New York – The events of last week were shocking in scope, magnitude, and enormity. Right on the heels of the mother of all financial scandals known as the Madoff Scandal, the headlineslast week read how a Rabbi’s son, himself the admitted perpetrator of an enormous financial scandal, had brought down close to fifty other people, five of whom were Rabbis.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
In truth, there are four issues that must be addressed.
The first issue, of course, is that we cannot necessarily believe everything we hear or ostensibly read. This nation has an ideal called “innocent until proven guilty” and the Torah itself also mandates that we not believe the worst of people unless presented with incontrovertible evidence. Clearly, things are not always what they seem. While we are not assuming guilt, the rest of this article is working on the premise that the events presented might be true.
The second issue is how Jewish thought , and indeed, any moral perspective looks upon purposefully placing a stumbling block in front of others. The Torah forbids placing a stumbling block in front of the blind. It is found in a prohibition called “Lifnei Iver” found in the book of VaYikra.
And blind we all are.
We would all like to think that we have the moral fortitude to withstand temptation and sin. But mankind is basically weak, and rather than tempt others, we should try to strengthen the ability of people to make strong, correct decisions. It is wrong to participate in such endeavors – to cause people, whoever they are, to give in to their desires for illicit monetary gain. True, law enforcement agencies may rationalize it by saying that they only go after people who have previously shown a propensity for the illegal behavior and they are now trying to catch them in the act once again. But it is still a rationalization.
The third issue is how it is that someone could come to this? Here we are talking of a Rabbi’s son who was steeped in the world of Torah. He was a philanthropist who knew and appreciated the importance of Jewish education. How could this possibly have happened?
The answer to this is that while some may go through the motions of religious observance they may not be connected to Hashem. There is a term called “Dveikus Bashem” which means cleaving to G-d. The way in which the Jewish soul works is that when it cleaves to G-d its moral character and behavior is almost celestial in nature. On the other hand, when the Jewish soul is distant from this idea of “Dveikus” one’s behavior can fall, and can fall horrifically low. When the media reported that the code word used for a “thousand dollars of illicit money” was Gemorah and that one was bringing fifty five volumes of Gemorah to indicate $55,000 of illicit funds. This is an indication of a horrific fall. When the code words for an exchange of funds is “when can we learn?,” this is a sign of an even greater fall.
Finally, the fourth issue is how could so many people have shown such weakness? The fault may partially lie with us and our system of education. These events must force us to take a hard look at our system of education and ask ourselves whether we are really preparing our youth and our people for the real world. We teach halacha, Chumash, and Gemorah, but are we preparing our youth to deal with the challenges of the business world, fraught with graft, payoffs, the ability to make money quickly but illegally? How many times have we discussed this in the classroom? Do we tell our children, our congregants and our students, that in the Torah’s eyes what really makes a difference is not how wealthy we are, or what kind of car we drive, where we vacation, but rather there are other questions that the Torah views as key.
The real questions that the Torah wants us to ask ourselves is, What kind of child are we to our parents? What kind of parent are we to our children? What kind of friend are we to our friends? Did we rise to the ethical and moral challenges of our surroundings?
It is only a true Dveikus Bashem that will allow us to strive ever further in growing in these areas. There is a Mitzvah of vehalachta bidrachav – to walk in His ways. The Gemorah in Shabbos elaborates: Mah hu rachum vechanun af attah rachum vechanun.. – Just as He is Merciful and kind so too must you be merciful and kind.. The same is true with unimpeccable honesty. Emes is the chosem – the stamp and seal of HaKadosh Boruch Hu. True Dveikus Bashem is the only means in which we can fulfill this Mitzvah of veHalachta BiDrachav..
The Kaddish is recited in every Tefilah for one purpose – to be mekadaish shaim shamayim – to sanctify the Divine Name. By the same token, our purpose here is to be mekadaish shaim shamayim in all of our actions. We provide for our young men and women Chosson and Kallah classes. By the same token we might consider adding a new module – with an emphasis on ethics, the proper respect for the law of the land, and the grave repercussions of Chillul Hashem. It is time to add a new focus in our Avodas Hashem – developing our Dveikus Bashem in order to fulfill our role of being an ohr leamim – a light unto the Nations.
