‘Tis the season. Okay, not that season, but it is the season of repentance and renewal in the Jewish calendar, as we approach Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. And as we approach the presidential election, it also seems that each day brings greater hunger for national renewal and some comment or action that demands genuine repentance. Can anyone say, “They are eating our pets”?!
To be clear, there are misdeeds and untruths shared across the political spectrum, notably the apparent attempt on former President Trump’s life on Saturday, but I highlight the example above for both reasons of urgency and for the heroism of one of the players in the above grotesque lie. The urgency lies in the three terror threats called into three separate institutions in Ohio, one hospital and two schools, especially in the wake of both Donald Trump and JD Vance amplifying them. So even for those seeking even-handedness in criticizing people whose deeds demand repentance, right now, if “only” to dial back an imminent threat of violence, I want to focus on that example.
There is a humble hero in this story, and her name is Erika Lee.
To be fair, the same Erika Lee is one of the villains in this story, being the one whose Facebook post seems to have been the earliest and most “successful” amplifier of the lie. So how does that make her a hero? She also took to the airwaves Friday evening to publicly confess and apologize for her misdeeds. And she made sure to do so in a way that was as loud and as broad a channel as she originally used to fan the flames of hate, beginning with NBC Nightly News and Newsweek.
Erika Lee could have apologized small even as she sinned big, but she did not. Erika Lee could have tried to offer an excuse or share some spin, but she did not. Erika Lee could have avoided the public pain and shame, but she did not. In a season that celebrates repentance and renewal, that really makes this Ba’alat Teshuva — literally “Master of Repentance” — a seasonal hero.
And if “hero” seems like over-praise for her, consider the idea, shared in the Babylonian Talmud (Berakhot 34b), that “even the fully righteous cannot stand where the masters of repentance stand.” What does it mean, “Cannot stand where they stand”? Rashi, the 11th century commentator printed on the page of the Talmud, suggests it means that the two cannot occupy the same space in heaven. But why might that be?
One answer may lie in the story told of the Hasidic master, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev, who grabbed a known sinner by the lapels and, to the surprise of onlookers, he brusquely said: “I am jealous of you!” Seeing the astonishment on the face of the sinner, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak loosened his grip and explained: “Once you repent, all your crimes will be considered virtues and then your merits will be innumerable.”
While I cannot speak to R’ Levi Yitzhak’s calculus of sin and merit, or the theology that animates them, I can see the logic and wisdom of appreciating that what each of us has gone through and what each of us has done determines our futures. When that includes changing our ways for the better — repenting and renewing, there is a richness that is far greater than having arrived in the same place without conscious choice and effort.
So while I would not suggest that people sin in order to experience the unique value of repenting, and would certainly not pretend that Erika Lee’s original actions are justified by her subsequent remorse and reorientation, I still celebrate her heroism of repentance. And I challenge myself to follow her example.
Brad Hirschfield is the co-founder and co-executive editor of The Wisdom Daily. A rabbi, Brad has been featured on ABC’s Nightline UpClose, PBS’s Frontline, Fox News and National Public Radio. He wrote a long-standing column, “For God’s Sake,” for the Washington Post and has also written for The Huffington Post and Beliefnet.com. He authored the book You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism. Brad also serves as President of Clal, The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a leadership training institute, think tank, and resource center in New York City.