The NPR program "The Next Big Thing" repeated a short piece last weekend on its program about the "Eleventh Commandment." Some of you may remember reading that, early last year, the English Methodist church sponsored a "competition" across England to update the Ten Commandments with a more modern Eleventh. The winner in England, despite some ingenious competitors (“Thou shalt not use plastic to multiply your possessions”), was "thou shalt not be negative." So "The Next Big Thing" went to the streets of Chicago and got some other interesting responses from Americans. But it all got me wondering what Semitism.net could come up with. I have come up with a few ideas; what would you say?
But let’s think about this for a second. How do you come up with a new commandment — with a simple and clear statement of a principle so true, so honest, so plain that it is worthy of commandment status. A commandment must not only be true, honest and plain but must also be rooted in clear, universal beliefs that leave little to no room for argument or debate about its premise. And a commandment’s universality must come not only from the principles in which it is rooted, but in its application – that is, no one should be able to claim that they are exempt. Finally, the Eleventh Commandment should fit with and complement the Ten we already have. (Judaism generally recognizes that the Torah contains 613 commandments, but for present purposes, we’ll follow the Methodists and focus on the Ten).
Put another way, these must be words that could merit a pause during the communal reading of the Torah, so that the congregation could stand to honor the words, the meaning, the moment of receiving the truth of the commandment.
No simple task. But especially for me. As some of you may have gleaned from my previous posts, I am not only a long-winded and convoluted writer, I struggle with my faith, my beliefs, my ideas of what should, must, can be done by individuals in this world. I am not a master of simple, clear statements. I am a lawyer, after all, a profession generally rooted in equivocation. But I will do my best here to be clear.
Thou shalt not oppress another. For me, this is a clear and critical principle. And a no-brainer for this website, which, in many ways, is all about what such a commandment means. It is rooted in God’s consistent reminder to the Jewish people to remember the time when we were slaves in Egypt, to remember when we were oppressed, so that we will not “oppress the stranger.” The entreaty to not oppress the stranger appears 36 times in the Torah, more than any other. And although I believe we do remember much of our oppression, for some in our community, the reminder leads elsewhere, primarily to self-preservation, to insuring that we ourselves are not oppressed any more. While self-preservation is obviously an essential goal, it is not an end that promotes the other Ten Commandments.
But, as the Eleventh Commandment, it does not quite work, I fear, because, while oppression necessarily requires the acts of individuals, and some oppression is entirely carried out by individuals (slavery, for example), oppression also applies to the acts of a community, of a nation, directed and led in its oppressive efforts by a government or group of leaders. And where a government directs oppression, there is the potential for the individual to claim that the commandment could not apply, as the individual did not know, was forced to participate in, or could not bring and end to the oppression.
Finally there is the problem of how you define oppression. Or, who is “another;” who is “the stranger?” No matter how universal you try to make the definition, you will always face the problem of being too specific for some, and too broad for others. So this may be a good principle, a good way to live your life, but maybe not an Eleventh Commandment.
Thou shalt listen to others. Alternate: Thou shalt reach your own conclusions. The first option is a commandment not to follow or obey what others say – in many cases, we must do the opposite – but to always listen. To understand what another person says, believes, experiences. So many disagreements are rooted in our inability, unwillingness to listen to one another, to respect the humanity of those with whom we share the planet, whether we like them, agree with them, believe them, understand them or not. The second says that, while you must listen in order to understand, you must not simply accept or adopt what someone else says as your own belief without challenging, without struggling, without making it your own.
Again, I don’t think either goes far enough. Whereas oppression is perhaps too specific, listening and reaching conclusions are too general, and do not get at behavior. It is not enough to command someone to listen or think, but the commandment must also reach action.
Maybe the answer is to not be so serious and turn to the practical and truly beneficial, such as Thou shalt watch The Big Lebowski once per year. As principle goes, this would be a clear winner and should require no explanation. But the downfall is the application, as it would require that all of humanity own a DVD player or VCR. So we won’t rule this one out, as much as put it on hold.
So back to the serious side for one more effort.
Thou shalt work each day to bring about Peace. This paraphrases how my favorite yoga teacher (that is, until my wife becomes certified to teach next year) ends most every class. I like this because, while simple and clear, its meaning is expansive and hard to dispute. Sure, perhaps not everyone believes in Peace, or believes they should spend some of each day working to bring it about. Or at least not the way I define Peace. But Peace can be defined in so many ways, for the individual and the community, that this commandment can apply to, and for, everyone.
The word Peace in Hebrew – shalom — comes from the same root as the word for complete, or whole. As a result, this commandment can direct you to bring about Peace in yourself, in your home, in your community, in the world. Anyone, anything, anyplace that needs to be made whole. To repair the hurt we feel or see, to do what we can to make sure that hurt does not return, to make sure that we are not in the way of Peace.
I am currently reading The Peace Book by Todd Parr to my son each night before his bedtime bath. Peace, in that book, means everything from speaking a different language to watching it snow to supplying the world with pizza to saying you’re sorry when you hurt someone to helping a neighbor to just being free. For me, my son is Peace. But if Peace can mean all of those things, I think that working at it each day makes for a worthy Eleventh Commandment.
As we begin the Jewish New Year next week, maybe the best we can do is to find our own Eleventh Commandments, and then do our best to live by them each day.
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