Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is lamenting how “so many refuse to forgive” Roseanne Barr after the racist tweet she posted in May.
In a new editorial on The Jerusalem Post titled, “NO HOLDS BARRED: THE DEATH OF AMERICAN FORGIVENESS,” Rabbui Shmuley says that Barr has “expressed heartfelt regret, amid a flood of tears, over the pain she caused,” and for this reason he believes that she is owed forgiveness.
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“She said publicly and emotionally that she had done wrong and caused pain to others, in particular Jarrett. Second, she confessed her wrong publicly and personally, multiple times and on many occasions,” he went on to say, referring to the “four major steps of Jewish repentance, as outlined by Maimonides.”
“Third, she asked the public for forgiveness and went to Jarrett’s Twitter account and asked for forgiveness. She has also indicated she would call Jarrett directly if she would be willing to accept her phone call,” Rabbi Shmuley added. “And fourth, Barr said she has contributed funds to African-American educational establishments to make restitution.”
Following the widely reported on incident that the Rabbi refers to, Barr incurred a massive wave of backlash, resulting in the revival of her sitcom, Roseanne, to be cancelled.
She subsequently did two podcast interviews with Rabbi Shmuley, in which she apologized profusely for her comment. Shmuley feels that she is deliberately being refused forgiveness in the wake of her pleas.
“Amazing. A woman who is world renowned can do two public interviews where she cries her eyes out, begs forgiveness, says loudly and plainly that she does not want her legions of fans to defend her, as she knows she’s done wrong, and still there are so many who refuse to forgive,” Rabbi Shmuley went on to chide.
“If it is true that civility is dead in America, then civility’s equally important cousin, forgiveness, is equally dead,” he added. “And what a tragedy for America.”
He goes on to cite recent incidents with Robert De Niro, Peter Fonda, and Samantha Bee, all who made comments about member of the First Family that were seen as offensive and vulgar by some standards.
“Do I want to see any of these people destroy themselves, lose their career, and never be forgiven? Heck No. I love De Niro. He is a transcendent actor, one of the greatest in cinematic history,” Shmuley said. “I want to see an America that believes in atonement and forgiveness.”
In closing, Rabbi Shmuley referenced the words of Martin Luther King Jr., who said, “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
“It’s time we listened to his inspired words,” Rabbi Shmuley concluded.
