Rating: 
Summary: Educational but Not Readable
Review: I have been haphazardly flipping through this book for three months, and while I thoroughly appreciate its wisdom and validity, I do not find myself compelled to curl up on the sofa with it and a cup of hot chocolate. The book is well written. It is fully elaborated and sound, but at the same time, it's hard hitting, a heavy chunk, textbook-ish more than reading-book-ish. I do indeed endorse this interpretation of the Ten Commandments according to modern life... but I fear that most people may lack the stamina to support its no-holds-barred style.Of course, the reason that I find the book daunting is because I expected something more along the lines of Dr. Laura's first book, The Ten Stupid Things Women Do to Mess Up Their Lives, a book that combines a hard-hitting message with a upbeat, cheery, "you can do it" voice. This book lacks that positivity. Therefore, I gave the book three stars because of my disappointment... but I realize that it's a good book nonetheless, and it's worth reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Clearing up the 10 Commandments
Review: I was having a difficult time determining if I could/should cut ties to my Mom and was looking for clarity on the "Honor thy Father and Mother" commandment. Dr. Laura provided a crystal clear message on this commandment along with strategies to handle my type of siutation. It was an answer to prayer! Just after I purchased the book, my Brother got called to war. I passed the book along to my brother who received much peace from the chapter on Thou shall not Murder. If you are looking for a deeper understanding of the 10 commandments and strategies for bringing them into your daily life and working around the "what if", this book is for you!
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful and Informative
Review: I was not expecting much from this book. I have listened to Dr. Laura's radio show from time to time, and although I respect many of her views, I had never envisioned her as much of a religious thinker or writer. I was glad to find myself wrong on both accounts.
The Ten Commandments is a nonfiction work that examines in-depth the decalogue delivered to Moses on Mt. Sinai and applies these laws to modern-day life. Dr. Schlessinger writes from a Jewish perspective, although she is careful to also bring in quotes from Christian clergy as well as the New Testament to back up her points and to show the similarities between Jewish and Christian values. She addresses difficult and controversial questions such as "Is killing always wrong?" and "Is it acceptable to tell a white lie?"
The book is a superb review for the practicing Jew or Christian and a useful introduction to anyone who is not well acquainted with Judeo-Christian morality. As a Christian, I found that much of the background explanation the author offered from Jewish tradition helped me to place Christ's explications of the commandments in perspective. For example, Christ tells us that the command, "Thou shalt not murder" also means that you should not hate your brother and that whoever calls his brother "Raca, fool" is in danger of hell fire. (Dr. Laura does not mention this interpretation of Christ in her chapter on murder, but she does quote part of it in her chapter on coveting.) The author points out that rabbinical tradition teaches that the command "Thou shalt not murder" also prohibits publicly humiliating a person or destroying his reputation with gossip. Learning about this tradition gave me some insight into Christ's teaching on this command, and it gave me a more complete idea of what calling one's brother a "Fool" might entail.
The writing in The Ten Commandments is not at all academic, but neither is the text dumed-down This latter flaw is often to be found in many modern religious books, particularly those sold in Christian bookstores. Dr. Laura does not assume her readers have PHD's, but she does write as though she expects them to have some intelligence as well as an ability to "connect the dots" (so to speak).
There were a few minor flaws in the book:
1. It could have benefited from some more editing. As far as I know, God did not mention anything about the "inequities visited upon the generations" (page 74). He might have said something about iniquities, however. The author also attributes to Jesus words that were actually spoken by John the Baptist.
2. Dr. Laura offers an excellent biblical defense of the death penalty, but she does not directly address the serious arguments of a great many Christian denominations that the death penalty is wrong. I would like to have seen her reaction to the specific religious arguments made in opposition to the death penalty.
On the whole, however, the Ten Commandments is well researched, well thought-out, and very insightful. I highly recommend the book to anyone who can approach Judeo-Christian morality with at least an open-mind.
Rating:
Summary: The Cornor Stone of Western Law- must reading
Review: I went to a Christian men's conference once and the speaker asked the audience how many of us believed in the Ten Commandments and, of course, every hand shot up. The next question the speaker asked was a little more troubling- How many of you can repeat the Ten Commandments from memory. The silence was deafening. Not one hand was raised. It was at that moment that I purposed in my heart to buy this book. In light of the recent court challenges on the public display of the Ten Commandments and the increasing hostility towards the Judeo-Christian values, this book is must reading for those of us who hold these values dear. The Ten Commandments are the cornerstone upon which Western law and civilization are based upon. Even as a pastor, this book was convicting. Subtitled: The Significance of God's Laws in Everyday Life, Schlessinger made me reconsider much of my behavior. For instance, the Eighth Commandment, You shall not steal- has implications that many of us have not even considered. At the base of this commandment is that God considers the possession of things of significant importance; thus when we violate someones property, we are violating them. Practical application? How about borrowing and forgetting to return property? I had to go through my bookshelves and garage and return a multitude of items I had borrowed. The lesson of this book is clear: The Ten Commandments have profound implications for how we live. Put this book on your must read list.
Rating: 
Summary: out of place
Review: I've not read this book, but I used to listen to Dr. Laura on the radio. Dr. Laura's books have been popping up in Christian bookstores and I find it somewhat alarming and out of place. If you are a Christian I would suggest reading it to see what the Jewish perspective is. But for a Christian, the commandments only serve to give us a knowledge of sin and then that would lead one to Christ so we can be justified, not by trying to obey the law, but rather by faith in Christ who has obeyed the ten commandments and perfectly loved for us. Just a warning for all you Christians out there.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't talk abou what the 10 Commandments actually say
Review: If your goal is to learn about the 10 Commandments, this is not the book. In it, Dr. Laura engages in her usual tirade of irrational pontification and says little, for example, about the 10 Commandments in any kind of historical perspective. There is no discussion, for example, of how 3 passages in the Commandments mention how to treat one's slaves, but none of them even bother to suggest that there is anything wrong with one person owning another. Slaveowners used the 10 Commandments to justify owning slaves, and it was by the hand of Abraham Lincoln, generally thought by scholars to have been an irreligious infidel, that slavery was put to an end. There is no discussion of the differences in the various sets of commandments (there are three sets in the Old Testament, one of which contains the commandment that tells us not to bathe the kid in its mother's milk, thus no goat stroganoff for lunch today kids!), or the differences between sects, such as the fact that the Douay Bible skips the idol worship commandment, for obvious reasons.
Rating:
Summary: Commandments based on love, honor and respect.
Review: Many people are familiar with what we call the "The Ten Commandments." On the outside they seem to be just a set of rules we are commanded to live by. Once you have read this book you will realize that the underlying concepts for these rules are in fact, based on love, honor and respect. We, as humans, have a free will to choose between good and evil. This book is an attempt to influence that choice towards good, i.e., God. Dr. Laura's words are beautiful and inspiring. You will feel challenged, enlightened and elevated. She also says you will experience these feelings when you have made the right choices in life. By explaining each of the commandments, she takes them to their fullest conceptualization. During this process you realize God's plan is to give us a meaningful, just, loving and even holy life. Each principle or commandment relates to either God, family, our fellow man, love, work, charity, property, speech or thought. These laws are simply a blueprint of God's expectations for mankind. Dr. Laura also deals with today's real-life issues of abortion, euthanasia, gossip, manipulative behavior, etc. This book will solidify within your heart the basic moral laws for all time. This will be a book you will want to read to help you deal with peer pressure, temptation and conflicted emotions. This is a book filled with moral lessons you can apply to your life immediately. I have learned that every decision I make can give meaning to my life or diminish it.
Rating:
Summary: Insights into her foundational principles
Review: NOTE: This review will be about the book, and not about other people's reviews of the book. For background, I am a single, 30-something Christian, and I enjoy Dr. Laura's show and her politics, and her advice. This book is a great revelation of the specific principles that underlie her marital and ethical philosophy. Contrary to common belief, Dr. Lara works from fixed principles. Her show and philosophy is not a series of "hissy fits" or "power trips." She is articulating very ancient, and even eternal laws of conduct and behavior. By compliance to these law, we can improve our lives. In essence, Dr. Laura is doing something that few authority do. She reveals her sources and is open about her bias. I got a four-year Bachelors degree, and in those five years, only once did a professor mention a bias. This book is not a missionary tract. Rather, it is more of a deposition and testament of what she believes. In the preface, she freely mentions that she struggled with the issues contained in the ten commandments. This is why it is co-written with a rabbi. Sometimes I got the feel that I was reading a rabbinical debate-it's there in the subtext. You know the old saying about two Jews and three opinions. I love the sub-text of discussion and debate. I found the book easy to read, agree with some of her conclusions, and was in now way offended by the religious tone. And I enjoyed the Jewish insights, especially how Jews, Catholics, and Protestants divide the commandments differently. Jews see the first commandment as "I am the Lord thy God," where as Catholics and Protestants skip this preface, and go directly to "Thou shalt have no gods before me." This preface is a pause and consideration of the nature, grandeur and existence of God. This pause and preface lays the foundation for the rest of the commandments. I recommend this book to people of all branches of Judeo-Christianity. This nexus of faiths are all tied to Abraham and Moses. There is something of these laws in all religions, and I value Dr. Laura's and Rabbi Vogel's insights on the matter.
