I started following Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg on Twitter years ago and immediately became an enthusiastic reader of her tweets. Later, in an essay entitled “Crimes Against Humanity” in Theological Musings: Collected Essays of a Tattooed Theologian Volume 1, I quoted a piece Rabbi Ruttenberg wrote about reproductive freedom from a Jewish theological perspective in my response to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. I also quoted her in an blog post about Leviticus 18:22, one of the “clobber passages” conservative Christians use as a weapon against gay and bisexual people. She had done a long Twitter thread on the subject that was fantastic. Suffice it to say, I’m a fan of her work, so it was a real privilege to have her on the show with me and Desimber Rose.

Her book On Repentance and Repair should be required reading for everyone because we have all caused harm to other people and we all have reason to repent of the harm we’ve caused. Organizations, and perhaps especially religious organizations or denominations should definitely read it, and put its wisdom into practice. Political leaders and decision makers too should read it because our nation has so much to repent of and that needed repentance and repair work is being made nearly impossible by those who want to maintain the white supremacist and capitalistic status quo.

As I read the book this week, I highlighted so many passages, and wrote many quotes down in a notebook. I’ll leave you with a few here:

“This resistance to facing harm head on is a form of gaslighting…which piles more harm on top of the original offense.” p.9

About repentance, “The goal here is not merely making amends. It’s transformation.” p.34

“Repentance is, I believe, a kind of self care. p.59

“Repentance is an ethical, often practical necessity, even in cases where forgiveness is not merited or may not be extended.” p.117

“There should never be pressure on victims to forgive. Ever.” p.184

Listen to our conversation here: The God Squad Pod episode 79 and read the book!

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