“‘Whoever labels his fellow ‘wicked’ will himself go down to Gehinam...’ Zohar 2:122a. Since the Torah views each human being as having been created ‘in the image of G-d,’ i.e. with infinite potential, we must be very careful to distinguish between who/what a person is, and what he or she has done/is doing.” Rabbi Avraham Sutton
Matthew 5
21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.
22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother without cause will be liable to judgment; whoever insults the intelligence of his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, You complete fool! will be liable to the fire of Gehinam.
23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you,
24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.
25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.
26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.
After the responsibility for leading the way in knowing and honoring the Creator, corporate responsibility has primarily to do with maintaining the knowledge of right and wrong. Corporate repentance, therefore, on this level has primarily to do first with acknowledgement of failure to maintain the knowledge of right and wrong and then with a corporate turning to the way wherein knowledge of the clear difference between right and wrong can be restored and maintained.
Judging others with spiritual or religious prejudice is a primary corporate sin. Even though it is the leaders of the nation who are most responsible for corporate righteousness, every individual also has a role to play in the life and health of the nation, and, indeed, while every public sin will have a corrupting influence upon the whole body of society, sins of judging others with false measures are the most corrupting sins of all. It is these sins which actually tear down the knowledge of the difference between right and wrong.
While Christianity among the nations has been able to emphasis the need for individual repentance and faith, it has only been able to highlight the possibility of individual repentance. Until there is a clear realization of the need for corporate repentance in the world the redemption of the world cannot be fully realized. And corporate responsibility for maintaining the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong can only be fully known and understood where the law, or way of life, of a nation is not created by fallible human beings but is entirely given directly from God. This law, this way of life, is the Torah, and the nation to whom God gave it is Israel. Therefore, the corporate repentance that must come for the complete redemption of the world can only come through the corporate repentance of Israel.
However, Bible students among the nations can help prepare for this corporate world repentance coming about by learning and understanding what corporate responsibility is and preparing their own lives and influencing their communities, especially in judging with righteous judgement in the fear of God and not with a false judgement that speaks out of hidden anger and stereotypes and labels others.
Direct, person to person dispute resolution can greatly contribute to this process of rectifying public ‘bad conscience’ in the corporate responsibility for maintaining knowledge and understanding of right and wrong. The principle of settling disputes ‘on the way to court’ is the same principle of settling disputes that would never be taken to court because they are to small but can still fester away between people. This spirit and practice of making partners of adversaries in the process of resolving disputes provides some measure of remedy for our inclination of thinking and speaking evil of others simply due to the impact that their actions have upon us. In this way, it can be seen as an example of the work of social rectification that is needed to help prepare the way for the corporate repentance in the world that must come about for the world’s complete redemption from rebellion against its Creator.
