Reaching for Repentance

by Rabbi Yaakov Salomon

Should Eliot Spitzer be forgiven?

Published: May 9, 2009
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Visitor Comments: 22

(22) Titus, June 7, 2009 5:17 PM

70 x 70

Which is worse what Eliot Spitzer has done or Mr. Madoff Even both should be forgiven with Mr.Spitzer what should they do to show real repentance. Money taken give it back. I got a stone do you want it to cast.

(21) Anonymous, May 22, 2009 7:57 AM

who should forgive?

If his wife and family forgive him, why should'nt I? But I would never vote for him or trust his opinion.

(20) L Kanterman, May 16, 2009 1:30 PM

forgiveness

forgiveness from G-d: of course, if repentance is sincere. forgiveness from his family: dependant on them. forgiveness from society and restoration to a position of public trust: out of the question. Once the public trust has been violated in such an extreme way, expecting or even asking for a second chance is extreme chutzpah. Anybody going to give Bernie Madoff a 2nd chance to invest their money, even if he repents? This is the same.

(19) Ashley Bell, May 16, 2009 6:42 AM

Nature of sin wiped clean by Nature of G-d.

An act may be a the result of a poor choice, the act of atoning for one's sins is never a poor choice in the light of realising the gravity of commiting a human error. What is the point of Yom Kippur if we can't be forgiven & start again with a fresh outlook? The nature of G-d is forgiving, so I think we should emulate that aspect of the nature of G-d when considering the wrongful deeds of others & ourselves...

(18) thomas, May 14, 2009 8:35 PM

who should forgive

Eliot Spitzer, to me, is like many politicians in that he will only own up (tell the truth, *or* part) when he has nowhere to hide. It is not for you *or* for me to forgive *or* condone. Only God can do that and we are not God.

Personally I do not trust this man. He has given enough reason to see that he cannot be trusted and I do not want such as he to be a leader in our political arena. We have had too much wontoness, avrice and self admiration in too many of our leaders. These will untimately punish themselves. We can only try to make sure that we do not place such men in positions of authority.

I hold no claim on goodness so I cannot throw the first stone. Can you? Can anyone? Only God can forgive.

(17) maria, May 14, 2009 11:08 AM

forgive? forgiveness is done by the person to has been hurt, physically, mentally or emotionally in this case, his wife and family who were not only hurt but betrayed and to say the least most terribly humiliated. Forgive and forget is the the old adage - when it comes to electing officials, county, city, state, government it seems most of the public forgets about these scoundrels, their transgressions - what does that say about us, the voters, it seems the same old people keep holding on to their jobs and or reelected in the same capacity or yet another higher one. DUH!!! only those who have been personally emotionally involved can forgive the rest of us forgets as we are far down on the totem pole to actually have to experience this kind of pain, we keep on doing the same thing thinking that we have not been betrayed by this kind of horrible action. to forgive means the forgivor must move on, must not ever forget. screw me once shame on you, screw me twice SHAME ON ME!

(16) J. Sullivan, May 14, 2009 10:08 AM

Ripple Effect

It is said "A fool throws a stone into a lake, and twenty wise men cant stop the ripples" God can forgive but consequences to sin go on and on and on..........

(15) peter, May 14, 2009 10:02 AM

Spitzer has no shame

Spitzer has no shame. His words are meaningless. While arresting prostitutes, he himself went to them. He broke local and federal laws and was never arrested. Others went to jail for what he did, why should he be different? He married a non-Jew, never had a Bar-Mitzvah so why is your site even discussing him? He help cause the economic mess we are now in with his ouster of AIG head Hank Greenberg, harassed other businessmen and politicians, favored gay marriage, gave illegals driver's licenses...left us with the idiot Patterson as a new governor.... the bottom line is that he was never a nice guy. His daddy is rich and Spitzer never, never worked in a typical job once in his life. Nor did he ever pay a cent for rent as he lived rent free in one of daddy's apartments. If Spitzer wants to repent, let him go to the Old City of Jerusalem and commit himself to study in a Yeshiva like Aish for one whole year. Perhaps he will then really understand what is important in the world and lose his arrogance and stop being a hypocrit. He has now the time (and daddy's money) and opportunity to do some real good for himself and others. And perhaps his daddy should join him at Aish. If Kirk Douglas can go back to his Jewish roots in his 80's, daddy Spitzer can do so too!

(14) David M, May 13, 2009 4:20 PM

Forgive, yes, forget?

Of course we must forgive. We who need forgiveness every day have no right to withhold from others what has so freely been given to us. Should he be restored to his former place of prominence? It takes only a moment to destroy trust and many years to rebuild it. He will have to demonstrate genuine repentance by living a consistant, transparent, and circumspect life before he will again be considered trustworthy.

(13) manny kaplan, May 13, 2009 12:27 PM

of course

r u kidding me? what's not to forgive? if u can't forgive this, forget about forgiveness period!

(12) Anonymous,, May 13, 2009 8:09 AM

Spitzer was not a good Guv

... but he harmed himself and his family more than anyone. For #10 info, he was caught messing with prostitututes. Has he been honest in his interviews? Somewhat. He minimizes his involvement and he is hoping that the public forgives. He was an extremely egotistical individual. He needs to do more repentance and have more understanding of his sins, before he makes a comeback, or he will be just as egotistical as he was before his fall.

(11) AliceL., May 13, 2009 7:40 AM

It is up to his family to forgive him.

I always knew he was a crumb and never voted for him so there is nothing to forgive as far as I am concerned. The man only reconfirmed my low opinion of him as a bully and a liar. He has a sense of entitlement and thinks he can get away with his stunts. If he does, it reflects upon the low moral values of New Yorkers. Not for nothing, but Spitzer also supports partial birth abortion. He was and is an amoral man.

(10) Eliyahu Taylor, May 13, 2009 7:03 AM

Elliot Spitzer

As an exEnglish Israeli, I don't know anything about Elliot Spitzer, but from the thrust of the discussion, it seems that Elliot Spitzer has caused some harm to fellow humans, and now wants forgiveness from Hashem. Did we not learn that before this is possible he has not only to ask forgiveness from those he wronged, but compensate them for their losses in a material manner?

(9) Anonymous, May 13, 2009 12:05 AM

Is forgiveness the same as a clean start?

Forgiveness is a moral imperative if the victim is made whole and the transgressor truly repents. Forgiveness means that we stop feeling resentment and anger over the offending behavior, but it does not mean that we relinquish our own values or treat the offender as a paragon of virtue. It does not mean that we ignore potential weakness and recidivism. When deciding whether or not to place the reformed transgressor in a position of responsibility, all of the person's attributes, qualities, flaws, and public image should be considered. It is a judgment that should consider both potential benefits and the appearance of propriety.

(8) NM Rosen, May 12, 2009 7:38 PM

Spitzer and Clinton

Spitzer seems fairly similar to fmr. pres. Clinton. Although these issues should be more of a private matter, there's still the decision to make on whether to forgive someone for such misconduct. Given how relatively popular Bill Clinton is/was, we can either see him as a good president who brought upon a record surplus in the US economy 10 years ago, or we can frown upon him for his sexual misconduct, and even more so, for largely ignoring the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. This can also be like whether we as Jews can forgive fmr. pres. Carter for writing profoundly misleading books such as "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid" or we can find a means to think that there is/was nothing really wrong with him since he won a Nobel Peace Prize for unifying Israel and Egypt (to some degree) 30 years ago, as well as placing solar panels in order to make electricity for the White House at the time (before Reagan allegedly took them down when he came into office).

(7) David S. Levine, May 12, 2009 7:20 PM

Eliot Spitzer--A Psychopath

Eliot Spitzer is a psychopath. All his life he has been of a mind of entitlement due to the wealth of his fixer father. All his life he rode roughshod over others in BOTH political parties. Why does anyone think that his fellow Democrats were happier than the Republicans that he was found out and had to resign? His words to the Republican Leader of the Assembly, "I'm a f-----g steamroller," show the depth of his arrogance. Now, after humiliating his family and his state he wants to hold public office once again. It is a sad commentary on the American political system and the political as well as social culture of New York--its degeneracy in particular--that he actually has a chance to do so. How lucky I feel to have left that sad State!

(6) Chaya, May 12, 2009 5:17 PM

Eliot Spitzer is no Cohen.

I really don't get it. We're talking about a politician here. Do we actually look to our politicians as exemplars of morality and good conduct? I didn't get it with Clinton and Lewinsky and I don't get it here. You don't like what he did? Don't vote for him, if that's your thinking. Should he be barred from holding public office ever again? Give me a break.

(5) Anonymous, May 11, 2009 3:46 PM

let him go

give him a chance to repent. he suffered enough. Was an excellent Governor, could be back to governing, just keep close watch on his behavior! Patterson did the same, his wife cheated, he cheated, he admitted so he is OK. that is double standard.

(4) ross, May 11, 2009 1:52 PM

The sky above is clear again?

Let's say the guy doesn't do such a great tchuva, but has an irrefutible plan to turn the economy around, and "happy days are here again". or, let's say he does an amazing tchuva, and loves his fellow Jews above and beyond, but proclaims a lousy political platform which could wipe us all out. What's one thing have to do with the other? We preach they're connected, but...

(3) Anonymous, May 10, 2009 9:20 PM

never again

if he learns in aish hatorah for 5 years with a heavy empasis on mussar and ethics it might be something to think about.teshuvah is not a slice of pizza to be washed down with a coke.its a long and arduous process.at the moment he's a self hating jew who abhors our torah and its traditions.he even refused to wear a kipa at the agudas yisroel diner.he prosecuted felow jews with a vengeance beyond the call of duty.he has the din of a rodeif and may be eligible for capital punishment according to torah law.nothing to think about-----a voice from boro park

(2) SusanE, May 10, 2009 8:21 PM

Did He Come Forward or Did He Get Caught?

If he got caught and didn't stop of his own free will, he will never be repentent. He will continue to do the same acts as before only he will be more careful. The question is how many more chances do you give him? This did this for a long time, so he had plenty of days and nights already to redeem himself. Once you cross a line, like the foot tapper, and the dial a date, and the other many weirdos, there is no turning back. Once a weirdo always a weirdo. He should not be given any position of trust or power.

(1) Anonymous, May 10, 2009 5:40 PM

it isnot the samething

what elliot spitzer did was definatly not by acccident soit is not nearly the same thing as someone who killed by accident and if they are aloud to go back to their hob or being a cohen. one is byaccident and one is not

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About the Author

Rabbi Yaakov Salomon

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Rabbi Yaakov Salomon, C.S.W. is a noted psychotherapist, in private practice in Brooklyn, N.Y. for over 25 years. He is a Senior Lecturer and the Creative Director of Aish Hatorah's Discovery Productions. He is also an editor and author for the Artscroll Publishing Series and a member of the Kollel of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath.

Rabbi Salomon is co-author, with Rabbi Noah Weinberg, of the best selling book "What the Angel Taught You; Seven Keys to Life Fulfillment," (Mesorah), and is also the co-producer of the highly-acclaimed film, "Inspired."

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Reaching for Repentance

Should Eliot Spitzer be forgiven?

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