By
Ilana Freedman
Maimonedes in his book Hilchot Teshuva (the laws of repentance) writes that a person must express remorse by confessing his sin before God.
He also writes in the laws regarding personal injury that if a person causes someone bodily harm he must ask mechilla, forgiveness.
We cannot comment on Ched Evans's discussions with God, only on what he has stated publicly. His continued protestations of innocence do imply that he is unable to see what he did wrong in engaging in relations with a woman that she did not consent to, no matter his assumptions made at the time. His assumptions were wrong, as determined by a jury.
Maimonides also writes that in order to truly repent a person must find themselves in exactly the same situation and yet have changed to the extent that they would not commit the same act. Could Ched Evans say this of himself? If he is unwilling to, as yet, admit any responsibility, then we can assume that in the same situation, he would do the same.
A thinking person should say "but people who know they will fall in an area would naturally keep themselves away from the same situation". This is obvious, but even this requires a person to realise a position of weakness to avoid. Evans hasn't even done that.
Until the culture of rape and abuse of women changes, a greater burden of evidence is required before society should grant forgiveness, as a person in football is held up by young children, rightly or wrongly, as a role model, and they should therefore be a role model of true repentance.
Ilana Freedman is rebbetzin at Northwood United Synagogue
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