21st Century Judaism September 2015 | Page 14

Forgiveness

"[...]to forgive the Nazis their crimes and erase with one noble gesture deeds which must have shocked Satan himself, would be a mockery, a scandal, a disaster. Forgiveness has its limits. There is not only compassion, there is also justice-the exacting, demanding, stern call to justice. Man must learn to pay for his transgressions. If there were nothing but forgiveness in our world, there would be no world. The criminal, the cheat, the murderer would freely ply his trade, confident that no matter what crime he committed, all would be forgiven and he would never be called to the bar of judgment."

DRESNER, SAMUEL, H.: Prayer, Humility and Compassion

"If you want a world, you will not have justice; if it is justice you want, there will be no world. You are taking hold of the rope by both ends-you desire both a world and justice- but if you don't concede a little, the world cannot stand"

So says the Midrash. This is the anguish of Jonah, of every human

that can differentiate between the honest-mistake, the unwilling action and predators and cheats.

Oh, yes, there is also what Rabbbi Dresner describes as Our own sense of superiority and perfection, the illusion of grandeur which pride sows and arrogance

Because of our own sense of supe- superiority and