On Vos Iz Neias, Rabbi Hoffman writes about last night's meeting in Boro Park to address some of the troubling headlines of the last few weeks. In his article, he makes some valid points about the fact that in many segments of our community, education is discouraged to the point where some people find it very difficult to earn a living. This lack of education, Rabbi Hoffman suggests, is a vital part of the troubles we are seeing played out in front of us. I think that Rabbi Hoffman has some very valid points, but I fear that the problem is far worse than a lack of education.
The problem, sadly, is that we are failing in our mission to internalize the Torah's lessons. Saying that a lack of education or poverty is not the answer -- after all, there are plenty of people who are poor and uneducated among the non-Jews who struggle in their lives and yet don't resort to crime.
Sadly, it seems that we have gotten our priorities wrong. We worry more about whether or not someone wears a hat and/or jacket to davening than if they commit welfare fraud. We care more about the color of people's shirts than whether or not they deal honestly with their fellow man (Jew or non-Jew). We place more emphasis on enforcing the minutiae of tznius (and no, I'm not saying that tznius is not important) than with the lav of Lo Tignovu. In short, we're too busy worry about the leaves on the branches to see that the tree has become rotten in the core.
What we really need to do is to completely reorder our society. We need to stop focusing on the externals and focus on doing what is good, right and what the Torah expects of us. We have to learn to deal justly and honestly with everyone - Jew and non-Jew. We have to focus on being able to be proud of the fact that your dealings are honest -- and the fact that people in our community are not ashamed or embarrassed when they are not.
Yes, education is a step in the right direction -- but if one's ethics are rotten and one's moral fiber is wrong, then all education does is produce smart thieves. We have to change not just our minds and our schools, but our souls as well.
The Wolf
Showing posts with label right and wrong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label right and wrong. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Lessons To Be Learned
By now, just about everyone in the Jewish community has heard about the events that occurred yesterday. I was going to blog about the arrests, but then thought better of it, as there were already a thousand different bloggers covering every angle of it and there really wasn't much more that I felt that I could add to the conversation. I don't know all the facts, although I tend to think that the FBI doesn't engage in two-year sting operations just to nab innocent guys off the street.
That being said, I think we can all agree that this is a major embarrassment for the Jewish community in the Tri-State area and worldwide. And, in the end, it just didn't have to be.
There are those who want to say that (at least some of the accused) did it to support Torah or tzedaka organizations. I don't know how naive these people are being -- perhaps it is true for some of the accused, perhaps it's not. But for the sake of argument, let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say that the money was primarily going towards charity or the support of Torah organizations. So what?
I think it behooves people to learn that no matter how noble the emotion, no matter how right the cause and no matter how urgent the matter, there are just some lines that one cannot cross. Consider, for example, an organization that helps people finance Yeshiva tuition for needy families. The people who are in charge of fund raising for the organization would probably move heaven and earth to help young children receive a Torah education. If they could move a huge mountain to raise funds, they would do so. But they have to know that while moving that mountain, they have to stop at the small stone that serves as a boundary marker onto their neighbor's property. Once you move that small stone, you're engaging in theft, which is wrong and cannot be tolerated for any noble purpose.*
So, by all means -- if it's your job to raise money for tzedaka or Torah institutions, make sure that you do so honestly. Do everything that you can within the law, but make sure you stay there.
And that advice doesn't apply to this situation alone. It applies anywhere and everywhere. If, for example, it's your job to make the lives of Jewish prisoners easier, by all means do so -- but don't step over the line of what is proper and right (and certainly don't obliterate the line). And on and on.
I always find it amazing that people who engage in these activities (again, going with the [perhaps naive] assumption that they had "good intentions") end up doing far more harm than good. The institutions that they sought to raise funds for will certainly end up suffering far more harm than if they didn't engage in their activities. And the life for Jewish prisoners in NYC certainly didn't become any easier after Rabbi Glantz left his job because of the bar mitzvah party held for a prisoner's son. Indeed, because people broke the law (or ethical boundaries), those people and institutions that they sought to help are going to end up suffering even more.
Of course, the big question that we have to ask ourselves is, what now? What do we, as a community, do now? We pay a lot of lip service to the idea of trying to rectify our mistakes. We learn that the Second Temple was destroyed due to the sin of baseless hatred, so we pay a lot of lip service to the idea of improving on that defect (although, how much we actually improve is certainly open to debate). We learn that the sin of the Spies was due to the sin of Lashon HaRah, and so we seek to improve ourselves in this area.
