Liberation in the Jewish scriptures is a prelude to a second and even more central sign or code in Judaism—a covenant relationship between the people and their God. Unlike slavery in Egypt, the obligations enjoined on Mount Sinai are voluntarily embraced by the people of Israel.
So central is this tradition to the people who formed the nations of Israel and Judah that we find different versions of this "object" in each of the four sources of Torah. To prepare to discuss this, review the class handout on The Biblical Storyline and review your notes on the Documentary Hypothesis and the dates when those four documents were composed. In preparation for learning to identify which source is which:
Read Exodus 19–20 closely in the NRSV, and take note of literary "seams"—evidence
that different accounts have been spliced together (do any events repeat? does the name of
God change? do you see alternating patterns in the events accompanying God's presence on
the mountain?).
Scan this handout on The Four Versions of the Ten Commandments, and see if you can detect any differences between the emphases in the various sources (the professor will bring a hard copy of this handout to class for you, so you don't need to print it out).
If your close reading of the primary texts reveals how collective memory was reconstructed in the past, our secondary readings and film clips will allow us to see how cultural memory is shaped now. Michael Meyer explores the place of scripture, Torah and law in Jewish religious communities today, and our film clips will show us what features of the story matter most in a mass media context, which Wagner helps us to appreciate as she explores the configuration of stories in texts, films and video games. Here are a few questions from these readings:
Identify the three meanings of Torah that Meyer discusses, then define mikra and contrast its meaning to the English word scripture, noting why this is significant for understanding the biblical "text" in Judaism.
How has the object of the Torah or Bible "re-constructed" in Reform Judaism in the last 130 years? In particular, how did Martin Buber encourage Jews to encounter the text?
Assigned Readings
Primary: Exodus 19–20; 32; 34 (Action Bible 155-161; read the NRSV version of Exodus 19–20 closely)
Secondary: Michael A. Meyer, "Scripture in Modern Judaism," in Living Traditions of the Bible (ed. James E. Bowley; St. Louis: Chalice, 1999) 191-206; Wagner, Godwired, chapter 2 pp. 33-53 (both on Camino); online class prep
Video Clip: The Ten Commandments (Dir. Cecil B. DeMille, 1956)
Michael A. Meyer is Adolph Ochs Professor of Jewish History Emeritus and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Ohio. Born in Berlin, he is a specialist in the modern history of Judaism. An award-winning author, he has served as President of the Association for Jewish Studies and is a fellow of the American Academy for Jewish Research.
Rachel Wagner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Ithaca College in New York. Her courses and research center on the study of religion and culture, including religion and film and religion and virtual reality. She's published pieces in Halos and Avatars: Playing Games with God (Westminster John Knox Press, 2010), God in the Details (2d ed.; Routledge, 2010), and Resisting the Place of Belonging: Uncanny Homecomings in Religion, Narrative and Art (Ashgate, forthcoming).
Sergio Cariello is a Brazilian-American comic book artist. He's published with major comic book publishers such as Marvel Comics and DC Comics, and recently has been penciling and inking "The Lone Ranger" for Dynamite Entertainment" and the "Son of Samson" series for Christian publisher Zondervan.
Cecil B. DeMille (1881–1959) directed over 70 pictures in his Hollywood career, and is widely regarded as one of the founders of the Hollywood film industry. He frequently took up biblical narratives in his cinematic spectacles, including the stories of Jesus (King of Kings, 1927), Samson and Delilah (1949), and Moses (The Ten Commandments, 1956). The Ten Commandments is the seventh highest grossing film of all time, adjusted for inflation.
Further Reading
Coogan, Michael. The Ten Commandments: A Short History of an Ancient Text. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2014.
Homan, Michael M. "The Good Book and the Bad Movies: Moses and the Failure of Biblical Cinema." In Milk and Honey: Essays on Ancient Israel and the Bible in Appreciation of the Judaic Studies Program at the University of California, San Diego (ed. Sarah Malena, David Milano and Frank Moore Cross; Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 2007) 87-112.
Shepherd, David. "Prolonging the Life of Moses: From Spectacle to Story in the Early Cinema." In Images of the Word: Hollywood's Bible and Beyond (ed. David Shepherd; Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2008) 11-37.
The Ten Commandments - official trailer from the remastered 1956 film directed by Cecil B. DeMille.
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The Visual Effects of Parting the Red Sea over the Years - Jim Casey's irreverent review of techniques used over the years to reproduce this iconic scene.
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Liberation in the Jewish scriptures is a prelude to a second and even more central sign or code in Judaism—a covenant relationship between the people and their God. Unlike slavery in Egypt, the obligations enjoined on Mount Sinai are voluntarily embraced by the people of Israel.
