The menu in my canon sx10 is camera where the digital zoom is located is not "illuminated" as a menu selection I can pick to turn the digital zoom back on. If I try to pick it from the menu, it just jumps past the digital zoom selection..... How can I turn the digital zoom back on???

There are certain modes that you simply can't get digital zoom in (such as widescreen mode). If that isn't the problem, perhaps it's not enabled. According to the manual which I believe is here: http://gdlp01.c-wss.com/gds/7/0300001567/01/PSSX10IS_CUG_EN.pdf on page 54 of the manual (p56 of the PDF) it shows that the digital zoom can be enabled in the FUNC menu (in a record mode). The description of digital zoom, including the safety zone, which might explain why you can't get digital zoom under certain circumstances, is on page 68. Note that there's a big chart on page 286/287 that shows what features are available in each mode - I have a feeling that this could be your problem.