So, what do we learn from yesterday's events? What can we do to improve? What can we do to try to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again?
A friend of mine said that the likely outcome would be this:
What we'll see is a bunch of spokesmen issue statements about how bad these alleged crimes are, which will get little media coverage and will be totally ignored internally. Nothing in the community will change. We will go on with our lives and the community will move on to the next crisis.
Sadly, I fear he may be right... but it doesn't have to be.
A while ago, a young man that I know got himself into some fairly serious trouble. Things looked very bleak for him at the time and he turned to me for help and advice.
While there wasn't too much that I could do at the time to help his situation, I gave him the following common-sense advice: I told him that when things are really looking down, and when the world is falling apart, it behooves a young man such as himself to take a look at where he is, and look at the path that he took which led him to this point. He should take the opportunity to look at his deeds, his actions and his motivations and take a long, hard look at himself and see where he went wrong, and what he can do to stop going down that road. Sometimes you just have to look in the mirror, no matter how painful it is, and actively work towards fixing your problems.
I think the same applies to us as a community. I think that we need to address problems that we've long turned a blind eye to. We have to look at the behaviors that we've tolerated for the sake of personal prestige or for financial contributions and recognize that we were wrong for having tolerated them. We have to make a positive commitment that those behaviors that will no longer be tolerated in our community. We have to make sure that people know that financial misdeeds, child abuse, and a host of other problems that we have long ignored will no longer be tolerated and that those who commit them cannot be welcome in our communities.
It's a difficult thing to do. It means deviating from the path of least resistance and taking the hard path of standing up to people who are rich and/or influential. It means that our leaders have to do just that -- lead -- by example and by deed. If a rav will publicly stand up to someone who is corrupt and rich and say "no, I don't want your filthy money!" it would go a long way toward sending the message that these activities are wrong and will not be tolerated.
But someone has to stand up and be the first. A recognized leader has to step up and make that initial effort. Someone has to make that initial effort -- that opening the size of an eye of a needle. And it has to be one of the gedolim -- because someone who takes a difficult but correct stand, someone who leads and serves as a role model for others -- that, in my definition is a gadol.
I fear that my friend may be right -- that nothing will come of this and we'll just go on to the next crisis. But nonetheless, I hope and pray that we can learn from this and take the necessary steps to improve as a community.
The Wolf
* Yes, pikuach nefesh and all that -- but we're not talking about someone like Jean ValJean whose nephew was going to literally starve unless he stole.
That being said, I think we can all agree that this is a major embarrassment for the Jewish community in the Tri-State area and worldwide. And, in the end, it just didn't have to be.
There are those who want to say that (at least some of the accused) did it to support Torah or tzedaka organizations. I don't know how naive these people are being -- perhaps it is true for some of the accused, perhaps it's not. But for the sake of argument, let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say that the money was primarily going towards charity or the support of Torah organizations. So what?
I think it behooves people to learn that no matter how noble the emotion, no matter how right the cause and no matter how urgent the matter, there are just some lines that one cannot cross. Consider, for example, an organization that helps people finance Yeshiva tuition for needy families. The people who are in charge of fund raising for the organization would probably move heaven and earth to help young children receive a Torah education. If they could move a huge mountain to raise funds, they would do so. But they have to know that while moving that mountain, they have to stop at the small stone that serves as a boundary marker onto their neighbor's property. Once you move that small stone, you're engaging in theft, which is wrong and cannot be tolerated for any noble purpose.*
So, by all means -- if it's your job to raise money for tzedaka or Torah institutions, make sure that you do so honestly. Do everything that you can within the law, but make sure you stay there.
And that advice doesn't apply to this situation alone. It applies anywhere and everywhere. If, for example, it's your job to make the lives of Jewish prisoners easier, by all means do so -- but don't step over the line of what is proper and right (and certainly don't obliterate the line). And on and on.
I always find it amazing that people who engage in these activities (again, going with the [perhaps naive] assumption that they had "good intentions") end up doing far more harm than good. The institutions that they sought to raise funds for will certainly end up suffering far more harm than if they didn't engage in their activities. And the life for Jewish prisoners in NYC certainly didn't become any easier after Rabbi Glantz left his job because of the bar mitzvah party held for a prisoner's son. Indeed, because people broke the law (or ethical boundaries), those people and institutions that they sought to help are going to end up suffering even more.
