Madoff Scandal: A response

  (...old post relocated)

How do we approach the Madoff scandal from a Jewish - Law Perspective?

Mordechai Z. Hecht

  
This discussion in no way reflects my personal opinion or any authoritative ruling of any present day Jewish court, rather a re-view of the facts on the ground. 
  
Answer? 
First and foremost it is so important that before we ever jump to judge someone, especially when based on governmental indictments and Media frenzies, that we "Judge everyone with the benefit of the doubt". 
  
Secondly.  before we go on a tantrum about him and him alone we must discover if these allegations were done by him and him alone. And if his actions were caused by some other person or persons or cause. 
  
We are not saying he didn't do it, we just need the court to prove that he did do it and that he is guilty. 
  
Do we consider the fact that he was a religious Jew in his guiltiness or not? 
One's isolated and individual’s actions do not necessarily reflect his collective reasoning and ideals. In other words, some times it can happen that even great, wonderful, good and G-d fearing people can sin. Even non religious people sin some times J. 
  
Why is it that every time we find a religious Jew who performs a sin or a scam we blame it on his religiosity or communal association. Why do we generalize and become racist and bias. 
  
Moral Responsibility 
With that said we must as moral and ethical law abiding citizens of society consider the following:

In addition to arguments rooted in Jewish and secular law. The Torah (Shemot 19:6) commands us to be a mamlechet kohanim ve-goy kadosh, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This mandate requires avoiding any kind of dishonesty, certainly financial dishonesty. The Torah (Devarim 25:16) tells us that maintaining false weights and measures is a to'evah, an abomination. As the Sefer ha-Chinuch (no. 259) writes: "The rationale for the mitzvah of honesty and distancing oneself from theft and deceit among human beings is known by every person of intelligence." Indeed, according to R. S. R. Hirsch (Commentary to Bereshit 6:11), the sin of chamas for which the generation of the flood were destroyed was "underhand dealing by cunning, astute dishonesty." 
  
Profaning G-d's Name - Embarrassing Judaism  
Finally, there is the issue of chillul Hashem. The Torah (Vayikra 22:32) explicitly prohibits desecrating the name of God, and the Halacha states that dishonesty in business constitutes a chillul Hashem. In fact, theft from a gentile is actually worse than theft from a Jew because it causes a chillul Hashem. The Talmud Yerushalmi (Bava Kama 4:3) recounts that Rabban Gamliel prohibited stealing from a gentile specifically because of chillul Hashem. Similarly, according to Tosafot, there is no dispute that robbing from a gentile is prohibited where it will cause a chillul Hashem. 
  
A sin through a Mitzvah - no good 
As is well-known, the Torah invalidated the mitzvah ha-ba'ah ba-averah, the mitzvah that is brought about by a transgression. 
  
When you will come to heaven... 
The Torah demands absolute integrity in business matters. According to the Gemara (Shabbat 31a), when we face Divine judgment, we are asked a series of questions about how we lived our earthly lives. For example, we are asked: Kavata itim le-Torah? Did you establish time for Torah study? Tzipita le-yeshu'a? Did you anticipate the redemption? It seems fair to assume that the questions are ranked in order of importance. Yet, the first question is not about Torah study or awaiting the coming of Mashiach. The first question we are asked by the Divine Judge is: Nasata ve-natata be-emunah? Did you conduct business honestly?

So you see my friends it is all wonderful and sweet to be a Shomer Shabbos Jew and an observant Jew and Orthodox Jew but perhaps what is key and central in Judaism is honesty and integrity and one does not and can not out-weigh the other; these mitzvot and levels or religiosity or association of Judaism go hand in hand, Shomer Shabbos and honest .

In other words, no Rabbi will ever tell you that it is ok to steal or lie or cheat in business matters because you are G-d fearing, observant (orthodox) Jew, "on the contrary we have all the more a reason to live by example" … and at the same time no Jew will ever Judge another Jew…until he is in his shoe.

