“It is very praiseworthy for a person who repents to confess in public and to make his sins known to others, revealing the transgressions he committed against his colleagues.
He should tell them: “Though I sinned against so and so, committing the following misdeeds…. Behold, I repent and express my regret.”
– Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah, 2:5
Judaism is a religion in which repentance is a fundamental belief. We believe that man (and by that I mean also woman) has the ability to see the error of their ways, express regret for his or her previous actions, and G-d will forgive the person – assuming the repentance is genuine. It is hard work – one needs to act differently if placed in the same situation as before in which they sinned – and it is obviously a different concept from that of other religions in which mere belief in someone or something can achieve the repentance.
I say this as an introduction to a vile hit-job pathological Israel hater Richard Silverstein – who invokes the Jewish concept of Tikun Olam (‘repairing the world’) to bash Israel – has done on pro-Israel celebrity and friend of Israellycool Roseanne Barr.
In the piece, Silverstein lashes out at Roseanne, flinging as much dirt as he can hoping some of it will stick. He does this because Roseanne committed the crime of doing teshuvah.
One may not say to a sinner who repented ‘remember your prior deeds!’ – Talmud, Bava Metzia 58
You see years ago, Roseanne did express anti-Israel views. She was highly critical of Israel, and no-one was more critical of her than me. So much so that she blocked me on Twitter. But then I slowly noticed a change, as she started tweeting items in support of Israel. This even led to a few guest posts on Israellycool.
Roseanne has explained her changing views as highly influenced by the fact Richard Goldstone of Goldstone Report infamy repudiated the report. In other words, Roseanne employed the tools of critical thinking and intellectual honesty to publicly recant her previous views. This is hard for anyone to do, even more so for a celebrity in leftist Hollywood, where publicly supporting Israel is a no-no. And by doing so, Roseanne guaranteed she would be attacked by the seedy side of the Twittersphere, of which Silverstein is a member and to which his nasty, lie-riddled posts appeal.
Yet Roseanne has stuck to her guns. Each and every day she has tweeted in support of Israel, invoking the ire of the vile scum and villainy, including Silverstein. The last straw for Silverstein was Roseanne’s scheduled appearance for StandWithUs (SWU) at Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland, Calif, leading to his latest hit job.
Richard Silverstein is an inveterate liar who tries to invoke the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam to obfuscate his pathological hatred for Israel and Torah Jews. Roseanne Barr is an honest person who embodies the Jewish concept of teshuvah.
I stand with Israel. I stand with Roseanne.
Update: There is one part of Silverstein’s post I did like (and with which I actually agree) – where he refers to Gilad Atzmon as “anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying.” I will surely be bringing this to Atzmon’s attention, popcorn in hand.