Of course, the big question that we have to ask ourselves is, what now? What do we, as a community, do now? We pay a lot of lip service to the idea of trying to rectify our mistakes. We learn that the Second Temple was destroyed due to the sin of baseless hatred, so we pay a lot of lip service to the idea of improving on that defect (although, how much we actually improve is certainly open to debate). We learn that the sin of the Spies was due to the sin of Lashon HaRah, and so we seek to improve ourselves in this area.
So, what do we learn from yesterday's events? What can we do to improve? What can we do to try to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again?
A friend of mine said that the likely outcome would be this:
What we'll see is a bunch of spokesmen issue statements about how bad these alleged crimes are, which will get little media coverage and will be totally ignored internally. Nothing in the community will change. We will go on with our lives and the community will move on to the next crisis.
Sadly, I fear he may be right... but it doesn't have to be.
A while ago, a young man that I know got himself into some fairly serious trouble. Things looked very bleak for him at the time and he turned to me for help and advice.
While there wasn't too much that I could do at the time to help his situation, I gave him the following common-sense advice: I told him that when things are really looking down, and when the world is falling apart, it behooves a young man such as himself to take a look at where he is, and look at the path that he took which led him to this point. He should take the opportunity to look at his deeds, his actions and his motivations and take a long, hard look at himself and see where he went wrong, and what he can do to stop going down that road. Sometimes you just have to look in the mirror, no matter how painful it is, and actively work towards fixing your problems.
I think the same applies to us as a community. I think that we need to address problems that we've long turned a blind eye to. We have to look at the behaviors that we've tolerated for the sake of personal prestige or for financial contributions and recognize that we were wrong for having tolerated them. We have to make a positive commitment that those behaviors that will no longer be tolerated in our community. We have to make sure that people know that financial misdeeds, child abuse, and a host of other problems that we have long ignored will no longer be tolerated and that those who commit them cannot be welcome in our communities.
It's a difficult thing to do. It means deviating from the path of least resistance and taking the hard path of standing up to people who are rich and/or influential. It means that our leaders have to do just that -- lead -- by example and by deed. If a rav will publicly stand up to someone who is corrupt and rich and say "no, I don't want your filthy money!" it would go a long way toward sending the message that these activities are wrong and will not be tolerated.
But someone has to stand up and be the first. A recognized leader has to step up and make that initial effort. Someone has to make that initial effort -- that opening the size of an eye of a needle. And it has to be one of the gedolim -- because someone who takes a difficult but correct stand, someone who leads and serves as a role model for others -- that, in my definition is a gadol.
I fear that my friend may be right -- that nothing will come of this and we'll just go on to the next crisis. But nonetheless, I hope and pray that we can learn from this and take the necessary steps to improve as a community.
The Wolf
* Yes, pikuach nefesh and all that -- but we're not talking about someone like Jean ValJean whose nephew was going to literally starve unless he stole.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
They Will Be Held Accountable
In the comment thread to yesterday's post, Off The Derech took me to task (unfairly, IMHO) for excusing Lakewood residents for some particularly nasty letters that have come out of the community in the last week. While I thought I was being fair and even-handed there, I will admit to OTD that I do sometimes try to give people the benefit of the doubt, even if it's not entirely deserved.*
Last year, I posted about people in Jerusalem who throw stones at cars on Shabbos, or take extreme measures to enforce tznius rules and the like. I really wanted to believe that their hearts are in the right place and that it's only their actions that are misguided. I really did want to believe that. And so I posted that the people who engaged in these actions were causing far more harm than good. By throwing stones at cars on Shabbos, they weren't encouraging even one person to keep Shabbos -- on the contrary, they were further pushing people further away from Shmiras Shabbos.
A number of my commentators on that post made the point that the people involved in these activities aren't interested in kiruv, but rather in "reinforcing" their own position. I suppose, deep down, I knew they were right, despite my desire for it to be otherwise. And yet, perhaps naively, I held out hope that perhaps my commentators were wrong.
Well, at this point, I'm no longer willing to let myself be played the fool for them. I've read about the protests that have occured, sometimes violently, over the last two weeks in Jerusalem - and I'm convinced. Sad to say, I'm have to finally admit to myself that the people who are protesting Chillul Shabbos in Jerusalem, by and large, do not really care one whit about Shmiras Shabbos.
If they truly cared about Shmiras Shabbos, they would take the appropriate actions to see to it that Shabbos was kept by as many people as possible. If they truly cared whether or not people outside their own little community kept Shabbos, they would engage in outreach and show people who drive on Shabbos the beauty of Shabbos. If national Shmiras Shabbos was truly their goal they would try to make a *positive* example.
