Dear Jim

James Carter requested forgiveness for "any negative stigma he may have caused Israel" over the years. Using the traditional formula for expressing reqret from the Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah liturgy of confession, James said he was sorry for giving Israel a bad name.

"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," Carter wrote, referring to the prayer said on Yom Kippur in which Jews ask God for forgiveness for any sins.

Yawn. Abraham Foxman, of the director of the Anti-Defomation League, sums up the general reaction.

"We welcome any statement from a significant individual such as a former president who asks for Al Het," Foxman said. "To what extent it is an epiphany, time will tell. There certainly is hurt which needs to be repaired."

Jim needs to understand that in Jewish Law and practice, the mere expression of words is not enough. Words are words, but deeds matter. What Jim needs to know is that in Jewish Law, verbal abuse is equivalent to physical abuse. Words DO hurt and are the equivalent of sticks and stones.

In fact, the laws governing the process of T'shuvah require that the person seeking forgiveness first express a desire to correct the wrong and then, on three separate occasions when presented with the same opportunity to damage (as before) not only refrains from damage but actively seeks to do the opposite. Like Foxman, this is something I want to see.

Finally, Jim really has shown his total lack of understanding of the Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah liturgy of confession. The focus of the confessional prayers are to "get right" with God; they do not, however, expiate our obligations to get right with our fellow people. Damages to person additionally involve God. To get right ONLY with God defeats the purpose of the confession.

I would suggest that Jim take more than a homiletic view of Psalms 115 verse 16, which from the Hebrew loosely translates that "The Heavens, the Heavens are for God; but the earth He has given to personkind." Damages against people involve getting right with people.

Unlike Lust, verbal abuse is open, costly, and inflammatory. Jim's hateful speech has had indirect and quantifiable damages. Asking God for forgiveness is a start. But unless Jim wants to commit the Sin of making a False Oath before God, he had better step up to the plate and make atonement to his fellow people.

The Rabbis of Old would have demanded that Jim start with his most recent written trash. A public repudiation and recall would be a good start. Why not build a hospital in Sederot or personally liberate Gilad without setting free murderers and terrorists?

So, Jim; what are you really made of?