Stories of remorse &/or redemption in the Talmud, Midrash, or Apocrypha?
May 30, 2013 9:29 AM
I'm looking for short and simple fables or parables found in the above (or even just in Jewish folklore) dealing with subjects of regret, mistakes, despair, etc. If there is a redemptive element to it (i.e making amends for a mistake, or at least attempting to) so much the better. Difficulty: nothing related to Yom Kippur. Thanks!
If the Hebrew Bible is acceptable, Genesis 25-33, the story of Jacob and Esau, seems to qualify. There's a lot of nuance there (in my mind) about how Esau made light of his birthright, then gets it stolen from him, then how Jacob's family later deals with him deceitfully in similar ways. Then the brothers meet again late in the narrative and make up (sorta).
Esau attempts to reclaim his father's blessing, and I think to some extent at least Jacob attempts to make things right. But neither brother ever quite trusts the other again. If you read the story of the big reunion carefully, you get the feeling both of them have a shiv up their sleeve the whole time.
posted by randomkeystrike at 11:53 AM on May 30, 2013
Esau attempts to reclaim his father's blessing, and I think to some extent at least Jacob attempts to make things right. But neither brother ever quite trusts the other again. If you read the story of the big reunion carefully, you get the feeling both of them have a shiv up their sleeve the whole time.
posted by randomkeystrike at 11:53 AM on May 30, 2013
Also from the Hebrew Bible, David and Bathsheba, II Samuel 11 with Psalm 51. Pretty powerful. And don't think that by marrying her David is having his cake and eating it, too. He is /making amends/ to her because by raping and widowing her he's destroyed her life and social status. If he /didn't/ marry her and give her children she'd have nothing.
No doubt there are other stories, too, that I'm not thinking of right now.
posted by probably not that Karen Blair at 2:42 PM on May 30, 2013
No doubt there are other stories, too, that I'm not thinking of right now.
posted by probably not that Karen Blair at 2:42 PM on May 30, 2013
I was looking for a resource about the classic 4 steps of repentance (because I think that's relevant to what sorts of stories you'll find or won't find) and found a link to this: Midrashim about Baalei Teshuvah and also this although the latter is mostly just passages and not particularly stories.
posted by needs more cowbell at 3:57 PM on May 30, 2013
posted by needs more cowbell at 3:57 PM on May 30, 2013
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posted by needs more cowbell at 9:48 AM on May 30, 2013