This piece was originally featured on nu-detroit.com
The High Holidays are a time for introspection and forgiveness, where we as Jews have an obligation, or better yet an opportunity, to seek teshuvah, repentance, and take responsibility for our thoughts and our actions in relation to one another. Teshuvah is inherently a deeply personal exercise, where we acknowledge our own transgressions, cease harmful actions, seek forgiveness, make amends, and commit to not repeating the same mistakes in the future.
While this atonement process often centers on our specific wrong-doings, there are certain types of issues for which we can unintentionally do harm thru our inaction, or lack of attention paid to something we have a moral duty to address. The push for true racial justice in America is one such issue. When it comes to racism and white supremacy in the US, our destinies as Americans and as humans are intertwined. Neutrality is not an option.
