So y’all, I realized only after Jeff—one of our beloved Life is a Sacred Text commentariat—said something the other day—sorry for being slow to get there—a lot of you are reading On Repentance and Repair! Thank you! I’m honored—actually. And are having some Thoughts and Feelings as you’re reading, and might be glad for a place to process that.
So welcome to the On Repentance book club.
For the next nine weeks, the Thursday discussion space that’s usually subscriber-only will be thrown open to everyone, with the topic being the book.
You don’t have to participate! You can delete the emails and go on with your day! (You can decide you actually want to engage later, and then find the conversation online!)
The idea will be this:
Discussion will hopefully stay focused on the section of the book at hand, so people can participate if they’ve read up to that point (and won’t suddenly be lost halfway through a conversation).
This is asynchronous, which is cool, so if you haven’t gotten to (whatever section), you can come back later and join the conversation if you want to process. Let’s assume this is a friendly space where folks popping into the conversation later is welcome, yeah?
I’ll drop some discussion questions—those are meant to be starting places! You can engage however you want! If you have a question that wasn’t a prompt, bring it!
I’ll also drop a few traditional Jewish sources from the chapter in, and a link to a source sheet with a lot more texts. Fair game to start a thread wherein you paste any of those texts and start discussing. Reminder that if Judaism isn’t your home base, being cognizant of the fact that these are other people’s sacred text and that they have a whole context and set of meanings you might not know might be useful. (Most of y’all get this! I LOVE the amazing respectfulness of this community and the thoughtfulness and care that happens here! Just a reminder since this might have a different set of voices than our usual conversations.)
Obviously I am assuming that we are all respectful, using “I” statements, presuming good intent, all that stuff in this space.
Jam! Talk to each other! Have fun!
PSYCHEDELIC MAIMONIDES WANTS YOU TO HAVE FUN
OK. The Introduction.
Let’s discuss the Introduction which was, yeah, kind of a chapter of its own.
What’s Missing When We Seek to Repair Harm?
What’s the argument here? What’s the claim about some of the key factors in American culture that make repentance work especially challenging? What do you make of that claim? Anything missing?
Forgiveness and repentance after the Civil War: let’s unpack that?
What’s really going on when someone says, “they don’t have a racist bone in their body”?
Where does power fit in the conversation about repentance and forgiveness?
Have you ever forgiven (or said that you’ve forgiven) someone for the sake of unity or group cohesion? Have you ever demanded forgiveness for yourself or on behalf of another person in order to move forward? What happened?
What else has come up for you just in the act of opening this book? Has it been daunting? Anything else?
The On Repentance Book Club!
So y’all, I realized only after Jeff—one of our beloved Life is a Sacred Text commentariat—said something the other day—sorry for being slow to get there—a lot of you are reading On Repentance and Repair! Thank you! I’m honored—actually. And are having some Thoughts and Feelings as you’re reading, and might be glad for a place to process that.
So welcome to the On Repentance book club.
For the next nine weeks, the Thursday discussion space that’s usually subscriber-only will be thrown open to everyone, with the topic being the book.
You don’t have to participate! You can delete the emails and go on with your day! (You can decide you actually want to engage later, and then find the conversation online!)
The idea will be this:
Discussion will hopefully stay focused on the section of the book at hand, so people can participate if they’ve read up to that point (and won’t suddenly be lost halfway through a conversation).
This is asynchronous, which is cool, so if you haven’t gotten to (whatever section), you can come back later and join the conversation if you want to process. Let’s assume this is a friendly space where folks popping into the conversation later is welcome, yeah?
I’ll drop some discussion questions—those are meant to be starting places! You can engage however you want! If you have a question that wasn’t a prompt, bring it!
I’ll also drop a few traditional Jewish sources from the chapter in, and a link to a source sheet with a lot more texts. Fair game to start a thread wherein you paste any of those texts and start discussing. Reminder that if Judaism isn’t your home base, being cognizant of the fact that these are other people’s sacred text and that they have a whole context and set of meanings you might not know might be useful. (Most of y’all get this! I LOVE the amazing respectfulness of this community and the thoughtfulness and care that happens here! Just a reminder since this might have a different set of voices than our usual conversations.)
Obviously I am assuming that we are all respectful, using “I” statements, presuming good intent, all that stuff in this space.
Jam! Talk to each other! Have fun!
OK. The Introduction.
Let’s discuss the Introduction which was, yeah, kind of a chapter of its own.
What’s Missing When We Seek to Repair Harm?
What’s the argument here? What’s the claim about some of the key factors in American culture that make repentance work especially challenging? What do you make of that claim? Anything missing?
Forgiveness and repentance after the Civil War: let’s unpack that?
What’s really going on when someone says, “they don’t have a racist bone in their body”?
Where does power fit in the conversation about repentance and forgiveness?
Have you ever forgiven (or said that you’ve forgiven) someone for the sake of unity or group cohesion? Have you ever demanded forgiveness for yourself or on behalf of another person in order to move forward? What happened?
What else has come up for you just in the act of opening this book? Has it been daunting? Anything else?
OK, fine people, have at it: