Police-beat reporters \u2014 even in Hollywood \u2014 rarely get to quote the Babylonian Talmud.<\/p>\n\n
However, there is a passage in this Jewish text that is relevant right now. The crucial Hebrew words are in tractate Eruvin, page 65b, and they are \u201cbe\u2019kiso, be\u2019koso, u\u2019ve\u2019kaso.\u201d This rabbinical text says a person\u2019s true essence is found in \u201chis cup,\u201d \u201chis pocket\u201d and \u201chis anger.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Witness the rich and powerful Mel Gibson and his roadside rant about the \u201cblanking\u201d Jews who are \u201cresponsible for all the wars in the world.\u201d His cup was too full and his anger spilled over.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cAncient Jewish wisdom informs us that one way we can know what a person is really like is by how he behaves when he is drunk. From this we can safely assume that Mel Gibson doesn\u2019t think much of Jews,\u201d noted Rabbi Daniel Lapin of Toward Tradition, which has received some financial support from Gibson.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cHowever there is another nugget of ancient Jewish wisdom emphasizing that we owe atonement for that which lies in our hearts only to God. \u2026 We humans are morally obliged to make good to other people only for those things we do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
But what should Gibson do now?<\/p>\n\n
After the superstar\u2019s hellish meltdown, many of his critics \u2014 Jewish and otherwise \u2014 called for him to be excommunicated from Hollywood.<\/p>\n\n
Anti-Defamation League Director Abraham H. Foxman slammed his early apology and wrote online: \u201cWe would hope that Hollywood now would realize the bigot in their midst and that they will distance themselves from this anti-Semite.\u201d Superstar agent Ari Emanuel of the Endeavor Agency went even further, stating that Jews and gentiles alike must \u201cdemonstrate that they understand how much is at stake in this by professionally shunning Mel Gibson and refusing to work with him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Is repentance irrelevant? In his second apology, Gibson tried to discuss his failure in religious terms. The Catholic traditionalist also opened a door to meeting with conservative Jews who have talked with him in the past.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cThe tenets of what I profess to believe necessitate that I exercise charity and tolerance as a way of life,\u201d he said. \u201cEvery human being is God\u2019s child, and if I wish to honor my God I have to honor his children. \u2026 I\u2019m not just asking for forgiveness. I would like to take it one step further and meet with leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I can have a one-on-one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
If Gibson desires more than what Christians call \u201ccheap grace,\u201d he needs more than a few holy day media events, according to Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. In Judaism, repentance is \u201ca play in four acts\u201d and the first is verbal confession. This must be followed by \u201ccomplete cessation of the offending behavior\u201d and sincere regret.<\/p>\n\n
The tough fourth act, he said, requires long-range planning and an \u201cacceptance of a way to change that is real, not self-delusional.\u201d In a way, fighting anti-Semitism will be similar to fighting the bottle.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t deal with an alcohol problem through a photo-op with the head of the local detox program,\u201d said Adlerstein, writing for Jewish World Review. Recovery programs that work, demand \u201cgrowing self-awareness and lots of time. Not coincidentally, they require the privacy of secure surroundings, far from public scrutiny.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWe will help you understand your personal demons, but only away from the cameras and the mikes. Redemption will come through the small, still voice of conscience, not at a press conference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
This will be hard, in the hot Hollywood spotlight.<\/p>\n\n
Reporters cannot follow Gibson into the confession booth or interview his priest afterwards. But they can ask questions about his work and his recovery.<\/p>\n\n
While filming \u201cThe Passion of the Christ,\u201d Gibson told the Eternal Word Television Network that he asked priests to hear daily confessions, including his own, and to celebrate daily Mass. It would be interesting to ask if he seeks similar spiritual disciplines in the future.<\/p>\n\n
Still, Gibson has said that he \u201cdisgraced myself and my family.\u201d That\u2019s a realistic place to start, said film critic Michael Medved, an Orthodox Jew.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cWhen a long-married, 50-year-old father of seven gets arrested for drunk driving at nearly twice the speed limit at 2:30 in the morning,\u201d noted Medved, \u201cit\u2019s safe to assume that he faces even more serious problems than exposing his anti-Semitic attitudes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Police-beat reporters \u2014 even in Hollywood \u2014 rarely get to quote the Babylonian Talmud. However, there is a passage in this Jewish text that is relevant right now. The crucial Hebrew words are in tractate Eruvin, page 65b, and they are \u201cbe\u2019kiso, be\u2019koso, u\u2019ve\u2019kaso.\u201d This rabbinical text says a person\u2019s true essence is found in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[64,1532,431,1538,544,737],"class_list":["post-1398","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-anti-semitism","tag-catholics","tag-hollywood","tag-judaism","tag-mel-gibson","tag-repentance"],"yoast_head":"\n