Instead, however, they are doing the opposite. By protesting in a violent manner, they are (knowingly, IMHO) pushing people further away from Shmiras Shabbos. By engaging in the destruction of property, they are telling unaffiliated people that those who keep Shabbos are hooligans -- and very few people want to join a gang of hooligans.
I'm a *very* patient person -- sometimes to a fault. I also try to give people the benefit of the dobut -- again, sometimes to a fault. But at this point, I feel that my patience has been stretched beyond it's limit. There comes a point when I have to believe that people are acting disingenuously -- when their stated goals are different than their true goals. At this point I can no longer believe that those who claim to care about Chillul Shabbos actually do so -- because they are ultimately causing more Chillul Shabbos by their actions.
I always believed (and still do) that our goal was to encourage observance of the mitzvos. I believe that HaShem wants us to bring people *to* His service, not push them away. Unless someone can logically show me that the protestors believe that their actions will cause non-observant Jews to become observant (and do so convincingly) I'm forced to conclude that furthering observance among the non-observant is not their goal.
If people truly cared about Shabbos, they would protest in the way that Rabbi Yosef Haim Zonnenfeld used to protest. One time he heard about a store that was opened on Shabbos. So, what did he do? Did he gather his students to throw rocks at the store window? Did he begin to act violently? Did he threaten the store owner? No. What he did was to grab a chair and head down to the store with a Tehillim. He sat at the entrance to the store and began to recite tehillim. Eventually, the store owner came to understand the importance of keeping the store closed on Shabbos. Rabbi Zonnenfeld knew the proper goal -- to get someone to willingly keep Shabbos -- and he chose the appropriate actions to accomplish that goal. At one time I believed that those were also the goals of the people who protest in Jerusalem -- but I no longer believe so.
It's taught in Judaism that there are three days of Judgement. There is Rosh HaShannah, when we are judged for our actions over the previous year. Then there is the day of death, when we are judged for our actions over the course of our lifetime. Then there is the final Day of Judgement. One can rightfully ask, what's the point of the final Day of Judgement? It's not as if the person did anything different between the time of his death and the final Day of Judgement. He didn't do any additional mitzvos nor did he commit any additional aveiros. So, what's the point of the judgement?
I heard an answer (and sadly, I don't remember whose answer it was) that on the final Day of Judgement, we aren't judged only for our actions, but for any effect our behavior had on history. A rebbe may only teach one generation of children, but if those children grow up and raise Torah-observant families and part of the reason is because of that rebbe, and further generations keep the Torah and observe the mitzvos because of the actions of that rebbe, then he gets the benefit of that in the final Day of Judgement.
Sad to say, but I believe that when the final Day of Judgement comes around, not only are the violent protestors going to be held accountable for their own actions, but also for the fact that they pushed people (and, potentially, their children, children's children and so on down the generations) away from Shabbos observance (and Torah observance in general). At some point, they *will* be held accountable for the Chillul Shabbos that they have caused and will be causing for years and generations.
The Wolf
* And, yes, OTD, that goes for everyone, not just frum people.
Last year, I posted about people in Jerusalem who throw stones at cars on Shabbos, or take extreme measures to enforce tznius rules and the like. I really wanted to believe that their hearts are in the right place and that it's only their actions that are misguided. I really did want to believe that. And so I posted that the people who engaged in these actions were causing far more harm than good. By throwing stones at cars on Shabbos, they weren't encouraging even one person to keep Shabbos -- on the contrary, they were further pushing people further away from Shmiras Shabbos.
A number of my commentators on that post made the point that the people involved in these activities aren't interested in kiruv, but rather in "reinforcing" their own position. I suppose, deep down, I knew they were right, despite my desire for it to be otherwise. And yet, perhaps naively, I held out hope that perhaps my commentators were wrong.
Well, at this point, I'm no longer willing to let myself be played the fool for them. I've read about the protests that have occured, sometimes violently, over the last two weeks in Jerusalem - and I'm convinced. Sad to say, I'm have to finally admit to myself that the people who are protesting Chillul Shabbos in Jerusalem, by and large, do not really care one whit about Shmiras Shabbos.
If they truly cared about Shmiras Shabbos, they would take the appropriate actions to see to it that Shabbos was kept by as many people as possible. If they truly cared whether or not people outside their own little community kept Shabbos, they would engage in outreach and show people who drive on Shabbos the beauty of Shabbos. If national Shmiras Shabbos was truly their goal they would try to make a *positive* example.
