forgotten, but has a great deal to offer everyone of us today." (page 2)

As I read, I was quickly underlining whole sections knowing full well I was coming back. Hazony argues that out of all the scriptures the 10 commandments were understood by the Hebrews as the core not only of faith, but of moral wisdom as well. Simply put, it is the "most important text ever given to man." (page 17)

This is a great book if you would like a little Hebrew scholarship in your life. Each chapter is filled with rabbinical quotes and history that you just can't get from Christian authors or your local church. For instance, did you know that "Mount Sinai was neither the highest nor the lowest mountain in the region, but in fact a medium sized one, symbolizing the average person to whom the the 10 commandments were addressed." ~ Sota 5A

I loved this book and know for certain I will go back to it time and time again for reference and inspiration.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical viewpoint October 24, 2010

By Robert W. Gorman

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Many books or articles about the bible inspire totally FOR or AGAINST reactions, eliminating any truly thoughtful response. This book is different. The author, David Hazony, has both a religious AND a secular viewpoint about the bible. He encourages the reader to read it with an open mind allowing both religious and practical viewpoints. Predominantly he turns it from a theoretical discussion to how it affects you the reader in a personal way. His notion of a redemptive approach, centering on making life better, in this world, for those we love, is refreshing. Read it slowly, ponder it often, and it may just change your personal life for the better.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting and informative...but detailed December 19, 2012

By RobLokkesmoe

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Great teaching. I highly recommend this book. But be aware that this is a comprehensive book, you may have to read it several times to really take it all in. The good thing is that it doesn't read like a textbook, it flows well. Set aside some quality time to soak in it and you will not be disappointed.