The author can be reached by email at [email protected]
Every body, all “perfect people” are here to give mussar now.. how beautiful.
The heading of the article is misleading, it’s sort of saying: “Jewish people are uneducated, they don’t know from right to wrong, they are caught in crookishe behaviour”….
Wrong! most jewish people do know whats right and what’s wrong, Jewish people are going out of their way to comply with the law, every body learns in yeshiva “dina demalchisa dina”, there are many business lectures and seminars from time to time in many yiddish areas where lawyers and accountants come to educate the people and update with new laws and regulations.
Sometimes – very few times, some yidden are being caught with misdeeds, that serves a a proper reminder and wake up call that laws have to be abeyed.
In this case we all know this was a major entrapment, where soft hearted people caved into pressure or pity after the heartbreaking pleas of a beast.
This was for itself a new lecture not to bow all fall under pressure.
I feel compelled to speak positively of Rabbi Yair Hoffman’s article it was lucid, well thought out and on the money in identifying our communal problems. However the issue I take with it, is more macro then just this article. I often read well written articles that convey the right message, but they are always in Jewish publications; this is the proverbial “Preaching to the Choir.” We need better PR someone needs to send these articles to the larger audience and convey our communal response to things of this nature.
No sir, Yidden are law abiding citizens, everything has an exception, but in general we are all extra cautious to meet all laws and pay all taxes.
Because is waht we were taught to do, and this is how we grew up.
How can we inspire our children with all this, while at the same time we are teaching them, that To’os Akim is Mittur, and that there is no obligation of Hashovos Aveidu to an Einu Yehudi, at a court case we must side with the Yehudi, we ask for Refuah Shleimu only for Amoi Yisroel or L’Choilei Amecha,, Etc, Etc.
A child can not accept the concept of “Kiddush Hashem”, to be defined as putting up a good show in public, (the better faker you’ll be the better Kidush Hashem you’ll make), because he knows that HKB”H is only Emes.
very nice speech.
Now, maybe can someone preach of the mitzva of “dan lekaf zechus”? strolling around in this site, I learned that many people are so uneducated on this great mitzva, would any Rabbi or newspaper writer devote an article for being dan lekaf zechus?
Ethics used to be taught at home. The homes are now corrupt. Corrupt by value system that put eight week Bungalow vacations in the country above all, corrupt by value system that manipulates earnings to qualify for “programs” and corrupt by mothers and fathers to whom Yidishkeit is nothing but social status. When G-d is replaced by Bungalows, Programs and social status, it is only a question of time before the Feds come knocking. No classes will help.
Better than the Aish guy, but while people are very down, we must think about them & only them. Not Mussar arround their problems.
The Rachmistrivka Rebbe Shlita: About twenty years during his Shabboss day Seuda,[in the summer when there was only 4or 5 people eating with him] a Yid without a Yamulka walked in crying, that his daughter Malka Bas Mariana needs a refuah Shleima, someone brought him a yamulka & the Rebbe stood up with the people at his Seuda & said tehilim for the girl. After he left one youngerman told the Rebbe he told him to do Tshuva, to that the Rebbe replied, now all we ask for is his daughter gets a refua shlaima, he repeated it a few times. B”H she had a refua Shleima.
The point made is a yid who thinks of others, doesn’t think of musser at their time of sorrow, all he thinks about is that they get out of their bind for now. After that you can give musser.
I ask all you wise guys even Rabbis, to have the sensetivity & patientce to withhold all your mussar for now & pray for all the troubled.
very nice speech.
