In a widely published recent opinion piece, UAHC (Reform)
president Rabbi Eric Yoffie cites the case of four men
serving prison sentences for misappropriating public funds
and claims to have been unable to find more than "a single
example" of an Orthodox leader "who has spoken out publicly
against [the] reasoning" that misusing such funds in order
to keep Jewish communities or institutions afloat is wrong.
He would have done well to have contacted Agudath Israel.
We would have happily sent him material from Agudath Israel
national conventions and conferences of recent years --
which are routinely attended by thousands of Orthodox Jews --
where both major addresses on the topic of financial
integrity and roundtable discussions with titles like "613 /
9 to 5: The Challenges to Observance and Integrity in our
Business and Professional Lives" abound.
We would have gladly provided him our press release of
November 24 of last year, for example, recounting how, at
our most recent convention, revered Council of Torah Sages
senior member and dean of one of the largest Orthodox
yeshivos in the United States, Rabbi Avrohom Pam, stated
"clearly and unequivocally that it makes no difference
whether one is acting as an individual or on behalf of an
institution, or whether one is dealing with a Jew, non-Jew
or government -- meticulous honesty is the mandate of every
Jew and must certainly be the hallmark of every observant
Jew."
Rabbi Yoffie could have read on about how Rabbi Yaakov
Perlow, the Novominsker Rebbe and Rosh Agudath Israel,
sounded the very same theme at the same gathering, averring
that "honesty in all matters, including financial ones,
results in 'the sanctification of the glory of Heaven' --
something...that Jewish religious law requires of... every
Jewish man, woman and child."
And, further, how the Rebbe went on to characterize such
behavior as "the overriding challenge and the basic
underpinning of Jewish life," whose opposite, G-d forbid, is
Jewish life's "ultimate failure."
Rabbi Yoffie could have read even more, about how Rabbi
Perlow called it a desecration of G-d's name when apparently
observant Jews engage in questionable practices or seem to
differentiate "between glatt kosher and glatt
yosher" - between meticulous observance in realms like
kashrus, on the one hand, and similar stringency in the
realm of financial "straightforwardness" on the other.
Those comments, and similar ones offered by Rabbi Elya Svei,
dean of the Talmudical Academy of Philadelphia, were made
before close to 4000 Orthodox Jews, and were shared with the
media and widely reported.
And they represent only what is said at Agudath Israel
conventions. Orthodox Union and National Council of Young
Israel gatherings have placed similar focus on the
importance halacha puts on integrity in financial dealings.
Meanwhile, in yeshiva classroom after yeshiva classroom, in
study hall after study hall, Orthodox Jewish scholars teach
their students that "chosomo shel Hakodosh Boruch Hu emes" -
the very "seal" of the Holy One is truthfulness.
Yes, there are individuals in our community who may forget
those lessons or allow temptations to obscure them. (More
about them in a moment.) But they are only individuals. If
every leader or teacher would have as successful a track
record as Orthodox leaders and teachers do in inspiring
followers or students to self-improvement and high moral
standards, the world would be a far better place than it is
today.
Rabbi Yoffie would also have done well to read further still
in the press release cited above, and to seriously ponder
the Orthodox sages' additional admonition that Jews avoid
not only dishonesty and desecration of God's name Hashem but
also the haughtiness of being judgmental of people who are
not equal to the challenge, and the moral duty we have to
recognize the toll taken on some by extreme financial
pressures.
Had he done so, perhaps he would have been a bit more
empathic of those he scorned as stealing money "and then
defending their actions on the grounds that the money did
not go directly into their own pocket." Condemning what
they did does not preclude recognizing that theirs were
crimes of desperation, not venality, or empathizing with the
dire circumstances that led them to act as they did. For
none of the men to whom he referred used ill-gotten gains to
afford themselves lavish lifestyles, neither directly (as
Rabbi Yoffie admits) nor indirectly. Surely it behooves
religious leaders not only to call for strength but to feel,
and show, compassion.
Both together, the condemnation and the compassion, the
tochacha and the rachmanus, comprise the truly Jewish
response.
AM ECHAD RESOURCES
[Rabbi Avi Shafran serves as director of public affairs for
Agudath Israel of America and as American director of Am
Echad]
