The Ten Commandments, David Hazony
The Ten Commandments, David Hazony
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The Ten Commandments
How Our Most Ancient Moral Text Can Renew Modern Life

Author: David Hazony

Narrator: Arthur Morey

Unabridged: 8 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/07/2010


Synopsis

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 the encapsulation of 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.

About David Hazony

David Hazony is an American-born writer based in Jerusalem. His writings have appeared in the New Republic, Commentary, the Jewish Chronicle, the New York Sun, Policy Review, the Jerusalem Post, and many other publications. He blogs regularly at Contentions, the blog of Commentary magazine. From 2004 to 2007, Hazony served as editor in chief of Azure, the quarterly journal of Jewish public thought published by the Shalem Center. A doctoral student in Jewish philosophy at the Hebrew University, Hazony translated Emuna Elon's novel If You Awaken Love, which was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award in 2007.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Nathan on January 29, 2020

About the only thing I had an issue with in this book is the fact that my own view of the Talmud is far less than that of the author.  This is a book written by a conservative or Orthodox Jew for someone who at least has a belief that the Talmud has insight to give to contemporary readers.  I would......more

Goodreads review by Michael on October 03, 2017

I can appreciate this Jewish author's work on the commandments from a moral viewpoint. I tend to view the Old Testament through more of a spiritual lens than he does, but there were plenty of good bits to chew on.......more

Goodreads review by Vimal on April 07, 2015

The Ten Commandments (By David Hazony) is a very realistic, traditional, but, truly modern book that addresses Moses’ ten ‘Laws’ factually. Hazony takes ideal measures while handling each of the ten verses of the commandments as fragments of human beings’ versatile measures which should be taken wit......more

Goodreads review by Simcha on February 05, 2013

David Hazony's The Ten Commandments is a solid exploration of ways in which the devarim are particularly relevant to the modern world. Though written from a Jewish perspective, the lessons Hazony draws from his subject are fairly ecumenical and will likely resonate for many across the religious and......more

Goodreads review by Myev on April 17, 2011

I am only on chapter 5 (of an obvious 10) and I adore this book. There are so many truly awful books on this important subject (Dr. Laura springs to mind). As a progressive but observant reform Jew, I feel that most texts on the 10 commandments either side step the difficult issue of what do we do w......more