Opinion: Summer of our shame

With the Days of Judgment upon us, it's appropriate that we awaken unpleasant memories of recent events in the hope that by so doing we will undertake to better ourselves in the future.

This summer Orthodox American Jews “sanctified” G-d’s name publicly in many ingenious ways. The following all happened during a 30-day span starting at the end of July. We’ll start slow and build up steam as we move along the Chilul Hashem trail.

A Monsey couple was arrested for defrauding the government in Medicaid and other federal assistance programs.

A Chicago businessman fled to Israel in 2003 after being convicted of tax fraud. Seems you just can’t put a good man down; this summer, he was at it again. “Ex-Chicago rabbi indicted in tax-fraud case arrested in Israel,” read The Chicago Tribune headline of August 4th.

A former leader of the New Square community evaded prosecution as a party to the multi-million dollar “Pell Grant” fraud by hiding in Israel since 1997. This August, he was finally extradited to the US where he awaits trial. (These last two give a whole new meaning to Israel being a place where Jews can run to in times of trouble)

Fortune Magazine ran a feature story detailing the “fabulously brazen” diversion scheme run by an Upper West Sider, identified as an observant Jew. The scheme netted her huge sums of money. To me, the “fabulously brazen” moniker should be applied to the following quote in the same article: “(She) enlisted her rabbi ... to convince a judge that she not be required to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet. Orthodox practice ... forbids women from wearing slacks or pantsuits... and any skirt or dress shorter than ankle length would reveal the bracelet ... complicating her efforts to get a new job.” After 12 years of Jewish education, it’s good to see that she was makpid (strict) about not wearing pants.

Moving right along.

As part of a plea bargain (we just love bargains, don’t we), the Spinka Rebbe pleaded guilty to his part in a money laundering conspiracy that had been working it’s magic for over ten years.

And of course, the big hit of the summer season — a line of black suits and hats, beards and payos being paraded across millions of television screens worldwide for charges ranging from money laundering to organ trafficking.

The great achdus we’ve sought for thousands of years is finally here: Sephardim and Ashkenazim, Chasidim and Misnagdim all working together for a common cause.

Remember, all of this happened during 30 consecutive days this summer.

How ashamed are we?

Publicly, you might find some lip service being paid to more “ethical behavior.” Privately, however, there’s lot of talk that sounds like this: we’re very “frum,” in many cases “frummer” than our parents. Didn’t you notice how many stores are now exclusively Cholov Yisroel, Pas Yisroel and Kemach Yashan? Look how the sheitel stores no longer post pictures of women in their display windows.

Some neighborhoods are so “frum” that they now have not one contested eruv, but two contested eruv’im.

How ashamed are we? The only real measure of our shame is the intensity of actions that we are taking to guarantee that events like these never happen again. We must learn how G-d wants us to act in our monetary and business dealings. More accurately, we, and our children, must know how to answer: “What does G-d demand of us in our daily transaction?”

Let’s boil it down to some specific examples of things that we don’t want to hear, and that, for some unimaginable reason, were never taught to us in Yeshiva.

Most major poskim [halachic decisors] consider the following activities to be prohibited by Torah law. One who commits them violates an issur d’oraysa [negative Torah commandment] of gezel [theft]: back dating a sales receipt to be eligible for the “90 day” warranty; copying software; “ripping” a CD from a friend; parking in a store’s lot when not shopping in that store; purchasing an item of clothing with the intent of wearing it to an event and then returning it for a full refund.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine how many issurim [negative commandments] we transgress every day that we aren’t even aware of.

Two suggestions come to mind. Rabbis should teach these Halachos in their weekly sermons and shiurim. (I promise you that all your congregants know by now that you want them to spend more time learning; what they sorely need to hear from you is that signing a false tax return is Assur). Schools need to add the “Halachos of Money” to their curriculum, alongside and with the same emphasis as the Halachos of tefilah [prayer] and kashrus.

When lying about a child’s age to get a discount is as repulsive and reprehensible to us as eating a McDonald’s cheese burger (both issurim d’oraysa), then we’ll know that we’re on the right track to finding favor in G-d’s eyes.

