My letter to Lt. Governor-Elect Mark Robinson on his election win last night

Dear Lt Governor-Elect Robinson,

I write, first, to congratulate you on your election win last night. I pray that God will bless you with wisdom and strength as you serve our beloved state of North Carolina.

I also write you as a rabbi serving one of the largest Jewish congregations in North Carolina. In the course of your campaign, there were quotes attributed to you that deeply insulted the Jewish community.

They were anti-Semitic and hurtful. If you had chosen to repudiate your prior words and seek forgiveness — offered with sincere remorse and understanding— you would likely have been forgiven wholeheartedly. Very sadly, you did not choose that path. Instead, you doubled down on your anti-Semitic comments as well as your other bigoted, homophobic words of hate.

Now that you are soon-to-be the Lt. Governor of all North Carolinians, I want to give you an opportunity for teshuvah (repentance).

I, and a number of my colleagues in all likelihood, would be willing to meet with you to discuss your comments and express how deeply offended we were by them. We also would give you the chance to respond, clarify your intentions, and hopefully commit to speaking in a different manner going forward.

This offer is open-ended but please know that every day you delay condemnation of your words is another day in which your Jewish NC citizens feel insulted and attacked. It is certainly not consistent with the Bible’s teaching to “love one’s neighbor as oneself.”

In the meantime, I pray that God will help you have a change of heart and I look forward to a day when you can share your repentant words with the Jewish community and the public so that you may serve all of North Carolina’s citizens with love and respect.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Eric Solomon, Beth Meyer Synagogue