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ShareThe Tree of Life shooting is the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in American history.
Simon Wiesenthal was an Austrian Jew who was living in Lwów, Poland at the outbreak of the Second World War. In 1943, at the height of both World War II and the Holocaust, Simon, as part of a group of forced labourers from the Lemberg concentration camp, was sent to a converted army hospital to clear medical waste.
At the hospital, a nurse pulls him aside to ask him if he is a Jew. The nurse brings Simon to the room of a fatally wounded Nazi soldier named Karl Seidl. Laying on his deathbed, Karl pleads for Simon to forgive him for his crimes against Jews.
Simon sat with Karl as he told the story of his life. Karl explains that he was born in Stuttgart in a Catholic household. His father, a Social Democrat, opposed Hitler and the Nazi party and pleaded with Karl not to join the Hitler Youth Program. Against his parents’ wishes, Karl joined anyway and later volunteered for the SS. He then goes on to tell the story of the crime in which he feels the most remorse and guilt. In a small Ukrainian village, Karl and his fellow soldiers were ordered to gather 300 Jews, mainly women and children, into a house that was then set on fire.
A mother, father, and small boy then tried to jump from the house that was now blazing; however, Karl and other Nazis were armed outside ready to shoot anyone who dared try to escape. Karl is haunted by the image of this family, especially the look in the eyes of the young boy, and he begins to weep. Karl continues his story, stating that one day he again becomes haunted by the memory of the Jewish family and stops in his tracks. Just then, a shell explodes nearby and tears apart his face and body. Now in unbearable pain, Karl knew he would die soon and asked Simon to forgive him for his crimes so that he could die in peace.
Amazingly Simon survived the Holocaust despite having been interned in multiple concentration camps. After the war he dedicated his life to tracking down and gathering information on Nazi war criminals so that they could be brought to justice in countries across the globe. He was instrumental in the capture of Adolf Eichmann, the person in charge of transports and deportation of Jews during the ‘Final Solution’ and Franz Stangl, the former Commandant of Treblinka Death Camp, Sobibor Death Camp, and supervisor at Hartheim Euthanasia Centre, Austria.
Simon eventually documented this experience in his book "The Sunflower" where he asks scholars of every which background whether he should have forgiven Karl.
Eva Mozes Kor is a Holocaust survivor who has bucked the trend in terms of the question of forgiveness. A Romanian Jew, Eva was rounded up and sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau where, together with her twin sister, she was subjected to horrific medical experimentation at the hands of Joseph Mengele. Her parents and two older sisters were murdered in the gas chambers of Auschwitz-Birkenau, however, amazingly, Eva and her twin Mariam both survived. After the war Eva emigrated to the US and in 1984 she founded CANDLES (Children of Auschwitz Nazi Deadly Lab Experiments Survivors) and met with controversy when she publicly forgave the Nazis for the crimes committed against her.
"As I forgave the perpetrators, I felt a burden of pain was lifted from me. I was no longer in the grip of hate; I was finally free… privately I forgave my parents whom I hated all my life for not having saved me from Auschwitz. Children expect their parents to protect them; mine couldn’t. And then I forgave myself for hating my parents… I believe with every fibre of my being that every human being has the right to live without the pain of the past.
I suggest that we all have the power to forgive those who have wronged us, not for the benefit of them, but because all of us finally deserve to live free in a way that allows us to share our memories without reliving the unbearable and agonizing pain of our pasts with every spoken word or shared memory."
(ב) וּמַה הִיא הַתְּשׁוּבָה. הוּא שֶׁיַּעֲזֹב הַחוֹטֵא חֶטְאוֹ וִיסִירוֹ מִמַּחֲשַׁבְתּוֹ וְיִגְמֹר בְּלִבּוֹ שֶׁלֹּא יַעֲשֵׂהוּ עוֹד שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ישעיה נה ז) "יַעֲזֹב רָשָׁע דַּרְכּוֹ" וְגוֹ'. וְכֵן יִתְנַחֵם עַל שֶׁעָבַר שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (ירמיה לא יט) "כִּי אַחֲרֵי שׁוּבִי נִחַמְתִּי". וְיָעִיד עָלָיו יוֹדֵעַ תַּעֲלוּמוֹת שֶׁלֹּא יָשׁוּב לְזֶה הַחֵטְא לְעוֹלָם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (הושע יד ד) "וְלֹא נֹאמַר עוֹד אֱלֹקֵינוּ לְמַעֲשֵׂה יָדֵינוּ" וְגוֹ'. וְצָרִיךְ לְהִתְוַדּוֹת בִּשְׂפָתָיו וְלוֹמַר עִנְיָנוֹת אֵלּוּ שֶׁגָּמַר בְּלִבּוֹ:
(2) What constitutes Teshuvah?