Meir Weingarten is President of Ariel Tours, a leading tour operator to Israel. He is also a public speaker and commentator on Israeli affairs heard on Kol Israel’s Reshet Bet, on the nationally syndicated Mike Gallagher Show, and internationally on JM in the AM with Nachum Segal.by

By Meir Weingarten

This summer Orthodox American Jews “sanctified” G-d’s name publicly in many ingenious ways. The following all happened during a 30-day span starting at the end of July. We’ll start slow and build up steam as we move along the Chilul Hashem trail.

A Monsey couple was arrested for defrauding the government in Medicaid and other federal assistance programs.

A Chicago businessman fled to Israel in 2003 after being convicted of tax fraud. Seems you just can’t put a good man down; this summer, he was at it again. “Ex-Chicago rabbi indicted in tax-fraud case arrested in Israel,” read The Chicago Tribune headline of August 4th.

A former leader of the New Square community evaded prosecution as a party to the multi-million dollar “Pell Grant” fraud by hiding in Israel since 1997. This August, he was finally extradited to the US where he awaits trial. (These last two give a whole new meaning to Israel being a place where Jews can run to in times of trouble)

Fortune Magazine ran a feature story detailing the “fabulously brazen” diversion scheme run by an Upper West Sider, identified as an observant Jew. The scheme netted her huge sums of money. To me, the “fabulously brazen” moniker should be applied to the following quote in the same article: “(She) enlisted her rabbi ... to convince a judge that she not be required to wear an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet. Orthodox practice ... forbids women from wearing slacks or pantsuits... and any skirt or dress shorter than ankle length would reveal the bracelet ... complicating her efforts to get a new job.” After 12 years of Jewish education, it’s good to see that she was makpid (strict) about not wearing pants.

Moving right along.

As part of a plea bargain (we just love bargains, don’t we), the Spinka Rebbe pleaded guilty to his part in a money laundering conspiracy that had been working it’s magic for over ten years.

And of course, the big hit of the summer season — a line of black suits and hats, beards and payos being paraded across millions of television screens worldwide for charges ranging from money laundering to organ trafficking.

The great achdus we’ve sought for thousands of years is finally here: Sephardim and Ashkenazim, Chasidim and Misnagdim all working together for a common cause.

Remember, all of this happened during 30 consecutive days this summer.

How ashamed are we?

Publicly, you might find some lip service being paid to more “ethical behavior.” Privately, however, there’s lot of talk that sounds like this: we’re very “frum,” in many cases “frummer” than our parents. Didn’t you notice how many stores are now exclusively Cholov Yisroel, Pas Yisroel and Kemach Yashan? Look how the sheitel stores no longer post pictures of women in their display windows.

Some neighborhoods are so “frum” that they now have not one contested eruv, but two contested eruv’im.

How ashamed are we? The only real measure of our shame is the intensity of actions that we are taking to guarantee that events like these never happen again. We must learn how G-d wants us to act in our monetary and business dealings. More accurately, we, and our children, must know how to answer: “What does G-d demand of us in our daily transaction?”

Let’s boil it down to some specific examples of things that we don’t want to hear, and that, for some unimaginable reason, were never taught to us in Yeshiva.

Most major poskim [halachic decisors] consider the following activities to be prohibited by Torah law. One who commits them violates an issur d’oraysa [negative Torah commandment] of gezel [theft]: back dating a sales receipt to be eligible for the “90 day” warranty; copying software; “ripping” a CD from a friend; parking in a store’s lot when not shopping in that store; purchasing an item of clothing with the intent of wearing it to an event and then returning it for a full refund.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine how many issurim [negative commandments] we transgress every day that we aren’t even aware of.

Two suggestions come to mind. Rabbis should teach these Halachos in their weekly sermons and shiurim. (I promise you that all your congregants know by now that you want them to spend more time learning; what they sorely need to hear from you is that signing a false tax return is Assur). Schools need to add the “Halachos of Money” to their curriculum, alongside and with the same emphasis as the Halachos of tefilah [prayer] and kashrus.

When lying about a child’s age to get a discount is as repulsive and reprehensible to us as eating a McDonald’s cheese burger (both issurim d’oraysa), then we’ll know that we’re on the right track to finding favor in G-d’s eyes.