Instead, however, they are doing the opposite. By protesting in a violent manner, they are (knowingly, IMHO) pushing people further away from Shmiras Shabbos. By engaging in the destruction of property, they are telling unaffiliated people that those who keep Shabbos are hooligans -- and very few people want to join a gang of hooligans.
I'm a *very* patient person -- sometimes to a fault. I also try to give people the benefit of the dobut -- again, sometimes to a fault. But at this point, I feel that my patience has been stretched beyond it's limit. There comes a point when I have to believe that people are acting disingenuously -- when their stated goals are different than their true goals. At this point I can no longer believe that those who claim to care about Chillul Shabbos actually do so -- because they are ultimately causing more Chillul Shabbos by their actions.
I always believed (and still do) that our goal was to encourage observance of the mitzvos. I believe that HaShem wants us to bring people *to* His service, not push them away. Unless someone can logically show me that the protestors believe that their actions will cause non-observant Jews to become observant (and do so convincingly) I'm forced to conclude that furthering observance among the non-observant is not their goal.
If people truly cared about Shabbos, they would protest in the way that Rabbi Yosef Haim Zonnenfeld used to protest. One time he heard about a store that was opened on Shabbos. So, what did he do? Did he gather his students to throw rocks at the store window? Did he begin to act violently? Did he threaten the store owner? No. What he did was to grab a chair and head down to the store with a Tehillim. He sat at the entrance to the store and began to recite tehillim. Eventually, the store owner came to understand the importance of keeping the store closed on Shabbos. Rabbi Zonnenfeld knew the proper goal -- to get someone to willingly keep Shabbos -- and he chose the appropriate actions to accomplish that goal. At one time I believed that those were also the goals of the people who protest in Jerusalem -- but I no longer believe so.
It's taught in Judaism that there are three days of Judgement. There is Rosh HaShannah, when we are judged for our actions over the previous year. Then there is the day of death, when we are judged for our actions over the course of our lifetime. Then there is the final Day of Judgement. One can rightfully ask, what's the point of the final Day of Judgement? It's not as if the person did anything different between the time of his death and the final Day of Judgement. He didn't do any additional mitzvos nor did he commit any additional aveiros. So, what's the point of the judgement?
I heard an answer (and sadly, I don't remember whose answer it was) that on the final Day of Judgement, we aren't judged only for our actions, but for any effect our behavior had on history. A rebbe may only teach one generation of children, but if those children grow up and raise Torah-observant families and part of the reason is because of that rebbe, and further generations keep the Torah and observe the mitzvos because of the actions of that rebbe, then he gets the benefit of that in the final Day of Judgement.
Sad to say, but I believe that when the final Day of Judgement comes around, not only are the violent protestors going to be held accountable for their own actions, but also for the fact that they pushed people (and, potentially, their children, children's children and so on down the generations) away from Shabbos observance (and Torah observance in general). At some point, they *will* be held accountable for the Chillul Shabbos that they have caused and will be causing for years and generations.
The Wolf
* And, yes, OTD, that goes for everyone, not just frum people.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Great Comment on Yeshiva World News
YWN has a story about the upcoming protest in Yerushalayim against Egged regarding the lack of Mehadrin buses.
I don't want to start a debate on whether Mehadrin buses are a good idea or a bad idea. What I do want to focus on is a comment made by someone on YWN. "Lo taasu keyn" writes as follows:
I don't want to start a debate on whether Mehadrin buses are a good idea or a bad idea. What I do want to focus on is a comment made by someone on YWN. "Lo taasu keyn" writes as follows:
Though I thoroughly disagree with the concept of sending women to the back of the bus, or treating them with less than the utmost respect, I understand and accept that a significant proportion of residents of Yerushalayim want such arrangements. I’d suggest one thing. Remember where you are. You had the opportunity to elect a charedi Mayor who might have been able to create a compromise on this issue that you could live with. But you, as a community, chose to divide yourself with bickering and recrimination. The consequence was that you got a successful businessman, an intelligent and patriotic mayor, who, while not unfriendly to chareidim sees them as only one of a number of his constituencies.
Instead of demonstrating, if you really believe in this cause, educate your fellow citizens about who you are and what you advocate for in positive, constructive ways. Posters on rechov meah shearim in yiddish and burning dumpsters will change NO minds. Will create NO sympathy, and will be INEFFECTIVE.
