#0202_A_View_From_West_Jerusalem
"The man that burned the tefillin [1], Daniel Amram, is sorry for what he did. Believable or not?"
[A translation of the video:]
"I can’t believe that I’m doing this but…I guess it’s time.
Hi, my name is Daniel Amram. I’m the person that burned the tefillin a few months ago; I’m the person that acted against Jews and religion, here and abroad. I want, using the same medium I used in my past actions, to say: I was wrong. I did what I did, and I regret it. I want to express my deep regret, and to apologize to every person that was offended and hurt by it, to all the people that weren’t supposed to be hurt by it and were.
[I want to ask for the forgiveness] of my parents, people that were close to me and will be close to me whether I want it or not, until the day I die… (I die, or they die). I’m so sorry for what I’ve done.
By the way, I want to tell you how this came about. Lately, I’ve decided to end all that stuff and all these wars, and somehow, I found myself in a religious place. There, in this religious place, they knew about everything that I had done, but in spite of that, they decided to ignore it and to hide it, and to treat me in the best way possible. I was in this place for a long period of time, and in the en… – I couldn’t believe that they didn’t recognize me – but in the end, it turned out that they knew who I was but decided to hide that from me and treat me in the best way possible. That slap in the face caused me to realize that I had acted wrongly. My path of action was hurtful and perverted, and extremely misguided.
My level of religiosity doesn’t matter, or if I'm religious at all, what matters is my personality, and the way in which I acted.
Therefore, I want to express my deep regret on the same platform, the same platform I used to act against [Judaism] aggressively and violently. This is where I want to ask for your forgiveness; be understanding, accept me.
I hope you will. Bye."
– Jerusalemites FB Group
[Selected Comments:]
– "Some things you just don’t do…"
– "We’ve all made mistakes. God is more merciful than the commenters here, with their horrifying comments…In my eyes, you’ve manned-up to a mistake that you made. I’m sending you a hug."
– "Fine, we love you and accept you."
– "If God forgives, who are we not to forgive you? Well done, you’ve done good."
– "The beauty of Judaism is that you can atone for anything. The fact that you admit that you were wrong means you’re half-way there."
– "I know him personally. This act of his is only to get people off his back so that he’ll be able to walk around freely. He’s been the target of a lot of threats, and his motorcycle was burned lately. He’s very afraid, and that’s why he’s gone into hiding two months ago – so that people won’t be able to hurt him. This apologetic post is only to soften the reactions – so that no one will do anything to him. He’s lying about everything, don’t believe him."
– [In response:] "Sorry, I’m not convinced…I still believe him wholeheartedly."
—-
0202 Editor's Notes:
[1] Tefillin are two small leather boxes that hold in them pieces of scroll on which specific segments from the Torah are written. They are worn as a Jewish act of worship. They are considered to be extremely holy and are treated with respect and reverence.
Daniel Amram, who created the video, burned a set of tefillin a few months ago. He said he had done it in protest of religious coercion in Israel. His actions caused an uproar. He isn't from Jerusalem.
#Religion
https://bit.ly/2J26iKU
https://www.facebook.com/1675349376080655/posts/2117335818548673
