Question:
B”H
Kavod haRav,
I have been working on not over apologizing and B”H with Siyata Dishmaya, it’s getting better. For some reason, I have a strong yetzer hara to apologize, even when it doesn’t really fit the scenario and my perception of what does and does not need an apology is not always clear. I had an incident happen and am seeking clarity if according to halacha it would be appropriate to pursue getting forgiveness from the person, or do teshuva to Hashem and not seek mechila from the person.
I was driving to work and it was a busy time of morning where lots of people drop off kids for school/ are heading to work in the morning. A lady was driving in front of me and she sort of pulled over to the right and I kept driving as I noticed she was positioning her car to make a u-turn. I could have let her go, but kept driving as I was hurrying to work. She started moving her car to make the u-turn, but I kept going forward…I admit it was agressive of me and looking back, I should have just let her make the u-turn. Would I have any obligation to try to find this lady to apologize for being (uncharacteristically) agressive while driving, or the teshuva I did to Hashem and the life lesson taken to be better is sufficient? (I do not know who she is, but may be able to ask some people who work nearby…)
Thank you very sincerely
Answer:
Hello,
Halachically you do not have to ask her mechila. At the time it would have been nice for you to excuse yourself, but to try and look up her phone number is not appropriate at all, and not necessary.
Kesiva vchasima tova
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