Confronting Scandal: How Jews Can Respond When Jews Do Bad Things

by Erica Brown

"We can battle insensitivity, immorality and dishonesty in our lives individually and collectively as a people. We have a wonderful road map in the Torah and its traditions. It is time to think seriously about our reputation in the world and what we can do to enhance it, not because we want to look good but because we want to be good."
―from Chapter 6. What should we do when we see other Jews behaving badly? Most Jews are good, upstanding people who live by a strong moral code and follow Isaiah's words to be a light to others. But when Jews in the public sphere make headlines for being caught in scandals, their actions can provoke anger, shame and a sense of betrayal in the larger Jewish community. In this insightful and timely book, Jewish scholar Dr. Erica Brown presents an intentional, disciplined framework to explore the emotions provoked in the Jewish community by reports of Jews committing crime. She proposes that we transform our sense of shame into actions that inspire and sustain a moral culture. Drawing from the Hebrew Bible, Talmud and our centuries-long Jewish commitment to ethics, she outlines ways you can activate and operate your personal moral compass, and shows how you can empower yourself with sacred obligation, responsibility, kindness and knowledge to increase Jewish pride.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2010

About the author

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Reviews

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I liked about this book was also what I disliked: almost all of it seemed like common sense. On the positive side, there was nothing I disagreed with. On the negative side, I am not sure I learned much.