Reparations in the Bible and Rabbinic Literature

Catalog description

Since the official end of American slavery, there have been calls for reparations to descendants of enslaved people. In recent years, that case has amplified in public discourse as a central issue of social and racial justice, especially since Ta-Nehisi Coates's magisterial 2014 article, "The Case for Reparations". In this course, we will study abundant Torah sources, Biblical, Rabbinic, liturgical, aggadic, and halakhic, which explore the place of reparations in the mythic Jewish story of liberation from slavery; consider halakhic models for reparations in practice; and consider thorny questions in reparations debates, such as liability of one generation for the sins of its ancestors and how to distribute reparations fairly when the exploitation has been societal, and not individual. Class discussion will build on text preparation in advance of class. Texts will be available in translation for students at beginning stages of textual experience; preparation in the original is preferred and encouraged for students for whom that is appropriate. Students will submit a final project at the end of the trimester.