Comments: [email protected]

Perhaps with a slight left turn from this topic directly but the following is an important article from a local community teacher with regards to general social behavior and respect.

The Shame of Contrast                                                                                       Morochnick

     From the perspective of contrast, we find ourselves untrammeled to condemn that which we are not conditioned to revere. This plague unfortunately creates a dichotomy between theory and practice, between respect and, at best, total indifference. If it stopped here we would be far closer to the amphictyony with which we were once originally endowed, than the great chasm that we forever engender by virtue of the trap of discord.

In all walks of life, amongst all human endeavors, and on all lists, there exists a natural order which places certain goals and acquisitions on top and other necessities below. Nevertheless, that which is of secondary and tertiary importance is only relative to that which is primary, and do not deserve scorn or disdain. If ridiculed and derided, then, of necessity, the principal goal must be held in contempt as well.

            It has come to my attention that in the yeshiva world there is such a great chasm between what is considered holy, and therefore respectful, and what is considered unholy, and therefore not worthy of attention. This shame of contrast has manifested itself in what is called L’muday Kodesh (holy studies, e.g., Talmud, the Prophets, and Jewish law) and L’muday Chol (secular studies, e.g., math, science, English, and history). It is quite understandable that in the Yeshiva the former takes precedence over the latter. Indeed, the Yeshiva would be as inexplicable an institution without this priority as a medical school would be where the human anatomy did not reign supreme. What is inexcusable, however, is how the so-called secular subjects are mocked as nonsense, irrelevant, or begrudgingly accepted under the directive of State law. These subjects are not merely on the bottom of the list of priorities; they are not even on the list!

            This irreverence toward non-L’muday Kodesh subjects by many yeshiva students may not be by the direct input of their teachers. Nevertheless, such a philosophy, over time, by the mind-numbing propaganda that is fostered in the student about the importance of L’muday Kodesh mandates, by way of contrast, disrespect for L’muday Chol. In fact, implicit in the term L’muday Chol are the seeds of disrespect, fomenting a latent and inevitable disregard for these subject matters. The term Chol is always looked upon with disfavor, as implied by its usual translations, such as secular, profane, and unholy. It is even an acronym for “outside the [holy] Land [of Israel].” So entrenched is this word in the psyche of Jews, that even the sacred Intermediate Days of Pesach and Succoth, called Chol HaMoed, are given short shrift among our nation. Those who respect, learn with alacrity, or teach these subjects, are, by implication, unfairly seen to depict such definitions.    

            The above, sadly, is not merely confined to the Beit Midrash (Jewish House of Study). It carries over to the outside world too, where anyone with a beard, black slacks, and a button down white shirt is considered to be indubitably holier than one who is clean shaven, or, Heaven forefend, who has clothing that may be a shade similar to that of the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Such a one is looked upon with distaste, scorn, or, at best, with pity and condescension. Such impressions from early youth cause close-mindedness, creating more and more space between the “practicing”-Jew and the non-practicing Jew, or in the mind of the former, the pious and the wicked.

            But how could L’muday Chol be worthy of scorn by the yeshiva student? The Rambam and the Vilna Goan, revered by the yeshiva student in every generation, exhorted―even scolded―people to learn math and science; Onkelos and Rashi were grammatical masters; the Talmudic Sages were experts in language, astronomy, and the anatomy and physiology of humans and animals. And the Books of the Prophets are replete with its protagonists knowing and understanding G-d through natural theology, as most poignantly stated by Iyov toward the end of the Book: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You” (42: 5). Without respect for these subjects, the yeshiva student will be bereft of knowledge which could―and should―be of at least ancillary import.

            There is nothing unholy about subjects which do not traditionally fall into the category of Torah, for they are Torah! As long as education in The Yeshiva continues this way, through the shame of contrast, there will forever remain a polarization within the Jewish nation between those who think they are within its walls and those who will never be invited in.

Comments: rabbimzhecht@gmail.com