Now, maybe can someone preach of the mitzva of “dan lekaf zechus”? strolling around in this site, I learned that many people are so uneducated on this great mitzva, would any Rabbi or newspaper writer devote an article for being dan lekaf zechus?
lets face reality here . sad to say it is all about the money . when Jewish organizations honour people at dinners it is for only one reason , money . how much money can that person bring in . as my late father of blessed memory used say . it is easy for me to say something is not kosher because i don’t have to raise the money , but then again if i was in charge who knows what would i do .
I have thus far refrained from commenting on any web site about this entire scandal. I refuse to get into the low level discussions between people who have no clue what happened, and personally who we are talking about. I dont care what the FBI says, or what any people say who dont even know these Rabbis. However when a Rabbi writes an editorial without any facts whatsoever that does bother me very much so.
I now feel compelled by this editorial to speak out, and it is my hope as well that this is forwarded to the ‘Rabbi who wrote this editorial’
Dear Rabbi Hoffman,
I will start by telling you that you should only be so lucky to have children as great as some of the accused Rabbis. In specific I know Rabbi Shaul Kassin and have known him very personally since my youth many years ago. This man is steeped in piety, humbleness, and Torah. You will not find such a combination today, and especially not in this land filled with tum’ah. If you think for a second that this great Rabbi even knows what gucci is you are severely mistaken. This is a man who does not go shopping like the rest of us looking for the new brand names. He doesnt pay attention to whats going on in the world. All he pays attention to is the will of G-d. In fact his only crime (assuming its even true) is trying to help a devil of a man pleading for $ to help feed his family right before Kippur no less!
This Rabbi doesnt leave a morsel of even rice on his plate so as not to waste food which some less fortunate amount of lo aleinu dont have, walks speedily with his head bent down, and drives the same car for an umpteen amount of years. His “house” is more like a small box, which hasnt been upgraded in many many years, unlike all of the fortresses being built today. I for one would love to know where the FBI thinks he put all of this “funny $” that he took in from commissions of illicit transactions. Their actions of taking a known criminal to try and entrap this noble man are despicable and they are the ones that should be prosecuted. The incompetence of the FBI to build a case without using a criminal to entrap is noteworthy and disgusting. It is no wonder no one has any morals in this country anymore.
Rabbi Hoffman before you write an article the next time I hope you research the real facts. Speak to someone who knows these people to find out who they are, what their lives are like and whether or not the accusations can even be true. This Rabbis dveikus to hashem would put you to shame. He is a man of few words who steadfastly holds onto the torah, and the halachot. It is YOU and not him, that makes a mockery out of the rabbinate by writing articles and giving opinions “assuming the events presented might be true”. Shame on you.
If you would like to contact me to discuss this further I would be more than happy to talk to you, VIN has my email address and I give them permission to hand it over to you.
thank you.
A fellow Jew
I can’t argue with this one. Somewhere along the way things went a bit wrong. My grandfathers were and my father is so honest. My grandfather worked on the docks unloading and delivering produce. He never had much… actually he had very little. My father started working when he was 15 to help support the family and has not stopped to this day (well past retirement age). My grandfather told me about guys who would mark-up the prices when they made deliveries in certain neighborhoods and pocket the difference… some got caught and fired… some didn’t. He would rather be a poor, erliche yid than be a wealthy roshoh. My other grandfather (also in the shallow end of the economic spectrum) had a business partner he KNEW was skimming money off the top… his attitude was to say “H’ decides what I’ll make today… H’ will figure out how to deal with him too…” That business partner (many years later after the business was closed) went to jail for theft of some kind (I wish I remembered the whole story).
Somewhere along the way things like cheating on your taxes, lying to get welfare, doing business “under the table”, all (sadly) became somehow acceptable. We hear about it all the time. Before I moved to South Florida, I had 2 friends in particular in BP who worked full time jobs and I knew about how much money they made. Their lifestyles in no way reflected it. Fancy cars, fancy things in the house, always paying in cash, and always having plenty of it for that matter. One later revealed to me that he was scamming welfare and another program (I don’t remember what it was called) for HUGE sums of money. Another told me that he had a side-business that was all cash (I don’t remember what the business was) and he didn’t report the income. I was shocked that they were so cavalier about it. Today, I hear people discussing (online and in person) how to lie and make your financial situation look worse than it is in order to get more government money. I hear people talk about how there are doctors you can go to who will help you claim permanent injury in order to get some kind of disability entitlement.
