Teshuvah as a Natural Social Process--Elul 8

Mordecai Kaplan spent his life formulating the “organic and dynamic view of Jewish life,” because he believed Judaism had fallen into “maladjustment” and an “unhealthy state” in the modern world.  (Preface to The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion) His revolutionary approach was to look at the religion of Judaism as a “natural social process which arises from man’s intrinsic need of salvation or self-fulfillment” (Ibid.) This approach yielded many insights that complement the study of traditional texts and bring their truths into the experience of contemporary men and women.   His insights on the regeneration of human nature, on sin and repentance, are one example. By focusing on the natural, social, and process dimensions of repentance, he uncovers aspects of it that are often neglected and that can aid spiritual growth and creativity. As he argues, “The sacramental efficacy of the ritual of atonement is nil, and its symbolic power of no value, unless the sense of sin leads us to seek the reconstruction of our personalities in accordance with highest ethical possibilities of human nature; only then can we experience teshuvah, the sense of returning to God.” (187).

Teshuvah is natural. Kaplan defines repentance or teshuvah as “part of the normal functioning of our personality in its effort at progressive self-realization.” (Ibid., 182)  It’s not an arcane or particularistic religious habit, but an essential part of all human life.  We focus on this process during the Days of Awe, but we recognize that it is part of our normal daily lives, as evidenced in our daily prayer, “Cause us to return, O our Father…”

Teshuvah is social.  Teshuvah, whether toward God, the natural world, or other human beings, is by definition a social act.  It is not a matter of an individual’s self-contained purity or impurity or state of imperfection.  It involves the quality of one’s relationships with others.  We do not seek perfection within ourselves; we live toward greater wholeness (shalom)  in the full context of our lives.

Teshuvah is a process. Repentance is not a single once-for-all act or a series of discrete acts. It is the very movement of life.  We are always either moving toward greater realization and fulfillment or we are stagnating. Life or death: the choice is ours.  But we must choose, at every moment.

So what does repentance look like in our daily lives?  Kaplan outlines “three types of failure which repentance should aim to remedy.”  (Ibid.) We’ll reflect on each of these three failures (yes, failures)  in the coming days of Elul.