On Repentance and Repair, Danya Ruttenberg
On Repentance and Repair, Danya Ruttenberg
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On Repentance and Repair
Making Amends in an Unapologetic World

Author: Danya Ruttenberg

Narrator: Sara Sheckells

Unabridged: 9 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/13/2022


Synopsis

Winner NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARDS in Contemporary Jewish Life & Practice
Myra H. Kraft Memorial Award

A crucial new lens on repentance, atonement, forgiveness, and repair from harm—from personal transgressions to our culture's most painful and unresolved issues.

American culture focuses on letting go of grudges and redemption narratives instead of the perpetrator’s obligations or recompense for harmed parties. As survivor communities have pointed out, these emphases have too often only caused more harm. But Danya Ruttenberg knew there was a better model, rooted in the work of the medieval philosopher Maimonides.

For Maimonides, upon whose work Ruttenberg elaborates, forgiveness is much less important than the repair work to which the person who caused harm is obligated. The word traditionally translated as repentance really means something more like return, and in this book, returning is a restoration, as much as is possible, to the victim, and, for the perpetrator of harm, a coming back, in humility and intentionality, to behaving as the person we might like to believe we are.

Maimonides laid out five steps: naming and owning harm; starting to change/transformation; restitution and accepting consequences; apology; and making different choices. Applying this lens to both our personal relationships and some of the most significant and painful issues of our day, including systemic racism and the legacy of enslavement, sexual violence and harassment in the wake of #MeToo, and Native American land rights, On Repentance and Repair helps us envision a way forward.

Rooted in traditional Jewish concepts while doggedly accessible and available to people from any, or no, religious background, On Repentance and Repair is a book for anyone who cares about creating a country and culture that is more whole than the one in which we live, and for anyone who has been hurt or who is struggling to take responsibility for their mistakes.

About The Author

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg is an award-winning author and writer who serves as scholar in residence at the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW). She was named by Newsweek as a “rabbi to watch” and a “faith leader to watch” by the Center for American Progress, and she has been a Washington Post Sunday crossword clue (83 Down). The author of several books, she has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, and other publications.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Katie on October 01, 2022

There are books that come around once in a generation. This book is one of them. Rabbi Ruttenberg has done something transformative. She has used an ancient framework to understand making amends and repair for a complicated world. How to ensure we centered those harms, not just our egos. Even more im......more

Goodreads review by Gwen on January 14, 2023

simplistic and a bit smug If you’re Jewish, not a lot new here. I ended up hate reading a lot of this as she tried repeatedly to cram too much into a chapter- it’s one thing to talk about how nations repent and look at Germany and South Africa, but then she threw in Israel and Palestine (oversimplify......more

Goodreads review by Alexis on January 07, 2023

I have some very mixed feelings about this book. Let me be clear about two things, lest I be accused of bias: I'm a practicing Conservative Jew and a liberal/progressive. In theory this book should have been right up my alley. I've long had an interest in what it means to repent, or in Jewish terms,......more

Goodreads review by Rachel on January 02, 2023

Leaning hard into High Holiday themed reading, and this one did not disappoint! The topic of this book dives into the true meaning of repentance. Ruttenberg uses quotes from seminal works of famed medieval sage, Moses Maimonides, to bolster up the Jewish ideals at play. Repentance might be victim-focu......more

Goodreads review by Chrissy on January 17, 2025

this book is so important! 5/5 i think every one should read this and educate them self on the steps of repentance and how us as a society need to educate our self’s and make real social change towards reconciliation in a colonial world......more


Quotes

“Ruttenberg’s book sets out guidelines for full-hearted repentance—the kind of atonement that people should do, but often don’t.”
—Sandra Collins, Library Journal

“Excellent, necessary . . . Her careful and thoughtful writing frequently includes the voices of others, centering the needs of victims and holding the words of perpetrators to account.”
—Emily Dziuban, Booklist

“A must-read for anyone navigating the work of justice and healing.”
—Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley

"Although the book is based in Jewish concepts, it’s really a book for anyone looking to see how our society can acknowledge its harm and create the world we’d like to see."
—Jaime Herndon, Bookriot

“[Ruttenberg] is a serious scholar who writes in ways that are accessible and engaging to all.”
—Cathy Corman, Provincetown Independent

“When you read Danya Ruttenberg’s brilliant book, you see with fresh eyes that there is a huge omission in contemporary culture: we don’t have a road map for how someone who’s done harm can change and make amends to others, nor do we discuss why this is necessary for both individual recovery and societal well-being.”
—Rebecca Solnit, author of Orwell’s Roses

“A modern and impressive blueprint for confronting and engaging the effects of harm and the potential for reconciliation.”
—Sherrilyn Ifill, author of On the Courthouse Lawn

“A vital contribution.”
—Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her