I know that people say “not paying taxes is not really stealing”. Yes it is. It is worse than stealing. You LIE on your tax returns and SWEAR to that LIE when you sign it. Because of your LIES I have to pay more money (I have never cheated, to my knowledge). When you LIE about your income you are literally taking money from my pocket. Just because your weapons were LIES and DECEIT instead of a gun, you still took my money.
The same holds true for those who cheat the social assistance programs. Those programs are there for people who literally cannot LIVE without them. They do not exist to ensure that you can get a new car every 4 years. They do not exist so you can avoid working and taking any responsibility for your life and your family. They do not exist to pay for your summer in the bungalow. They do not exist so you can “keep up with the Cohen’s”. Once again, you are LYING and taking taxpayer money. Because there will be less money available, *I* have to pay more because of your LIES. That is money you have taken from MY pocket.
So, even if you think that it is OK to cheat on your taxes… show me where it is OK to sign a declaration swearing that the information you are providing is true, when you KNOW it to be a LIE.
One last thing that I have heard many times is that some feel that the responsibility to be honest is only in dealing with yidden. These days you can never be sure who is and who is not a yid. On top of that, if you are nothing more than a lying piece of trash who dresses like us, you will eventually get caught…. and we will all have to suffer for your stupidity. We may lose business as a result. We may find ourselves being treated unfairly because people assume that all of us who dress a certain way must be dishonest. So, in that respect… through your actions you are 100% stealing from the rest of us.
All I can do is daven that if those arrested in this current crisis, if innocent will be vindicated quickly. Unfortunately, only they and H” know for sure.
This article is out of touch woth reality!
1. It is impossible to understand how Solomon “drek” did what he did unless you are as evil as him or as sick of an addict as he might have been!
Also, be honest with yourself. If you are in business you know that if you’ll be straight like a broomstick you will never take off. Every business owner, yid, goy or ger wants cash cash cash to avoid taxes!
Don’t be stupid! Be honest with yourself.
Special To The Jewish Week
It’s hard to adequately express the sense of outrage one feels at seeing the news of New Jersey and New York rabbis arrested in a money-laundering scheme this week. These men are accused of using charitable and educational institutions to launder millions of dollars in the past several years. And let’s not forget the gruesome sideshow of trafficking in organ sales.
One has to assume that if they are guilty as charged, there is a special place in hell reserved for these individuals. Not only did they play the part of pious clergy while pursuing their criminal paths but they made religious and charitable institutions into (one hopes unwitting) accomplices. If the Deity commands and rewards us for being a light unto the nations,
for glorifying His great Name, the corollary punishment for those who so totally and completely disgrace that same Name must be awesome indeed.
There will, of course, be those who will condemn the inevitable breast-beating that will follow. There are bad apples in every bunch, they’ll tell us. Let’s not condemn a community for the acts of an aberrant few. Perhaps. But bad behavior can always be excused, ignored or explained. Occasionally there is cause for deeper reflection.
Is it possible that there is something in the Orthodox community in general and the haredi community in particular that creates fertile ground for this type of fraud? I’ve too often witnessed, here and in Israel, a perverse notion that we few who feel bound by the laws of God are free to flaunt the laws of man. That the seriousness with which we hold halacha (or, Jewish law) forces us to view state law as trite, flawed — unimportant at best, a nuisance at worst.
I remember as a yeshiva student in Israel being urged to spend the day learning at a settlement. “Why today?” I inquired. It was the day the government was auditing the number of full-time students to determine the level of state subsidy. It was a mitzvah, I was told — we’d be keeping the state from subsidizing non-kosher kibbutzim. We’d be keeping pork out of peoples’ mouths, I was told. (The yeshiva greatly overestimated the State’s budget line for bacon subsidies). I declined.