A. That a sinner should abandon his sins and remove them from his thoughts,
B. Resolving in his heart, never to commit them again
C. He must verbally confess and state these matters which he resolved in his heart.
(ט) הָאוֹמֵר, אֶחֱטָא וְאָשׁוּב, אֶחֱטָא וְאָשׁוּב, אֵין מַסְפִּיקִין בְּיָדוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת תְּשׁוּבָה. אֶחֱטָא וְיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר, אֵין יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר. עֲבֵרוֹת שֶׁבֵּין אָדָם לַמָּקוֹם, יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר. עֲבֵרוֹת שֶׁבֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ, אֵין יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר, עַד שֶׁיְּרַצֶּה אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ. אֶת זוֹ דָּרַשׁ רַבִּי אֶלְעָזָר בֶּן עֲזַרְיָה, מִכֹּל חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם לִפְנֵי ה' תִּטְהָרוּ (ויקרא טז), עֲבֵרוֹת שֶׁבֵּין אָדָם לַמָּקוֹם, יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר. עֲבֵרוֹת שֶׁבֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ, אֵין יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים מְכַפֵּר, עַד שֶׁיְּרַצֶּה אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ. אָמַר רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא, אַשְׁרֵיכֶם יִשְׂרָאֵל, לִפְנֵי מִי אַתֶּם מִטַּהֲרִין, וּמִי מְטַהֵר אֶתְכֶם, אֲבִיכֶם שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (יחזקאל לו), וְזָרַקְתִּי עֲלֵיכֶם מַיִם טְהוֹרִים וּטְהַרְתֶּם. וְאוֹמֵר (ירמיה יז), מִקְוֵה יִשְׂרָאֵל ה', מַה מִּקְוֶה מְטַהֵר אֶת הַטְּמֵאִים, אַף הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְטַהֵר אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל:
(9) ...For transgressions between a person and God, Yom Kippur atones; however, for transgressions between a person and another, Yom Kippur does not atone until he appeases the other person.
(א) אֵי זוֹ הִיא תְּשׁוּבָה גְּמוּרָה. זֶה שֶׁבָּא לְיָדוֹ דָּבָר שֶׁעָבַר בּוֹ וְאֶפְשָׁר בְּיָדוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹתוֹ וּפֵרַשׁ וְלֹא עָשָׂה מִפְּנֵי הַתְּשׁוּבָה. לֹא מִיִּרְאָה וְלֹא מִכִּשְׁלוֹן כֹּחַ. כֵּיצַד. הֲרֵי שֶׁבָּא עַל אִשָּׁה בַּעֲבֵרָה וּלְאַחַר זְמַן נִתְיַחֵד עִמָּהּ וְהוּא עוֹמֵד בְּאַהֲבָתוֹ בָּהּ וּבְכֹחַ גּוּפוֹ וּבַמְּדִינָה שֶׁעָבַר בָּהּ וּפָרַשׁ וְלֹא עָבַר זֶהוּ בַּעַל תְּשׁוּבָה גְּמוּרָה. הוּא שֶׁשְּׁלֹמֹה אָמַר (קהלת יב א) "וּזְכֹר אֶת בּוֹרְאֶיךָ בִּימֵי בְּחוּרֹתֶיךָ". וְאִם לֹא שָׁב אֶלָּא בִּימֵי זִקְנוּתוֹ וּבְעֵת שֶׁאִי אֶפְשָׁר לוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת מַה שֶּׁהָיָה עוֹשֶׂה אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵינָהּ תְּשׁוּבָה מְעֻלָּה מוֹעֶלֶת הִיא לוֹ וּבַעַל תְּשׁוּבָה הוּא. אֲפִלּוּ עָבַר כָּל יָמָיו וְעָשָׂה תְּשׁוּבָה בְּיוֹם מִיתָתוֹ וּמֵת בִּתְשׁוּבָתוֹ כָּל עֲוֹנוֹתָיו נִמְחָלִין שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (קהלת יב ב) "עַד אֲשֶׁר לֹא תֶחְשַׁךְ הַשֶּׁמֶשׁ וְהָאוֹר וְהַיָּרֵחַ וְהַכּוֹכָבִים וְשָׁבוּ הֶעָבִים אַחַר הַגֶּשֶׁם" שֶׁהוּא יוֹם הַמִּיתָה. מִכְּלָל שֶׁאִם זָכַר בּוֹרְאוֹ וְשָׁב קֹדֶם שֶׁיָּמוּת נִסְלַח לוֹ:
(1) [Who has reached] complete Teshuvah? A person who confronts the same situation in which he sinned when he has the potential to commit [the sin again], and, nevertheless, abstains and does not commit it
In light of the above, Teshuva, Repentance, has 4 elements:
1. Remorse
2. Confessing and Acknowledging
3. Commitment for the future
4. Appeasing one's fellow
Even God can’t forgive us on behalf of our fellow human beings. He can only forgive offences against himself.
Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, z” l
Forgiveness is optional when the damage is irrevocable or the transgressor does not ask for forgiveness.
Forgiveness is forbidden when the damage is done to someone other than one’s self, meaning that we are not empowered to forgive on behalf of another.
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
- Joyce Fienberg, 75
- Richard Gottfried, 65
- Rose Mallinger, 97
- Jerry Rabinowitz, 66
- Cecil, 59 & David Rosenthal, 54
- Bernice, 84 & Sylvan Simon, 86
- Daniel Stein, 71
- Melvin Wax, 88
- Irving Younger, 69
