The Ten Commandments outline our obligations to God and to ourselves. They are open to many interpretations. In this erudite work dedicated to the teachings of Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf, twelve spiritual leaders from across the Jewish spectrum present their commentary on the "Ten Words." The editor who provides introductions to each chapter is Rachel S. Mikva, Rabbi of Community Synagogue in Rye, New York.
In his overview of the Second Commandment, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi challenges us to stay "at the growing edge of the Tree of Life (a metaphor for Torah, all of sacred learning)." Lawrence A. Hoffman opens up the idea of keeping the Sabbath by calling it "a virtual domain in time." Two of the best essays are on the expansive meanings of the Sixth and the Eighth Commandments. In the introduction to the first, Rabbi Mikva notes that the admonition against murder includes not shaming someone, not causing people to lose their livelihood, and even a host's not looking after the safety of a guest. In her introduction on the Eighth Commandment, she clarifies: "We cannot steal people's feelings or opinions by cheating and deception, causing them to have excessively high opinion of us, or to feel grateful when we are undeserving. We cannot take from others their self-esteem." These essays expand and deepen our understandings of the ethical dynamite in the Ten Commandments.