We see the same sort of flouting of laws in Israel today by some members of the haredi community — whether it is rioting to protest the opening of parking lots on the Sabbath or stone throwing and garbage burning to support a woman suspected of starving her toddler son. Municipal services had to be suspended in these neighborhoods out of fear for the safety of city workers.
Yes, I know — a few bad apples. But where is the outrage? Where are the haredi leaders jumping up to protest? Where are the public vigils or the excommunications? This is a community that is pretty good at enforcing standards of behavior when they are motivated to do so. Have we actually convinced ourselves that we can be good Jews and bad people at the same time?
Many years ago, when I first heard Rabbi Norman Lamm speak, the then-president of Yeshiva University accused his fellow Orthodox Jews of losing sight of the forest of Torah because of the trees of halacha. Those words were never more true than today. Is it really possible that we, as Orthodox Jews, believe that we can create better societies and more caring communities by avoiding raspberries for fear that they may have bugs in them while not holding ourselves to even the basic standards of law and decency? Is it really possible that we believe we are in greater danger from women appearing at the pulpit than from rabbis appearing at a perp walk? Perhaps it is time to stop waiting for the perfection of the world that will come along with the building of the Third Temple and engage in perfecting ourselves and the communities we live in.
Mark Charendoff is president of the Jewish Funders Network.
Back to top
Rabbi Hoffman emailed me and asked that his reply be pasted…below:
I could not agree with you more on Rabbi Kassin and Rabbi ELiyahu Ben
Chaim, and perhaps some of the others as well. I am sorry that you
interpreted this as an attack on them. They are Tzaddikim gmurim.
Please post this reply for me.
My point was that the CW needs the dveikus not the others. Rav Kassin
and Rav Eliyahu Ben Chaim are remarkable individuals. Rav Ovadiah
Yoseph shlita personally told me remarkable and fabulous things about
Rav Eliyahu Ben Chaim.
Yair Hoffman
PLEASE GENTLEMEN …WE HAVE ENOUGH JUDGING FROM THE GOYIM. DO WE NEED TO JUDGE OUR FELLOW JEWS OURSELVES? HOW LOW HAVE WE STOOPED
My rav gave a speech this week and this is what he said : Raboisa there is a big confusion in our community regarding ” Pidyon Shvuom” What we are hearing recently with achinu bais yisroel being arrested is really ” Pidyon Ganovim” Pidyon shevuom was always known as a situation where a jew was kidnapped by goim for his sin of being a jew for the Ransom. thats what the gemora and shilchun orich translates as being “pidyon shevuom” A person who commits a crime is not pidyon shuvuom .if you want to help him ,thats fine but dont call it pidyon shvuom call it “PIDYON GANOVIM”
“Should Start Before You Get Married”
What has married got to do with anything? As far as I know, Yiddishkeit teaches Lo Signov – Thou shalt not steal, as one of the ten commandments – something that any school kid can tell you. It is read in shul twice a year for a reason, not just to fill up time.
bottomline—we as a community have fosted a culture of toleration of communal behavior that lead”s to these instances.
For those who are screaming dina dmalchusa dina – american law says innocent until proven guilty. How about keeping that? (Let alone that the Torah says that too).
Wow the FBI did an amazing job.. They found a 90 year old rabbi who fell to the intimidation of a long professional crook that even PNC bank fell for. And the rabbi fell and had mercy on another human being claiming he cannot feed his family… Wow the rabbi of 90 yrs old is guilty. Of 1) fell for the mercy of feeding a family in need 2)he is not stronger then PNC bank 3) at 90 yrs of age he did not stand up against a prof. criminal crook. .. This would tell me how they entrapped the rest of the 12 in prison.. speaking of corruption I wonder if the FBI is clean can we have their recordings..? Can we record them now?
The thief is the watchdog… Just because they r the FBI.. does not make them right.. That they r honest. There is no known agency to stand up against them..
