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The JEWISH STAR

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Rosh Hashana • Sept. 22, 2017 • 2 Tishrei 5778 • 5 Towns candles (Friday) 6:34 pm, Havdalah 7:41 • Torah columns pages 34–35 • Vol 16, No 35 The Newspaper of our Orthodox communities

‘Sorry’ Apologizing in the year of Trump

A shofar is blown at the Kotel in Jerusalem’s Old City. Rosh Hashana begins Wednesday night.

Yonatan Sindel/Flash90

All sorts of newsmakers in ‘77 By Jacob Kamaras, JNS The High Holidays are a time for prayer, introspection and, for those fortunate enough, inspiration. Amid the headlines on terrorism and political disputes, some prominent newsmakers in the Israel and Middle East scene gave us something to smile about or admire during 5777. Here are a few of the high-profile individuals who made a positive difference—sometimes in unexpected ways.

Gal Gadot

Despite Arab nations’ boycotts of “Wonder Woman” over the Israeli actress’s leading role, Gadot (pictured in her role) wowed at the box office while giving Jews, Israelis, feminists and comic book aficionados much to be proud about. In late June, Gadot was ranked first in The Hollywood Reporter’s Top Actors list, which bases its rankings on See 5777 recap on page 13

A year’s of moments to remember By Josefin Dolsten, JTA This was not a quiet year. From the tumultuous first eight months of Donald Trump’s presidency, to a wave of bomb threats against Jewish community centers,

to a neo-Nazi protest in Charlottesville that turned violent, to the twin weather catastrophes of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Jews, like so many others, found it hard to take their eyes off the news.

As the Jewish year 5777 comes to a close, JTA looks back at some of the moments that had the most significance for Jews, sorted below by date. See Moments on page 14

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By Ron Kampeas, JTA There are apologies, there are non-apologies and there are apologies that never were. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are approaching: We are in the season of repentance and its most apt expression, apologizing to our fellow women and men. The Trump presidency presents special challenges to apology trackers: Donald just doesn’t do them, but he loves them when he gets them. And sometimes he insists he got them when he didn’t. To be fair to Trump, his ambivalence, if not hostility, toward self-reproach is not unique, and certainly not among presidents. It took Bill Clinton months — until just days before Rosh Hashanah of 1998 — to fully apologize for embarking on, and lying about, his affair with Monica Lewinsky. George W. Bush still blames the Iraq War on bad intel- President Trump has issued few apologies and asked for many in ligence. Barack Obama took the past year. his time before eventually Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images apologizing to Americans who lost their health insurance despite his repeated promises that they wouldn’t. Clinton’s apology, at least, included a direct apology to Lewinsky for having called her a liar, and thus met the conditions for teshuvah, or genuine repentance, laid out by Maimonides 900 years ago in his Mishnah Torah: One must seek forgiveness for sins against one’s fellows not from G-d but directly from the wounded party. Beg forgiveness directly, Maimonides prescribed, resolve to not repeat your transgression and do what you can to make it up to the victim. Anything less is not a real apology. In that regard, 5777 wasn’t a great year for Maimonidean apologies. Take a look:

The failing, if not sorry, New York Times

President Trump very much wants to believe the New See Sorry on page 11


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