There is an interesting urban legend that has been around for probably well over a decade. It involves Barbra Streisand and the BeisYaakov school she attended as a child. Supposedly this mega-star having just married a non Jewish actor by the name of James Brolin, had decided to donate one million dollars to her alma mater Beis Yaakov, no strings attached. She only asked that the school be re-named after her father, a Frum Jew all of his life. The school refused the money because they did not what to be associated with an individual who so recently, so flagrantly, and so publicly violated Torah law by marrying a non Jew.
On the surface it sounds like a wonderful story. The message was one of Kiddush HaShem. To take money from such a public figure would indeed send the wrong message they felt.
Would that this were always the case. As can plainly be seen it is not. In fact I think it is never the case. Not even close. The clearest example of this is that virtually every Orthodox religious institution takes money from their local Jewish federation. And in every single case, those federations are run by people who not only violate Torah but support heretical movements. In fact they identify themselves as pluralistic, extending validity to all branches of Judaism.
In Chicago if not every other city, every organization must identify that they are a beneficiary of the Jewish federation. In some cases the federations support organizations that are anathematic to Torah. And amongst the Reform and Conservative rabbis they include and honor are those who actually try and justify behavior forbidden by the Torah as permissible by re-interpreting clear passages forbidding it under penalty of death. Yet, I don’t believe there is even a single institution that does not accept there rather substantial donations, certainly not in Chicago.
And it isn’t just the federations that they accept money from. It is from all manner of wealthy Orthodox Jews, some of them having been imprisoned for white collar crimes… or worse. In some cases they are even honorees at public banquets where they are praised as though they were saints.
And while were at it, there is the little matter of Charedi religious institutions accepting funds from the Israeli government. Not only do they accept money, they virtually extort it from them. Yes, there are those who refuse like Brisk and Satmar, but they are the exception and to their credit they are true to these ideals. But the vast majority of Charedi Yeshivos and other religious institutions are thrilled to get the money from the same people whose Ministry of Tourism is trying to turn Jerusalem into whore house for gays and straights. And all these Yeshivos are not only supported in their efforts by the rabbinic leadership they encourage it. They seek it. For the religious parties in Israel, mandate number one is getting money for their religious institutions. The directive from the rabbinic leadership is to get as much money as they can in exchange for their votes on political issues important to the governing party.
Leaving aside my views about the negative outcome by the continual funding a system that is in desperate need of repair, I can’t really blame the Charedi leadership for taking these funds. Their motives are pure. They understand that the needs of their community are great. And they are doing what ever they can to alleviate their plight. They understand that taking this so called ‘tainted money’ pales in comparison to leaving members of their community in even greater poverty than they are now.
Large families need to be fed. Working fathers hardly exist and working mothers are limited in how much money they can earn by the types of jobs permitted to them by Charedi religious standards. And they are further limited by the lack of proper training which is now forbidden to them. All that of course trumps the taint. The Kiddush HaShem of providing for the needs of the community trumps what ever perception one might have of ‘collaborating with the enemy’.
And that brings us back to this country where donations by questionable sources are so readily accepted. One can not always afford to be so ‘pure and holy’. Not at the expense of hard working parents who are ‘taxed’ beyond their means just so they can send their children to a religious school. I know of no religious leader of any Hashkafa in this country that has told a religious institution to refuse a donation from a man whose reputation in business is less than perfect. And Fedration dollars? Of course that is accepted. If the religious institutions don’t take that money, it will just go to waste. Or worse… it will go to support heretical Jewish movements or projects that are anathematic to Torah.
Besides the Jewish Federations mean well… at least in Chicago. The leaders are all Tinokos SheNishbu, Jews whose Jewish education is meager at best thorough no fault of their own. But they understand the importance of Jewish education and have increased their donations significantly to all educational institutions across the board. And Chicago’s Orthodox Jewish community truly appreciates what they do for it. We are on the best of terms with them, friendly as could be. In fact there are Orthodox Jews and even Orthodox rabbis serving on their board. They supported gay pride day and gave money to their cause?! It doesn’t matter. We cannot survive without their money.
We here in Chicago take their generous contributions willingly and extend a warm hand in friendship and thanks. And that is as it should be. I only wish the same were true in Israel. It would be nice to see the same type of co-operation and thanks to the government by Charedim there for all the benefits bestowed upon them. But that is a different subject.
This brings me back to Barbra Streisand. If the story is true and the million dollars was rejected, it was on the backs of the parents who pay tuition there. Instead of taking the money which could have helped alleviate the financial plight of almost every parent there, they decided… no! They are going to make a Kiddush HaShem insteads. They are not going to take money from so tainted a source.
In my view, they were wrong. That money probably went instead to another cause which most religious Jews would never support. Was the Kiddush HaShem of not taking the money worth the cost? Would it have been a Chilul HaShem if they had? …any more than honoring a white color criminal at a banquet for a lot less than a million dollars? I don’t think so.
