The Ultimate Apology
On Friday evening, Sept. 22, Jews worldwide will gather in homes and houses of prayer to usher in Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. The holiday is marked by prayer and the blowing of a ram’s horn, called a shofar, heralding a call to repentance. As part of the festive meal an apple is dipped in honey, a symbolic wish for a sweet year.
On Rosh Hashanah public and private apologies are made. It is an auspicious time to make amends and new resolutions. It is a time to take moral inventory.
Let’s take a moment and look at some public apologies that are being made.
Recently, Andrew Young, former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., spoke badly about Jews, Arabs and Koreans taking advantage of the poor “by selling stale bread” in black neighborhoods and then he apologized. Mel Gibson, from Hollywood, insulted the Jews and then made a public apology. He explained that he was drunk and didn’t know what he was saying. Personally, I am more concerned about what he says when he’s sober. His apology seemed to say that alcohol may not only cause harm in pregnancy but may also cause one to become anti-Semitic.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin called the World Trade Center site “a hole in the ground.” Then he said he was “very sorry” for his remarks. Sen. Joseph Biden said, “You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.” He, too, apologized. It doesn’t end there. The scientific world just dropped Pluto as a major planet and is apologizing for listing it as one in the first place.
It seems that everybody is busy apologizing. We even have a confession and an apology for the unsolved murder of Jon Benet Ramsey by a person who did not even commit the crime.
This leads me to think that most apologies made by people are not truly reflective of what an apology really means. For many an apology is an excuse like “I didn’t mean it, I didn’t really say that, or if I did really say that, I apologize!” In a peculiar way, it appears to give license to do bad and then apologize and everything will be just fine. With such incongruence we would be able to commit crimes of untold proportions and simply apologize.
For example, take the Holocaust of European Jewry during World War II. Imagine Mel Gibson producing the now-canceled Holocaust miniseries and really doing the job. He would polish off a bottle of whisky and kill a couple of Jews for real. He would call it a crime of “Passion,” as the Holocaust miniseries needs to be as authentic as possible! Of course, he would then expect the world to accept his apology.
Then there are those that claim the Holocaust of the Jews never happened, although they cannot explain where the six million Jews went. They must have just disappeared. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims he didn’t cause the Holocaust, so it means it never even happened. All he wants is a chance to destroy the state of Israel.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has publicly apologized to the Lebanese people for the war he started. He didn’t think Israel would bomb and invade Lebanon searching for the soldiers he kidnapped. Even the state of Israel is guilty of apology abuse. Prime Minister Ehud Ohlmert is busy apologizing for not rescuing the kidnapped Israeli soldiers. Israel invaded Lebanon to rescue the soldiers but did not finish the job.
Rosh Hashanah marks the day that the first man was created. He was the reason for creation. The Almighty wanted man to make this world into a paradise but instead, man, in the name of religion, politics or peace has fought and killed other human beings. Rosh Hashanah may be an opportunity to be honest and learn the real meaning of apology. Maybe we ought to take stock and apologize to God for making the world an unholy mess.
According to Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, apology means an admission of error or discourtesy accompanied by an expression of regret. The dictionary lists a third interpretation: “implies not admission of guilt or regret but a desire to clear the grounds for some course, belief, or position.”
We need people to remember the first interpretation of an apology. That is, to be accountable, admissible of error, and truly repentant. The great Moses Maimonides, a 12th century Jewish doctor and philosopher, taught that the concept is to apologize and to regret, not to repeat and to make amends for the misdeeds.
Remember, there is no monopoly on celebrating the birth of mankind. It’s everybody’s birthday. If there is a true need to apologize, then apologize and mean it. On the night of Sept. 22 take an apple and dip it in honey and wish each other a sweet year, free from the need of apologies. A happy birthday and new year to all of us.