Jews Talk Racial Justice - Ep 53: Yom Kippur, T’shuvah, and the Load-Bearing Beam

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QUICK EPISODE OVERVIEW

As Yom Kippur approaches, April and Tracie reflect on T'shuvah. We specifically dig into what Jewish tradition teaches us about what to do when “return” requires us to ask how much of ourselves we are willing to dismantle, especially when it comes to perpetuating white supremacy and racism.

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

  1. Tracie opens the episode discussing T’shuvah and how often it requires us to look at parts of ourselves we don’t want to and won’t like what we find. What are you afraid of when you think about t’shuvah?

  2. April asks the question, how can we support ourselves as we engage with T’shuvah and pull on the threads of the fabric in our lives that make us feel like it will all unravel. How can you best support yourself? 

  3. Reflecting on Gittin 55a and the disagreement between Hillel and Shammai, where do you land on what to do with a stolen load-bearing beam? How does this relate to conversations around racial justice and institutionalized racism? 

  4. April reminds us that as on any journey, like a fitness journey, you can’t make massive change overnight, rather, that you make a commitment to make progress. What are the ways you can make commitments and set yourself to make progress on your journey towards aligning yourself with racial justice movements, healing, and our collective liberation?

  5. April points out that there may be prices to pay for moving towards healing and returning to our inherent goodness, particularly as it relates to how other people may relate to us differently, which is terrifying. What are the prices you may be afraid to pay? How can you flip the script on those fears?

  6. April talks about the times when a Jew of Color has a courageous conversation with a white Jew, and even though the white Jew says they hear the feedback, but then the following day, it is as if the conversation never happened (Tracie herself admits to this). Has this ever happened to you? What did it feel like? Have you done this to someone else? Why?  

  7. Tracie reminds us that many of us deflect and blame another person when we feel threatened when receiving feedback. When have you done this before? When has this happened to you? What does it teach you? 

  8. April talks about the importance of finding someone to help you hold space and parse out patterns that you may do. Who are those people in your life? 

  9. Tracie and April discuss the idea that we as humans are complete, in the same way that wheat or an acorn is complete...it is in and of itself but it can become bread and an oak, respectively. How does this metaphor help you understand the process and potential of T’shuvah and the work of healing and towards racial justice? 

COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS?

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