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| Photo taken from Life in Israel |
This is an area that has been grossly
underrepresented in the Torah world. The
focus in most Yeshivos is on the study of the Talmud… studying it in depth with all the commentaries so
as to understand the sources and derivations of Halacha. Halacha that very
often deals with ritual practices like the requirements for a Kosher Esrog.
What often gets lost in all of this is appropriate behavior in general society. I wish that there were more Mechanchim like Rabbi Yaakov Levi. He was my 7th
and 8th grade Rebbe in Detroit’s Yeshivath Beth Yehudah. This man
was the paradigm for honesty and integrity in society. I recall his habit of
checking the return coin slots on public telephones when he passed them by to see if there were any
unclaimed dimes. (That’s what phone calls used to cost on public telephones.
Remember those?)
Most of us would have kept coins found that way. Not Rabbi
Levy. Instead of keeping them, he would redeposit them into the payment slots. He
felt that those coins belonged to the phone company and he wanted to assure
that they would not be taken by anyone else. He did not do it because it
might be a Chilul HaShem to take money from the phone company. He did it because
he thought it was the right thing to do.
Those coins may have belonged to the callers whose calls did not go
through. But if unclaimed, Rabbi Levi felt that they belonged to the phone
company. And he wanted to make sure they got it.
Unfortunately this kind of integrity does not seem to exist today.
Because of selective readings in the Gemarah; the misreading; or
misunderstanding what Halacha requires of us in this area, jails have increasingly larger populations of observant Jews. It is not so rare anymore to find Kipa wearing Jews sitting in jail. The situation is so bad that organizations have arisen to deal with these people to help them navigate
the penal system.
Part of this population of late consists of sex offenders. Sex
offenders are basically psychopaths that cannot control their perverse sexual
urges and become predators in order to satisfy them. Something that being
Orthodox has nothing to do with. Sex offenders are found in all cultures and
religions. It is not specifically an ‘Orthodox’ problem. It is a societal
problem and beyond the scope of this post.
The rest of the ‘Frum’ prison population - with some exceptions (including one case of
murder that I know about) are Jews that have committed white collar crimes.
Like tax fraud or other illegal financial scams.
When it comes to financial dealings, now more than ever we
need to do some real introspection. How is it that a religious
Jew who is supposed to be of most refined character and honest to a fault ends
up in prison for fraud? This is still a mystery to me. I could never understand
why for example a Chasidic Rebbe thought it was OK to commit tax fraud through
a money laundering scheme. Even with the most skewed reading of Halacha, there
is no question about the desecration of God’s name that occurs when a prominent
religious figure gets caught in a fraud.
I recall back in 2010 there was a mock ad promoting an
ArtScroll book called The Laws of Incarceration. Well, that book is now a reality. It is called
Issurei HaMelech and is written in Hebrew. (It is not published by ArtScroll).
When it comes to observing ritual law, we have been well
educated and tend to carefully observe them – often beyond the letter of the
law. What a sad commentary on our educational system that it does not teach us how to
interact with society at large. At least not with the same intensity that ritual
laws are taught. Which I think is the source – at least in part – of this
problem.
I’m glad that Lakewood is finally tackling it… and during the
month of Elul no less. That is a good time to do it as this is the month when
the gates of heaven open up for us and Teshuva (repentance) is more readily received
by God.
There has been some speculation about a video presentation documenting
prison life. It featured ‘interviews with members of our community that have
experienced the challenges of prison life’. Rafi asked whether this was an appropriate
venue for this, and wondered what this video was all about.
I don’t know. I wasn’t there. But if there is a fire, you
don’t ask if now is the time to put it out. If this was a ‘Scared Straight’
video, I’m all for it. ‘Scared Straight’ was a 1978 documentary about a group
of juvenile delinquents that spent 3 hours with convicts - all with life
sentences at Rahway State Prison, a maximum
security facility in New Jersey. (It was renamed East Jersey State Prison in 1988.) For those 3 hours those kids were harangued by serious criminals about the life they lived
in prison… where they may end up if they continued to pursue a life of crime.
Those kids were literally scared into rejecting
their formerly crooked ways… and becoming straight.
Of course being scared straight should not be the primary
motive for having integrity in your interactions with society. That is basic
Halacha. Not to mention our mandate to be an Or LaGoyim – a light unto the
nations. We are supposed to be exemplars of ethical behavior, not transgressors
of it. But, as noted - this an area of Jewish education that is under served. Which is why there are Minyanim and Daf Yomi
Shiurim in prison. And Kosher food. And Orthodox prisoner advocacy groups.
Unfortunately, there are too many of us that think if we can
get away with it, it’s OK to cheat the system and commit financial crimes. That
is a failing of the educational system. Educators have not properly transmitted
these very real ethical Jewish values.