It only makes the headlines
The syrian community is the MOST charitable community in the world,even to ashkenazic yeshivas,bridal funds…all over the world
Whem I first heard of the scandal, my first reaction was that these are a bunch of ultraorthodox rabbis without any business ethics, and they deserve it. However, when I saw in the NY times the angelic face of the 85 year old Rov with a beautiful hadras panim who looks like a malach, and now going through this gehenom, my heart fell. While I at first told my kids the lesson is there is no excuse for dishonesty, when we all looked at the sad picture, we realized that this situation is much different.
Here was a fellow who deliberately played on and took advantage of the innate sense of chesed this Rabbi had. Especially because he knew his family, and now the Rov sees a congregant who appears to be in great trouble and just wanted to help him out. We are also told that Dwek told a bleeding heart story to Reb Ovadiah’s son, and pleeded for help, but was turned down. Not all of us can withstand saying no to a person who appears to be in a time of great need. This Rov only was trying to help, and did not know he was being tricked. The cruelty of what Dwek did is unimagineable.
I am not justifying anything illegal, as there is no justification, but when you beg somebody for help, and he finally breaks down and agrees against his better judgement because he feels bad for you, and then you turn around and trap him, is the lowest you can go. There are no words for it.
Ethics teaching starts at BIRTH! When a parent shows a child it is ok to lie (for example- to say he/she’s not home when someone calls or knocks) the damage is already done.
There is no issur under halacha to reporting criminal behavior to the authorities, even if the criminals are yiddin. There is also no obligation to work for the release from jail of yiddin who have stolen, comitted fraud etc. Under daas torah, we cannot engage in reporting yiddin to goyim if they will be prosecuted or jailed just because they are yiddin or shomrei torah and mitzvot. The same for pidyon shivvuim. That only applies if they are jailed for their yiddieshkeit. If a yid, chas vachalilah, steals, robs, assaults someone or commits murder, we have no obligation to work for his freedom.
Ethics??? The Rabbis themselves have been caught with criminal behavior!!! Can you teach young people about ethics if the most revered ones are the most guilty of being unethical????
“A man of this age should never bin picked up… To begin with.”
Suspected criminals deserve to be arrested, when there is evidence pointing to their guilt. period.
Even if every Rabbi indicted was innocent (which is … unlikely). Based on just the comments regularly to this (and other) VIN stories would tell us what a sorry state chareidi Judaism is in.
90+% of these comments are insane and assinine. Anyone reading this from the “outside” world would be laughing at you. For those of us on the inside, we can just cry.
REPLY TO #59 It makes no differenve who the rav is. What he said is the sad truth
Did anybody stop for a second and look at the “good” side of all of this..? It is such a shock when yidden do such a thing that it becomes front-page news. That means that even the outside world realizes how rare these things are in our community. I think that says something very nice about klal yisroel in general.
the problem is with the community, the regular people who go along and do not condemn people who do genava shtick whether a regular yid or a prominent yid rebbi or not . You do not have to be a mussar but one can shun them in the community.
A yeshiva will honor a person who just got out of prison, if he gives enough money. (I was there) How are our generation supposed to think we should be honest in businesses when rabbonen are doing shtick/ What about the yeshivas who do all type of shenanigans, lunch programs, shipping children all over so each yeshiva has ten times more children than they really do. Or, a yeshiva asking and getting money to teach handicap children (the yeshiva does not and did not have any handicap children)
Even parents who wants their children to be very very honest has a losing battle. Since the child sees that rabbonin and yeshivas participate in genava shtick, and regular yidden do not suffer any consequences and sometimes even honored because of his elicit money.
Until the average joe’s, yiddin as a group show the wrong doers that their action are not acceptable, and their money not wanted the dishonesty with go on.
Or maybe some brave rabbonin will but their mind and action to make this type of behavior unacceptable, they can do it, they have the power, ie the music ban.
The question is do they have the will?