Rabbi Aharon Baumel, a friend of ZAKA founder Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, spoke about his friend's attempt to end his life after claims that he was a sexual predator went public.
In an interview with 103 FM Radio, Rabbi Baumel said, "I visit him, he's unconscious, poor Yehuda is a vegetable. That's what they say, and that's the situation, and it really hurts my heart."
"He hasn't been forgotten," Rabbi Baumel added. "People are always coming. Even on Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) I came to ask him forgiveness, with a quorum of ten. The public is constantly asking. He's a public figure who was loved, we can't degrade Yehuda Meshi-Zahav in every issue, or about the fact that he left the ZAKA organization, which is constantly providing help."
About Meshi-Zahav's horrific actions, Rabbi Baumel said, "I was careful to warn the public. In the past five years he's been perfectly righteous. They're talking about stories that happened thirty or forty years ago. A person can repent. People tell me that they don't want [him] in the earth or in heaven. The public has become afraid, people understand that there is judgement and there is a judge, and there's a fear of committing crimes."
The very first rule of repentance Teshuvah is acknowledging that you’ve done wrong and apologise to his victims then do the rest, otherwise all the Teshuvah is worthless
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