Blog Post No. 1: Psalm 73 (Due October 15)

Read Psalm 73.  Describe how this Psalm comments on the issue of coveting.  Is there an antidote?

NOTE: Samuel Bak Exhibit now at Drew University

If you have opportunity, check out the Samuel Bak exhibition now at the Drew University Korn Art Gallery, Madison NJ.  Also, Drew University's Tipple Vosburgh lectures will be held on October 20-22 and will feature lectures on the Samuel Bak, the Bible, and the Shoah.  I strong encourage you to attend the lecture on Tuesday afternoon October 20 at 2PM if at all possible.  You will be able to see the Bak paintings at the Korn Gallery at Drew afterwards at 4PM.  For more information on registration see the link below.

Information about Tipple Vosburgh Lectures at Drew, featuring the work of Samuel Bak

Information about the Bak Art Exhibit at Drew University

Blog Post No. 2 Readings in Context (Due October 15)

Considering all of your readings of Levinas, describe "the face."

Blog Post No. 3: Kieslowski Film (Due October 15)

After the Kieslowski film we watched in class, describe the nature of coveting.

Blog Post No. 1: 2 Samuel 11 (Due Oct. 1)

Reflect on the story of David and his relationship with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11) in light of the Ten Commandments.  How many commandments did David violate?  Are the commandments ever broken just "one at a time?"

Blog Post No. 2: Readings in Conversation (Due Oct. 1)

Take a any selected reading for this week and place it in conversation with the command, "Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery."

Blog Post No. 3: Bak Painting (Due Oct. 1)

Put the Bak painting "Close Up" in conversation with the Kieslowski film for last week and the commandment, "Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery."

Bak explains, "As a child, I had a feeling that if Adam gave up Paradise in order to taste the fruit that would give knowledge and a capacity to distinguish between good and evil, it must have been a pear. I felt that an apple, which in my childhood memories was usually something very sour, had nothing in common with the sensual, wonderful taste of a pear."

The pear thus stands as an alternative symbol of the Fall of Man and all of its ramifications: the expulsion from Paradise into the world of time, the origin of free will, and the capacity to distinguish and choose between good and evil. 

http://www.puckergallery.com/BK1026_enl.html

Blog Post No. 4: Kieslowski Film (Due Oct. 1)

Put the Kieslowski film for last week in coversation with the commandment "Thou Shall Not Commit Adultery" as well as Proverbs 4:1-27.

Blog Post No. 1: Isaiah 58, Due Sept. 24

What is the true Sabbath?  What does it mean in your context of life and ministry to have a true Sabbath?

Blog Post No. 2: Readings in Conversation, Due Sept. 24

What is a "totality" according to Levinas?  Are totalities avoidable in the realization of justice?  Does "responsibility to the Other" have limits in terms of the practical way in which it can be lived out?

Blog Post No. 3: Bak Painting, Due Sept. 24

Study the Bak Painting "Elegy III" and put it into conversation with the first commandment "To you there are no other Gods before my face."

Elegy III

Blog Post No. 4: Kieslowski Film, Due Sept. 24th

In light of the first commandment, discuss the final phrase on the computer "I am ready."  in the last Kieslowski film.

Blog Post No. 1: Isaiah 1

Relate the message of Isaiah 1 to the essence of the Decalogue.  To what is the prophet calling the people of Israel?

Blog Post No. 2: Readings in Conversation

According to Levinas, what is a "religion for adults?"

Blog Post No. 3: "The Family" by Samuel Bak (due 9/17)

Study the paining "The Family" by Samuel Bak (click on the link below) and reflect on any connections you might see between this painting and "Thou Shall Not Kill."

http://www.puckergallery.com/Family_enl.html

Blog Post No. 4: The Kieslowski Film (Due 9/17)

In the Kieslowski film we watched in class on "Thou Shall Not Kill" the young lawyer began his first trial with confidence in the legal system.  However, after developing a "relationship" with his defendent and then losing the trial, he wound up loathing his profession.  Do you believe the young lawyer was "too sensitive" for his profession (as claimed by judge), "merciful," or simply frustrated at the recognition of the limits of law in dealing with the human condition?

Blog Post No. 1: The Book of the Covenant and the Decalogue (Due 9/10)

Read Exodus 21-23 (The Book of the Covenant).  Describe briefly how the "essence" of the Book of the Covenant similar to the Ten Commandments?

Blog Post No. 2: Readings in Coversation (Due 9/10)

What does the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas argue is of greatest significance? (Reference this week's reading by Richard A. Cohen.)

Blog Post No. 3: "Memorial" by Samuel Bak (Due 9/10)

How does painting "Memorial" by Samuel Bak inform your understanding of the Jewish experience of the Ten Commandments in light of the Holocaust.  How does the painting impact you?

To see the paining, click on the link below.

"Memorial" by Samuel Bak

Blog Post No. 4: Kieslowski Film (Due 9/10)

Describe the complication raised in Kieslowski film on how one lives out the eighth commandment "Thou Shall Not Bear False Witness."  Do you identify with this complication and if so, how?

Class Chat Room

 

Groups for Assignments

Group 1 - No Other Gods Before Me
Older Azard, Angela Battle
September 17

Group 2 - No Idols
Doug Brown, Valerie Hunter
October 1

Group 3 - Lifting Up the Name of the Lord to Emptiness
Camille Smith, Margaret Robinson
October 15

Group 4 - Sabbath
Danielle Brown, Quentin Sutton
September 24

Group 5 - Mother and Father
James Wilkerson and Kim Won Hyo (Titus)
October 1

Group 6 - No Kill
Sidney Smith, Stephen Bryant
September 24

Group 7 - Adultery
Im JinPyeong, Mill Jeon
October 1

Group 8 -No Steal
Lisa Williamson, Deborah Jackson
October 1

Group 9 - Bear False Witness
Kenneth Jones, Carla Lissade
September 24

Group 10 - Coveting
Kendra Van Houten, Valerie Smith
September 10

Welcome to the Ethics of the Decalogue

The lesson of truth is not held in one consciousness.  It explodes toward the other.  To study well, to read well, to listen well, is already to speak:  whether by asking questions and, in so doing, touching the master you teacher you, or by teaching a third party.

--Emmanuel Levinas "Beyond the Verse:  Talmudic Readings and Lectures" (1994)

PPT: Re-Reading the Bible for the Other

Reading the Bible for the Other

PPT: Seeing the Other

Seeing the Other

Decalogue Poll No. 2

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Decalogue Poll No. 1

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Class Chat Room

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Course Syllabus

Syllabus, Exodus of the Decalogue