Rating:
Summary: Review of Schlessinger & Vogel, _The Ten Commandments_
Review: Review of Schlessinger & Vogel, _The Ten Commandments_ Before her conversion in 1998 to Modern Orthodoxy (that is my guess as to her variety of Judaism) Laura Schlessinger struck me as what Plato or Aristotle, or the sages of China, India, and the Tanach, would sound like if they were somehow forced to speak in the fragile moral accents of late 20th-century America, addressing not men of power and influence but "ordinary people" -- what Ortega y Gasset called "mass man." Now she is interested in the source. This collaboration with R. Stewart Vogel is a very nice popularization of some very profound ideas. Without a source of moral authority other than the opinions of men, there appears to be no way to refute the Glauconian argument from Plato: the best way of life is to do as you please, but maintain the appearance of morality. (But why maintain the appearance? Because -- and this is the essence of the moral issue -- morality is what we expect from _other_ people. Even the most arrogant moral relativist will complain loudly when other people are unjust to _him_.) Consider the problem of the source of moral authority. We want a set of normative principles of the form "one ought to do X" which are absolutely binding and beyond question. Where can such principles (ignoring for the moment what their content might be) possibly come from? It is quite clear they are not self-evident: no deontic statements are self-evident, even if they say things we would all agree with at all times. Well, perhaps they come from God; that is, of course, the ontogeny of the whole idea. But what if we have rejected God? It is clear that if we reject God as the unjudged Judge, we must replace him with some human source. Unfortunately, despite a century or so of post-Enlightenment thought, followed by the century of profound disillusionment we have just concluded, followed by the present age which, though awash in technological marvels, seems to have inherited every social pathology in history, it is not at all clear that any alternatives really work. This may be because they are unreasonable. Consider two. Descriptivism: A legal system is simply a fact. One looks to see what principles are in fact being obeyed. But (a) this does not really give us statements of the form "one ought to do X" but merely describes behavior; it has no normative content. Also (b) there will be many such patterns of behavior, and one will be as good as another, since none is transcendent. Descriptivism validates all systems equally, thus cannot validate any as binding on all. But, as we are fond of saying, "none are above the law." Personalism: Everyone creates his own code of behavior. But then who or what validates the rules for _interaction_ when there is a clash between one person's system of rules and another's? The system would work only if accompanied by out-and-out solipsism, but of course there is hardly any point to having a legal system for a community of solipsists. This system very quickly becomes "might makes right" -- the strongest wins. If to this scheme we add the notion of majority rule, we merely have another kind of might. And still no normative content. Personalism reminds me of a Catholic joke: Why do moderns object to the idea that one man is infallible, when they themselves hold that everybody is infallible? (Well, _I_ thought it was funny.) So there are reasons to take seriously the idea of a moral authority that is above nature. (For a more detailed but still non-technical discussion see for example Arthur Allen Leff, "Unspeakable Ethics, Unnatural Law" in _The Duke Law Journal_, Number 6, December 1979, by which some of the above was influenced.) Given that we do take it seriously, what do we do next? The idea of a vast menu of theistic moral codes in the world to choose from is a vast illusion. One can very easily find ways to "spiritualities" that make no demands on us whatever. Though most of them are non-theistic, they all remind me of the Roman lares -- household gods that sit on your mantle, approve whatever you do, and bring good luck and a sense of comfort. Sad to say, there are nominal Christians and Jews who also "believe in" such convenient gods. (Schlessinger & Vogel's book goes into that incidentally.) What we call "The Ten Commandments" are one of several arrangements of the material of Exodus xx.1-17. The Jewish arrangement used by Schlessinger and Vogel is different from the most familiar Christian one. This, and certain other aspects of the differences between Judaism and Christianity, occasionally make themselves felt in this book, as they do in every ecumenical book. But to quote a talmudic poet, If the cedars have caught fire, what hope is there for the moss on the wall? Now the question of content mentioned above: there is apparently a wide-spread ignorance of the fact that throughout the long history of the Jewish and the Christian faiths, the Ten Commandments have been interpreted, amplified and extended. This was done in the Tanach itself, and later by the Rabbis in Rabbinical Judaism, and it was done in historical Christianity, i.e. Roman Catholicism and the Eastern Churches. As a result, to give an example, 111 pages are devoted to the Decalogue in the current Catholic Catechism. Schlessinger & Vogel consciously follow in that practice. And since this is after all Dr. Laura we have here, there are plenty of real-life cases up for discussion! This is a good book, though not one intended to be logically organized or scholarly. There are useful insights in abundance. Our own consciousness is already in a sense supernatural; we ought to be at home with the concept. This book can help. Ken Miner
Rating:
Summary: An Excellent Book!!!
Review: This book is excellent!! At first I feared it would be a "preachy" book, but it isn't! Dr. Laura and her Rabbi wrote this book and it *really* explains the 10 commandments. Each chapter goes into detail about each commandment. I found that this book really made me think. I read this one real slowly (1 chapter a week) and now have the book on tape too. It really goes into each commandment and explains the Christian side and the Jewish side. Through this book I've learned things I didn't know about my religion or had vague knowledge of. A real eye-opener!!!
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