Recently, the Kerrville School Board, in a vote of 4-3, refused the gift of a display case, housing historical documents. The reason is that one of those documents is the Ten Commandments. The trustees feared a lawsuit over the possible violation of the separation of church and state. They also were suspicious about the source of the gift. It came from Rev. Joseph Fegenbush, of Faith Christian Church. Fegenbush, a fundamentalist preacher, had tried unsuccessfully, during the previous month, to restore organized prayer on school campuses.

One would think that the Ten Commandments would not create all that much controversy. After all, it is a moral code that almost all civilized people can embrace. It offers wise and sound guidance for good behavior. It seems to be as benign and inoffensive as “Motherhood and Apple Pie.” However, though its rules for conduct seems safe and reasonable, the Ten Commandments is essentially a religious document. As such, it has no place in public buildings. In fact, if exhibiting the Ten Commandments were allowed, it would ignite a whole debate over which text to display.

As I mentioned earlier, the Ten Commandments is found twice in the Bible, once in Exodus and then again in Deuteronomy, in a slightly altered form. In fact, religious people who endorse the Ten Commandments can not even agree on how to number them. The verse, “You shall have no other gods before me, “ is the second Commandment in the Jewish version, but the first Commandment in the Christian version. Furthermore, in some editions, the commandment, “You shall not murder” is translated incorrectly as “You shall not kill.” Should we who are purists tolerate showing a text of the Ten Commandments with that mistake?

Disputes over the Ten Commandments are not new. Today, the problem with posting them in public schools and other government facilities centers on the church-state issue. However, our Jewish forebears had their own challenges with the Ten Commandments hundreds of years ago. Their concern was whether or not to recite them during a worship service. In the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, the Ten Commandments was always proclaimed before the Shema. Strangely enough, however, outside the Temple, however, the practice was banned. What was the problem?

It is revealed in a charming story about an astronomer and a theologian who were flying next to each other on an airplane. The astronomer smugly turned to his seatmate and said: “You know, there is no need for all those millions of volumes of religious literature. The whole essence of religion can be summed up in one simple phrase: 'Love thy neighbor, as thyself,'” whereupon the theologian retorted, “And the whole science of astronomy can be summed up in the simple phrase, 'Twinkle, twinkle, little star.'” In this charming dialogue, we see clearly the human tendency to reduce very complex ideas to simple, pithy slogans. Such is the reason for the popularity of bumper stickers.

When the Temple was still in operation in Jerusalem, some heretics were demonstrating that same phenomenon. They were claiming that the only part of the Torah that God revealed was the Ten Commandments. It alone constitutes the essence of religion. Nothing else is important. The laws and traditions in the rest of the Torah are all superfluous. The Jewish religious authorities feared that allowing the Ten Commandments to be recited throughout the Holy Land might reinforce the perception that Judaism consists of nothing more than the Ten Commandments.

When the Temple was destroyed 2000 years ago, the synagogue replaced the Temple as the dominant public institution of Jewish prayer. However, the Ten Commandments never became part of the synagogue service, except on three occasions: when the Exodus version is part of the assigned Torah reading, like this Shabbat; when the Deuteronomy version is part of the assigned Torah reading; and when the holiday of Shavuot occurs. Shavuot recalls the moment when God gave the Torah to the Jewish people on Mt. Sinai.

I need to point out that some Reform congregations in North America and Great Britain, at one time, did include the recitation of the Ten Commandments in every Shabbat service. Some Reform rabbis even revived the claim that only the Ten Commandments were given at Mt. Sinai and need to be followed in every generation. The rest of the Torah, including the laws about holiday observance, was given only for a particular time and place and is not essential or binding.

Some Reform Jews, even today, will argue that to be a religious Jew means to follow the Ten Commandments and nothing else. They will further insist that attending services, offering the Shabbat Kiddush and fasting on Yom Kippur are of little consequence. In other words, ethics, not ritual, is what Judaism is really about. However, as important as leading the good life is, ethics is only one component of Jewish responsibilities. This is so much more. Another Jewish duty is study. Still another is prayer. Still another is support of the State of Israel. Judaism is a multi-dimensional enterprise.

On the festival of Shavuot, recalling the time of the giving of the Torah, Temple Beth-El and numerous other Reform congregations hold their Confirmation ceremonies. This scheduling is done to illustrate that just as our forebears on Mt. Sinai accepted the Torah 4000 years ago, so, too, do these young people receive the Torah and repeat the same pledge, “Na'aseh v'nishma- We will do and we will obey.” At a key moment in the Confirmation ritual, two or three members of the class unroll the Torah scroll and read each of the Ten Commandments in Hebrew. After each, the rest of the class, now standing, responds with the English translation.

Toward the end of the service, the Confirmands offer a group prayer. In it, they outline a broad comprehensive program for living a full Jewish life. It includes the ethics of the Ten Commandments but also goes well beyond those ethics. They say:

Our mission is nurturing our families and serving our congregations. Visiting the sick and comforting the bereaved. Feeding the hungry and helping the needy. Welcoming the stranger and becoming the friend. Lighting Shabbat candles and brightening the world. Practicing our faith and sharing our faith. Learning Torah and living Torah.

How succinctly our Confirmands tell us, in this prayerful utterance, that our goal is not merely to be a good Jew; it is to be a total Jew. Amen.

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