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In 1922, Walter Rathenau, Germany’s foreign minister, was murdered by three men. Two of them later committed suicide. One, Ernst Techow, survived and was imprisoned. Rathenau’s mother Mathilde, wrote to Techow’s mother: In grief unspeakable, I give you my hand. Say to your son that, in the name and spirit of him he has murdered,…

There are large scale sins: Terrorists, tyrants, those who sow hatred and disorder. I recall the words of the Polish dissident Adam Michnik, when asked if former communists all had to be prosecuted, an act that would most certainly tear the society apart. “I believe in amnesty,” he said, “but not amnesia.” Have you learned…

In the Jewish prayer service, our confessional is plural. Partly we are admitting that all sin is a function of community, environment, as well as individual choice. In other words, when another sins we are rarely guiltless. We are part of a system, a family, or perhaps an indifference, that permitted that sin to happen.…

I remember my teacher, Simon Greenberg, telling me that a man once approached him about something terrible he had done. “I never thought I could do such a thing,” he said. Rabbi Greenberg replied, “That may be why you did it.” When it comes to forgiveness, is it important to understand that we, too, can…
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