What Can Be Forgiven?

“TO DIVIDE,” NIRIT TAKELE, NIRITTAKELE.COM.

Juggling anger, fear and suffering, can we bring ourselves to ask for forgiveness for our part in society’s ills, forgive those who have committed wrongs against us, and forgive ourselves for missteps we’ve made that haunt us still? Here, personal and political experiences of repair and forgiveness: a woman still feeling their barbs reaches out to her junior-high bullies; another leads an effort to atone for decades-old racist violence; a social worker helps people with addictions without judging their choices, and a rabbi helps define collective responsibility.