Is it OK to launder money through a tax deductible charity? Arie Crown Hebrew Day School is sometimes asked this question. Certain people looking for tax deductions have approached members of the board and asked if they could donate huge sums of money, get a tax deductible receipt and then get a kick back for most of it… leaving behind – say – 5% to the school. They are always of course told no. It is fraud… it is against the law… and it is unethical. The school would lose its tax exempt status and most importantly it would be major Chilul HaShem.
But I guess not everyone feels that way. At least that appears to be the case in a story reported by KNBC in Los Angeles:
Naftali Tzi Weisz, the 59-year-old Grand Rabbi of Spinka, and Gabbai Moshe E. Zigelman, 60, both of Brooklyn, N.Y., were named Tuesday in a federal grand jury's 37-count indictment in Los Angeles.
The indictment, unsealed Wednesday morning, claims that Weisz and Zigelman promised to secretly refund up to 95 percent of millions of dollars of contributions to several Spinka charities.
The contributors could claim the full amount for tax deductions, even though they gave as little as five percent of the amount declared on federal income tax returns, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
I can hear all the nay-sayers already: “Oh, come now! …Are you going to pay any attention to a biased media source? These news organizations are out for sensationalism and attention. They will say anything to acheive that, including besmirching the names of prominent people. Especially Chasidic rabbis.
Maybe so. But the US Attorney’s office does not go around arresting prominent rabbis unless there is evidence of wrong doing. In this case 37 instances of it.
Can anyone blame general society for thinking Jews are just a bunch of greedy crooks? I am amazed in fact that the American people are so understanding. People tend to realize that one individual does not reflect on the nature of an entire people. But if this kind of thing keeps happening, that may change.
This isn’t just any Jew. It is a Grand Rabbi… The Spinka Rebbe.
Every man is innocent until proven guilty. And I would love to give this man the benefit of the doubt. But honestly… it is difficult for me to do that when there seems to be so much evidence here.
What also makes this believable is that such shenanigans are not all that uncommon unfortunately. Some institutions seem to think that what ever they get away with is legitimate. The only Chilul HaShem in their eyes is getting caught.
I’ve discussed this before. The rationale in the Chasidic world is carried over from the historic experiences of anti Semitism in Europe. Many Of those governments oppressed their Jewish citizens. Pogroms were the order of the day. The only way to survive was to sometimes to do things under the table such as in a black market. Who can blame anyone for trying to get away with things under those conditions? It was almost impossible to live without it.
But that was pre war Europe. Not America of the 21st century.
In my view it is the insularity of these communities today that perpetuates this attitude. Combined with the indoctrination of a carried over hatred of ‘the Goy’ from their European grandparents makes far too many Chasidim think,: “Goyim are out to get us… anything we can do and get away with is legitimate”.
So when a Chasidic leader can make some money for his institutions, by laundering charitable contributions, why not? Just don’t get caught because it will be a Chilul HaShem.
I remember not too long ago a prominent Charedi Rav… not Chasidic… had been heard expressing a similar attitude... that certain types of questionable financial transactions with non Jews were permissible according to Halacha as long as one wasn’t caught. He furthered his Chilul HaShem by saying that if he were quoted he would deny he ever said it. Did he really say that? No way of really knowing since he will deny it in any case. But it is quite plausable because he is not the only one who feels this way.
There was another prominent Charedi Rav who also said something similar to a constituent. He had advised him that he could cheat on his income taxes in ways that would not be detectable. This Rav was challenged on this issue by another Rav who was told of that Psak. He responded that he didn’t encourage that kind of behavior but when he was asked about it by one of his constituents, he replied with what he believed to be the letter of the law. Absent Chilul HaShem - it was permissible!
With this kind of sickening attitude being disseminated by certain authority figures in the Torah world, it isn’t all that hard to believe that the Spinka Rebbe is guilty… and that his remorse, if he has any will extend only to the fact that he was caught.
Now as I said, he may be proven innocent. I hope he is. But if the Spinka Rebbe is found to be guilty or was involved in any way, then he fully guilty of perpetrating a huge Chilul HaShem. It doesn’t matter if he didn’t think he was going to get caught. And the more stature one has, the bigger the Chilul HaShem.
I will never forget the time about 14 years ago where the Spinka Rebbe was invited to be Mesader Kedushin at a wedding I attended. When he walked in with his entourage, it was like royalty had walked into the room. If he is found guilty and goes to jail, I doubt he will be able to take his entourage with him. And that's a good thing. Such people don't deserve such Kavod.
