Religion, Crime, Community, and Shame

Rabbi Joel Fleekop

Friday, August 21, 2009

The French philosopher Voltaire wrote, “I want my attorney, my tailor, my servants, even my wife to believe in God because then I shall be robbed and cheated less often.”

They key words in Voltaire’s statement are “less” and “often.”

Very astutely Voltaire refrains from using the word “never.” For as history can attest, people who believe in God are not immune to the illicit, nor are religion and the willful commitment of crime mutually exclusive.

In recent months, the Jewish community has been acutely and painfully reminded of this truth.

A self-identified Orthodox Jew, Bernard Madoff served on the Board of Yeshiva University and as treasurer and chairman of the YU’s business school. He was a long-time donor to many major Jewish charities, including the United Jewish Appeal and Federation of New York. But of course these connections did not keep him from defrauding these organizations and others throughout the Jewish community.

It is estimated that Yeshiva University lost $110 million and Hadassah $90 million in the Madoff ponzi scheme. The Forward reports that the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity and Steven Spielberg’s Wunderkinder Foundation were also hard hit, as were a number of prominent Orthodox Jewish Day Schools on the East Coast including Ramaz in Manhattan and the Maimonides School in Boston. The exposure of the Jewish Federation of Washington DC exceeded $10 million or approximately 10% of its total portfolio.

And of course Madoff’s scheme affected not only Jewish organizations but many of the family foundations and endowments which so generously support those organizations. Professor Jonathan Sarna of Brandeis University conservatively estimates that the Madoff scheme will end up costing Jewish communal organizations well over $1 billion.

While of the highest profile, Madoff’s ponzi scheme is sadly not the only crime perpetrated by observant Jews to recently appear in the papers.

This summer, as part of a major investigation which led to the arrest of 44 people including three New Jersey mayors, five Orthodox rabbis were arrested. The rabbis are part of the 100,000 strong Syrian-Jewish community based in Brooklyn and two Jersey shore towns, Deal and Elberon.

The scheme revolves around Solomon Dwek, a well known member of the community. Once the Deal Yeshiva’s star student and a major philanthropist, Dwek orchestrated a money laundering scheme that involved charities in the US and Israel and was, at least tangentially connected to the trafficking of human organs.

While Dwek remained generous with his giving of tzedakah, he undermined tzedek, justice by defrauding and exploiting others – mostly fellow members of the tight-knit, Syrian-Jewish community.

Both the Madoff ponzi scheme and the money laundering orchestrated by Dwek have come at a great monetary cost to their communities. But equal to if not greater than the financial damage of these crimes is the spiritual damage they caused.

A December 23 New York Times article was very pointedly titled, “In Madoff Scandall, Jews Fell an Acute Betrayal.” The sense of betrayal exists on two fronts. First, that someone who is so entrenched in the Jewish community could steal from Jewish organizations and violate the basic tenets of our faith. And secondly, that someone could act in a way that would bring so much shame on our community – what one New York Rabbi called “the shanda factor.” Rabbi David Wolpe of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles explains, “In the same way that your family can embarrass you as no one else can, when a Jew does this, Jews feel shamed by proxy. I’d like to believe someone raised in our community, imbued with Jewish values, would be better than this.”

Although more localized, similar sentiments are felt with regards to this summer’s arrests. Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who represents most of Syrian Jews who live in Brooklyn, says the community is in a state of shock and disbelief. They are alternately devastated and in denial that their spiritual leaders could be involved with such a crime. One community member called the rabbi’s actions a case of Hillul Hashem – a desecration of God’s name.

And of course these crimes did not go unnoticed by anti-Semites. Bradley Burston of the Israeli Newspaper Ha’aretz wrote, “The anti-Semite’s new Santa is Bernard Madoff. . . . The Aryan Nation at its most delusional couldn’t have come up with anything to rival this.” Sadly, Burston’s prediction was correct – with the ADL reporting a spike in anti-Semitic online postings in the wake of Madoff’s December 11th arrest. While it is too early to see if this summer’s arrests will further fuel anti-Semitic feelings, several individuals I spoke with during a recent trip to New Jersey were weary of the negative press caused by the rabbi’s arrests.

So how should we respond when high profile members in the Jewish community, or those trusted with positions of leadership commit crimes or act unethically? One important step is to publicly and clearly explain that when someone in our community commits a crime, they are acting against the teachings of Judaism.

This was the message of David G. Greenfield, executive vice president of the Sephardic Community Foundation. Quickly following the rabbis’ arrest, he went on the record saying, “the community is shocked and saddened by these allegations, which go against every value and teaching the community holds dear.”

A similar point was conveyed with regards to the Madoff scandal by Rabbi Elliot Dorf. Speaking to the Los Angeles Jewish Journal, Dorf explained, “Piety is not an excuse, let alone a justification for immorality. . . You can’t be a religious Jew simply by observing the laws. Being a religious Jew must entail being moral as well.”

To this end, it is important that we reaffirm the Jewish values and teachings that lead us to righteous behavior.

Some of the most important of these teachings are found in Parshat Shoftim, which we read this Shabbat. Shoftim instructs judges to avoid any form of bribery or favoritism and places important limits on kings: teaching that a good leader will restrain one’s pursuit of wealth, power, and pleasure.

As members – and by extension, as leaders and representatives of the Jewish community -- we must take the words of Parshat Shoftim to heart. Part of this week’s reading, Deuteronomy 16:20 declares, “Tzedek Tzedek Tirdof -- Justice, Justice You shall pursue.” Let us pursue justice by not only living Jewish values at home and in the synagogue, but also at work and in our financial matters. Or to put it bluntly: Judaism must guide not only how we pray, but also how we pay.

The Mekhilta d’Rabbi Ishmael, a collection of early rabbinic midrashim teaches that “If one is honest in business and earns the esteem of others, it is as if one has fulfilled the whole Torah.” May we bring the Torah’s words to life by being honest in all our dealings and may we, through our actions and deeds, bring honor to God, Torah, and the Jewish people.

Shabbat Shalom