c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Mel Gibson. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin. Sen. George Allen. Each has made headlines this year with public apologies _ Gibson for offending Jews, Nagin for calling the World Trade Center a “hole in the ground” and Allen for calling an Indian man “macaca.” Those apologies came in the months and weeks before Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which begins at sundown on Sunday (Oct. 1). Yet they are quite different from the Jewish concepts of repentance and forgiveness that permeate this time of year. Public apologies by public figures are often driven by public opinion, said L. Gregory Jones, dean of Duke University’s Divinity School. “It’s what I call `spin sorrow,”’ he said. “It’s a public relations spin to construct a carefully worded apology that often says something like ‘I’m sorry people’s feelings were hurt.”’ Even if a red-faced politician sputtering at a press conference is as sincere as an individual seeking forgiveness out of religious conviction, there are differences in the nature of their apologies and what’s expected of them. “In both Christian and Jewish traditions, an apology or a request for forgiveness is supposed to be linked to repentance,” Jones said. “It’s never `I’m sorry for your reaction,’ but `Please forgive me, what can I do to make things right?”’ Pope Benedict XVI came close to that after he used a 700-year-old quote that called teachings of the prophet Muhammad “evil and inhuman.” Benedict expressed regret for the reaction to his remarks and met with Muslim leaders but never said he was sorry for the words themselves. It’s a topic that’s on the minds of many in the Jewish community as Yom Kippur approaches. It’s a day of fasting and special synagogue services. There’s another significant distinction from the secular world. “We believe that God gives us a gift because God sets aside the Day of Atonement, where we genuinely ask for forgiveness,” said Rabbi Jacob Schacter, professor at Yeshiva University. “We’re assured that at some level, God will be there for us and respond to us.” The days between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur are a time of introspection, reflection and a time to seek forgiveness from others. In the Jewish tradition, there’s a fairly clear distinction between offenses against God and those against other people, said Rabbi Allan Lehmann, Jewish chaplain at Brandeis University. “For offenses between me and others, it’s more than just having the right feelings of repentance and the right prayers for forgiveness,” he said. “I need to seek reconciliation with the people I’ve offended.” There are several key steps in that process, and it’s much more involved than most public apologies: Ask for Forgiveness “In general, there are two kinds of sin,” said Rabbi Eugene Borowitz, distinguished professor at New York’s Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. “Sins of omission where you should’ve done something and you just didn’t do it,” and sins of commission, where you did something that you shouldn’t have done. In either case, the person who’s done wrong has an obligation to go directly to the person they’ve hurt and ask for forgiveness, Schacter said. “In our tradition, a request for forgiveness is private, personal,” Schacter said. “It is embarrassing and done in a serious contrite way.” That’s perhaps the most fundamental difference from a public apology. “The goal is to try to make the world a better place,” he said, “to bring wholeness to the world in terms of one’s relationship to God, and one’s relationship to another human being.” Try to Make it Right Just saying, “I’m sorry,” is not enough, Lehmann said. “I need to demonstrate that I’ve attempted in many ways to change my behavior and try to undo the wrong that I’ve done,” he said. If the person doesn’t accept the apology, Schacter said, the guilty party is obligated to ask for forgiveness three times. Forgiveness can happen on two levels, Lehmann said. In the first, the wrong is something like a debt, and the person granting forgiveness declares the debt cancelled. “On another level, it’s an act of the heart, it’s coming to a deeper understanding of the offender and realizing that this person, too, is human and imperfect and as such is deserving of sympathy,” he said. Be Prepared to Grant Forgiveness Not only does Yom Kippur involve seeking atonement for one’s sins, it may also involve wrestling with whether to forgive others. “To me, it’s not a simple matter,” Schacter said. “The complexity is really on both sides of the forgiveness equation. Not only is it hard to ask, it’s hard to give.” In the world of public apologies, sincerity is difficult to determine and even apologies to individuals play out on a large scale. Yet, despite the differences, Rabbi Mark Borovitz, who works with recovering alcoholics and addicts in Los Angeles, finds that Yom Kippur offers a message for everyone. “We have to put more forgiveness, more amends back in the world,” he said. “Yom Kippur helps me to remember that it’s my job to repair the world too. It’s not a free ride to be here.” KRE/JL END ROAN Editors: To obtain photos of Schacter and Borovitz, go to the RNS Web site at https://religionnews.com. On the lower right, click on “photos,” then search by subject or slug. Note: Borovitz and Borowitz are CQ.