At this time of year, with Tisha B’Av barely in the
rear-view mirror, and Rosh Chodesh Elul slightly more than two weeks away, the
High Holy Day season begins in earnest.
This shabbat, the first following Tisha B’Av, we read the Haftarah Nachamu
(Isaiah, chapter 40) which speaks of God’s healing and comforting presence in
our lives. The prophet Isaiah was talking about the reconciliation of God and
Israel following the devastation of destruction and exile. He was talking about
teshuvah (repentance), kapparah (atonement), and mechilah
(forgiveness)—a process that begins with apology and subsumes us at this time
of year. With the new moon of Elul, we blow the shofar daily, a call to teshuvah
(repentance), a plea that our hearts and minds turn to God and return to what
is best in us.
At this time of year, my ears are primed for
stories of apology. The print, internet, and televised media were awash this
morning with declarations of an altogether new and unexpected case of apology.
Or so many of them 
claimed. With a new team at the helm of his campaign,
Donald Trump attempted to hit the reset button on Thursday in Charlotte, North
Carolina with a speech delivered by teleprompter. The news media raced to label
Mr. Trump’s scripted speech an “apology,” an “astonishing act of contrition,”[1] and a “rare expression of remorse.”[2] It was anything but an “apology,” “act of
contrition,” or “expression of remorse”—at least by Jewish standards. One could
be excused for thinking otherwise because most news reports supplied their
readers and listeners with no more than a brief quote or sound bite.
claimed. With a new team at the helm of his campaign,
Donald Trump attempted to hit the reset button on Thursday in Charlotte, North
Carolina with a speech delivered by teleprompter. The news media raced to label
Mr. Trump’s scripted speech an “apology,” an “astonishing act of contrition,”[1] and a “rare expression of remorse.”[2] It was anything but an “apology,” “act of
contrition,” or “expression of remorse”—at least by Jewish standards. One could
be excused for thinking otherwise because most news reports supplied their
readers and listeners with no more than a brief quote or sound bite.
Let’s take a look at what Mr. Trump actually said.
He began by telling his listeners that he rejects political correctness,
thereby suggesting that the offensive, insulting, and hurtful things he has
said are not morally problematic, just politically “incorrect.”
“I’ve never wanted to learn the language of the
insiders and I’ve never been politically correct… It takes far too much time
and can often make it more difficult to achieve totally victory.”
Apparently the quest for “total victory” trumps
morality, decency, and even honesty: Mr. Trump believes he should be excused
for whatever he says that others find offensive and objectionable because his
political victory is far more important. This presumably includes the many
insults to women, disabled people, Mexicans, immigrants, Muslims, the gold star
Khan family, as well as the numerous and outrageous lies he has told, not least
of which is the preposterous claim that President Obama and Hillary Clinton “founded
ISIS” and the less-than-subtle incitement to assassinate Clinton. For Mr.
Trump, these were all in the service of his “total victory,” which he believes
justifies pretty much anything he wants.
Mr. Trump quickly moved to the sentences
oft-repeated in print and on television:
“Sometimes, in the heat of debate, and speaking on
a multitude of issues, you don’t choose the right words or you say the wrong
thing. I have done that and believe it or not I regret it. And I do regret it
particularly where it may have caused personal pain.”
This is the part that many in the media termed an “apology”
or evidence of “remorse.” But we know from the Talmud that teshuvah is not
delivered into a microphone, but directly to the offended party:
…For transgressions between a person and God, Yom
Kippur makes atonement, but for transgressions between two people, Yom Kippur
does not atone until the one [who offended] has pacified the one [who was
offended]… (Mishnah Yoma 8:9)
Rambam (Moses Maimonides) spelled it out in detail
in the Mishneh Torah. Teshuvah requires four steps, the first of
which is verbal confession of one’s mistake (i.e., the precise deed) to the
person offended and asking for forgiveness.[3] Mr. Trump has done nothing like that.
The second step, Rambam tells us, is expressing
sincere remorse, resolving not to make the same mistake again.[4] Did Mr. Trump fulfill this requirement? Consider
what his very next words were:
“Too much is at stake for us to be consumed with
these issues, but one thing I can promise you is this: I will always tell you
the truth.”
A simple translation: First, I cannot be
bothered with worrying about who I hurt, insult, and offend because winning
this election is more important than anything else. Second, I don’t really
regret what I said because it’s the truth. Reinforcing the second point, he
continued later in the same speech:
“…I will never lie to you. I will never tell you
something I do not believe…”
Those who are remorseful, by definition, truly
regret what they have done, and wish they had not done it. Not only was there
no apology offered, but no sign of sincere remorse.
Rambam teaches us that the third step in the
process of teshuvah is to do everything in one’s power to rectify the
wrong and appease the person hurt.[5] No one is even suggesting that Mr. Trump has made
the effort, let alone succeeded, in rectifying the pain he has caused because,
in truth, he hasn’t taken the first step of truly apologizing or the second
step of feeling genuine remorse.
Finally, to complete teshuvah, one must act
differently if the same situation arises. In other words, it will be easy to
measure Mr. Trump’s sincerity: If he stops insulting, demeaning, offending, and
hurting people, we will know that he has repented. I would love to believe that
Mr. Trump’s string of verbal insults and assaults has ended, but I’m not
holding my breath.
In the meantime, I want to recommend an anthem for
his campaign, a piece composed by Tom Chapin and found on his album Zig Zag.
You can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlqZoDkv0bk. Please be sure to listen to the song in its
entirety.
© Rabbi Amy
Scheinerman
[1]
http://wgntv.com/2016/08/19/donald-trump-expresses-regret-for-saying-the-wrong-thing-doesnt-specify/
[2]
http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2016/08/19/campaign/88987128/
[3] Moses Maimonides, Mishneh
Torah 1:1.
[4] Moses Maimonides, Mishneh
Torah 2:2.
[5] Moses Maimonides, Mishneh
Torah 2:9.
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