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Friday Noon Study Group  September 18,  12-1

Last week, we continued our discussion of Ruttenberg’s On Repentance and Repair, focusing first on some key ideas presented in the author’s introduction and then on how the insights of Maimonides could shed light on those ideas.  In her introduction, Rabbi Ruttenberg offered several observations:

• We need to acknowledge that we have been 1) perpetrators (we have harmed others); 2) victims (we have been harmed by others); and bystanders (we have been witnesses to harm).  The goal of her book is to examine how we can foster an ethos of repentance and repair:  How do we go about repairing the harm that we have done?  What do justice and healing look like?

• American society hasn’t proven itself to be very good at doing the work of repentance and repair.  We don’t spend adequate time thinking about or engaging in these activities.  Americans lack a sense of collective responsibility.  We lack empathy.  In our capitalist system, we are motivated by self-interest rather than altruism, the pursuit of ends without caring about means.  Our cultural emphasis on individualism focuses on the rights of the individual rather than on our obligations to one another.  Some of the group’s participants agreed with these claims.  Others felt that Ruttenberg was using over-generalizations, that she failed to consider, for example, the communal ethos that Americans frequently displayed (i.e., the work of first responders in the aftermath of 9/11; how people rallied to help victims of Hurricane Helene).

• For a genuine ethos of repentance and repair to exist, the needs of victims of harm need to be addressed in meaningful ways.  Citing examples from the post-Civil War Reconstruction period and the much more recent demonstrations in Charlottesville, Ruttenberg posited that those who caused harm and were subsequently forgiven are still to be held accountable and must make genuine efforts to repent and repair the harm that was caused.  In essence, she noted that Reconstruction reinscribed white supremacy as did post-Charlottesville remarks that prioritized unity over accountability/forgiveness over repentance.  Ruttenberg poses the question:  who benefits when harm is swept under the rug and victims’ interests are further marginalized?  She concludes that any attempt to address harm that does not put the victims of harm and their needs at the center will come up short.  We talked about how those who’ve been harmed are often not consulted about what remedies can be put in place to redress that harm.

Rabbi Ruttenberg opens the first chapter of her book by noting that “in a moral universe, there is work to be done whenever harm is inflicted.”  She suggests that a process outlining precisely what work to be done can be found in the “Laws of Repentance” section of Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides/the Rambam) classic 12th century work, the Mishneh Torah.  In particular, Ruttenberg says that the Rambam offers us a clearcut guide for repairing harm and for becoming the kind of person who doesn’t cause harm in the future.  She notes that Maimonides’ plan involves demanding work in which one cannot cut corners, but that the “holy atonement reset button doesn’t work until we’ve cleaned up our own mess.” 

Maimonides offers us a five-step process for performing tshuvah–returning, coming back to where we are supposed to be, to the person we are capable of being.  The first of the steps is to “name, out loud, the harm we have caused” (and to avoid such strategies as minimizing the harm, stating that our intentions were good, shifting blame, etc.)  We must also acknowledge our intention not to repeat the offense.  Our group discussed exactly the importance of this naming out loud–if only to ourselves.  We talked about the context of this naming–does it need to be a confession made in a public setting? can it be made to a specific person or group that we have harmed?   We also brought up the public confession, the Al Het, that Jews make–10 times–during Yom Kippur.   We noted that this confession is made in the plural “We have sinned,” in the name of the community, that it is often made perfunctorily, without the proper kavanah (intention).  It is not the kind of admission of harm that Maimonides had in mind.  

This week, we will conclude our discussion Chapter 1 (pp. 32-46), addressing the remaining 4 steps of repentance suggested by the Rambam.  We will then move on to Chapter 2  (pp. 47-74), which addresses repentance in personal relationships.

Our informal discussion group meets via Zoom every Friday from 12-1 (check CBI’s web site or weekly announcements for updates and a link).  All are welcome to attend.  Copies of Rabbi Ruttenberg’s book can be found on internet discount book sites on the internet.  If you have questions, contact Jay Jacoby at jbjacoby@charlotte.edu