Israel Matzav: Carter shlogs al cheit

Carter shlogs al cheit

In Yiddish, shlogging al cheit refers to beating one's breast and saying mea culpa (I am guilty). It's a term that's sometimes thrown about lightly, because admitting one's guilt is only the first step of five on the road to repentance. Maimonides identifies five phases: Recognizing that one has sinned, confessing the sin, leaving the sin, regretting the sin, and undertaking not to sin in the future. Confessing when one doesn't recognize that one has sinned is meaningless and does not count. Full repentance means going through all five steps and then resisting the temptation when it presents itself again.

With that in mind, the JPost reports that Jimmy Carter has apologized to the Jewish people for any stigma he may have caused Israel.

In a letter released exclusively to JTA, the former US president sent a seasonal message wishing for peace between Israel and its neighbors, and concluded: "We must recognize Israel's achievements under difficult circumstances, even as we strive in a positive way to help Israel continue to improve its relations with its Arab populations, but we must not permit criticisms for improvement to stigmatize Israel. As I would have noted at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but which is appropriate at any time of the year, I offer an Al Het for any words or deeds of mine that may have done so."

Only God knows what's in people's hearts and whether Carter has truly regrets what he has done to this country, let alone whether his confession is sincere and whether he will repeat his past sins in the future.

But color me skeptical.

Haaretz carries the exact same story. But don't wait for them to shlog al cheit. They know better than the rest of us.

Israel Matzav: Carter shlogs al cheit