ENCINO RABBI THINKS CLINTON TRULY REPENTANT.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

President Clinton's avowal of repentance Friday at a White House prayer breakfast struck a deep chord with religious leaders, said an Encino rabbi who attended the event and briefly spoke with the president.

Rabbi Aaron Kriegel, senior rabbi at Temple Ner Maarav for 17 years, said he went to the gathering of religious leaders with misgivings about Clinton's ability to be a good role model for America's youth in light of the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal.

But he returned to his Conservative temple in time for Friday's Shabbat services believing that Clinton had indeed turned a corner by making a heartfelt admission of his wrongdoing and asking for forgiveness.

``If he changes his ways, he can be a greater role model,'' Kriegel said Friday night before the start of services.

``There's a Jewish saying - the place where a repentant sinner stands is the place the most righteous man can never stand.''

Kriegel was one of about 80 clergy members of various faiths to attend the prayer breakfast in the East Room.

Kriegel said he sat at a table with Labor Secretary Alexis Herman and spoke with the president, who was seated nearby, for about two minutes, mostly on the Whitewater matter. The rabbi declined to reveal details of their conversation.

Back at his table, Kriegel said he suggested to Herman that the president enter a 12-step program for sex addiction.

``She took it real seriously,'' he said. ``She questioned me later about the program and I know she's going to bring it back to the president.''

Of the other clergy he spoke to, Kriegel said none of them discussed impeachment ``except to say that it's the wrong course to take.''

During the breakfast, Clinton said he had sinned in his affair with Lewinsky, adding, ``And if my repentance is genuine and sustained, and if I can maintain both a broken spirit and strong heart, then good can come of this for our country as well as for me and my family.

Kriegel said he and others felt the president's anguish, especially the emotion he displayed while reading from the Yom Kippur liturgy, ``Gates of Repentance,'' showed a man who had accepted the harm he has brought to his family, Lewinsky and the nation.

``He spoke of this making him a better man, and all the people at our table felt certain that he was being honest and he could change,'' Kriegel said. ``When it was over, people came over and warmly shook (Clinton's) hand and treated him as as president, but also as a human being who needed the support of people and the faith that he could turn his life around.''

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PHOTO ``There's a Jewish saying - the place where a repentant sinner stands is the place the most righteous man can never stand.''

- Rabbi Aaron Kriegel