Thinking about how, in Judaism, redeeming captives is considered a "great mitzvah," something that takes precedence over even supporting the poor, and the cash bail system.

1/x thread

Maimonides writes that ignoring the need to redeem captives goes against “Do not harden your heart or shut your hand against your needy fellow” (Deut 15:7) and “Do not stand idly by your neighbor’s blood” (Lev 19:16), among other Torah commandments.
The Shulchan Aruch (a significant Jewish law code) writes: “Every moment that one delays in freeing captives, in cases where it is possible to expedite their freedom, is considered to be tantamount to murder.”
If a community is in the middle of building a synagogue and the need to redeem captives comes up, they're ordered to dismantle the synagogue and sell the bricks and wood and use that money to redeem captives.
In the US, in many places, they use cash bail when someone is arrested ostensibly as a way to force a defendant--one who has not been convicted of any crime--to return for the trial.
But in a lot of ways, it's simply the criminalization of poverty. If someone can't afford to post bail, they stay in jail. Needless to say, this is tied to some of the ways that structural racism functions in the criminal justice system.
3/5 of the people in US jails have not been convicted of any crime. Nearly half a million people.

People have not been convicted of any crime.

Enduring the horrors of the prison system because they don't have the money not to.

https://t.co/2P1SYe4eLg
And it impacts people's chances of freedom. Those held pretrial are 4x more likely to be sentenced to prison than ppl released prior to trial. Pretrial detainees are also likely to make hurried decisions to plead guilty to a lower charge rather than waiting for a trial.
While this might not have been what the Talmud and later Jews meant when they talked of redeeming captives, I don't think they could have envisioned this system. And it's not so far off.
Someone is captured by law enforcement--often for being Black or brown--and if they can't afford to pay their way out, they're in. Innocent until proven guilty. Legally innocent. Captured.
There are great orgs (like @ChiBondFund) in every city doing the work of redeeming captives, and there are more places where people are working to outlaw the practice of cash bail.
If you're in Illinois, PLEASE call (don't just tweet! Call!) @GovPritzker and tell him to sign HB 3653. Numbers to call in second tweet here.

https://t.co/EdyX1xXgvV

More from Religion

First thread of the year because I have time during MCO. As requested, a thread on the gods and spirits of Malay folk religion. Some are indigenous, some are of Indian origin, some have Islamic


Before I begin, it might be worth explaining the Malay conception of the spirit world. At its deepest level, Malay religious belief is animist. All living beings and even certain objects are said to have a soul. Natural phenomena are either controlled by or personified as spirits

Although these beings had to be respected, not all of them were powerful enough to be considered gods. Offerings would be made to the spirits that had greater influence on human life. Spells and incantations would invoke their


Two known examples of such elemental spirits that had god-like status are Raja Angin (king of the wind) and Mambang Tali Arus (spirit of river currents). There were undoubtedly many more which have been lost to time

Contact with ancient India brought the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism to SEA. What we now call Hinduism similarly developed in India out of native animism and the more formal Vedic tradition. This can be seen in the multitude of sacred animals and location-specific Hindu gods
🌿𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒂 𝑺𝒕𝒂𝒓 : 𝑫𝒉𝒓𝒖𝒗𝒂 & 𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒏𝒖

Once upon a time there was a Raja named Uttānapāda born of Svayambhuva Manu,1st man on earth.He had 2 beautiful wives - Suniti & Suruchi & two sons were born of them Dhruva & Uttama respectively.
#talesofkrishna https://t.co/E85MTPkF9W


Now Suniti was the daughter of a tribal chief while Suruchi was the daughter of a rich king. Hence Suruchi was always favored the most by Raja while Suniti was ignored. But while Suniti was gentle & kind hearted by nature Suruchi was venomous inside.
#KrishnaLeela


The story is of a time when ideally the eldest son of the king becomes the heir to the throne. Hence the sinhasan of the Raja belonged to Dhruva.This is why Suruchi who was the 2nd wife nourished poison in her heart for Dhruva as she knew her son will never get the throne.


One day when Dhruva was just 5 years old he went on to sit on his father's lap. Suruchi, the jealous queen, got enraged and shoved him away from Raja as she never wanted Raja to shower Dhruva with his fatherly affection.


Dhruva protested questioning his step mother "why can't i sit on my own father's lap?" A furious Suruchi berated him saying "only God can allow him that privilege. Go ask him"

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