Raboisai, that’s what change is about. Not taking out your frustrations, justified or not. Not berating those who disagree with you, or who don’t recognize the authority of Daas Torah to the same extent that you do. It’s about being effective, and that means taking the time and making the effort to create a significant enough constituency that it will have to be heard, and dealt fairly with. It may not succeed, but it stands a much better chance than the usual grievance theatre.
So, you have a choice. give a geshrai about gilui araios, disrespect to daas torah, and unfair treatment, blaming of course the evil tziyoni power structure, or actually do what everyone else in every democracy in the world has to do when they want change - convince enough people to support you through education, cooperation, and compromise that either the government has to listen or you have the wherewithal to change the government. Until then, stop whining.
I think it's an excellent point. However, I am very afraid that this will turn into an excersice of doing things "the wrong way." I've posted in the past about the right way and wrong way to effect change in people's behaviors and it seems to me that time after time after time, the chariedim choose the wrong way. They choose the wrong way to communicate the message about shmiras shabbos, the ehrich way of dealing with people and, sadly, the proper way to observe the mitzvah of tznius.
Many a commentator have pointed out on my blog that the true purpose of these behaviors is not to encourage observance of whatever precept is the cause de jure, but rather to simply reinforce the behavior for their own members. However, to me, that always seems to do more harm than good. If they really want to encourage greater observance of tznius, they'd do well to follow what "Lo taasu keyn" recommends.
They might also do well to speak the truth regarding what is halacha and what is merely a chumra. Stating that separate seating in public transportation is *required* by halacha is just simply wrong -- as thousands (if not millions) of Jews around the world ride mixed-gender public transportation throughout the year with no halachic qualms whatsoever. Perhaps part of the reason that no one takes them seriously is because the people they are trying to influence understand that the chariedim are making a mountain out of a molehill.
The Wolf
Monday, February 23, 2009
I Think We Need To Retire The Middah Of Kanouis (Zealotry)
At least four times a week, when putting away the Torah during prayers, Jewish men recite the verse from Mishlei (Proverbs) concerning the Torah. The verse, 3:17, reads as follows: Deracheha Darchei Noam V'chol Nesivoseha Shaom -- Her ways are of pleasantness and all her paths are peace.
And yet, we find that this isn't always the case. We find people who stone cars that drive through neighborhoods on Shabbos. We find people who stone buses because they aren't segregated, or those who beat up women for presuming to sit in the front of a non-segregated bus, or people who throw acid in the faces of a young girl for daring to walk through a neighborhood while not living up to their standard of tznius. We have seen stories of people who harass or shun their neighbors for failing to live up to the "chumra of the month." People have been pressured to move from their homes through violence, intimidation or harassment because they chose to live within halacha but not within the extra-halachic standards that some communities decide upon.
Is this d'rachecha darchei noam? Is this v'chol nesivoseha shalom? And, more importantly, is this actually bringing anyone closer to observing the mitzvos?
The problem with violence is that it's a great motivator when those whom you want to influence have no other alternative. If a woman lives in the areas of Afghanistan or Pakistan ruled by the Taliban, she wears a burka -- not because she really wants to, but because if she doesn't, she's liable to be beaten, put in prison, or executed. Since the power of the state is behind the threats, the version of sharia that the Taliban practice is enforced.
But using force to compel behavior has two major drawbacks. The first is that in order to compel the behavior, you have to have the authority to back up your threats. If you want to force your neighbor to keep kosher, for example, you have to have the authority to do something about it if she or he doesn't. That does not exist today. Even in enclosed chareidi or chassidic communities, no one today has the governing authority to compel behavior. No community can pass a law stating that they have the authority to whip someone for not keeping kosher. Zealots may take it upon themselves to do so, but they may be subject to punishment themselves, as their activities are strictly extra-legal.
But there's an even more severe problem with using force to compel behavior. The problem is that of motivation. God wants us to keep the Torah out of a desire to keep it -- and force is a lousy way to achieve that result. Consider, for example, taxes. All of us (barring the most ardent anarchists and tax resisters) recognize the importance and necessity of taxes. We may argue about methods, rates and models, but we all agree that taxes are necessary to pay the police, the army, the fire department, the EMS workers, the garbage collectors, etc. And yet, despite the fact that we all know that taxes are necessary, how many people would actually pay them without the IRS's ability to take action against us? Very few. In other words, despite the fact that we all know that taxes are necessary, very few of us would actually pay without the fear of going to fines, penalties or prison. In other words, when force is the primary motivation for a behavior, then most people will not observe that behavior absent the force. If most people could find a foolproof out to paying taxes, they would take it.
But we don't want that to happen with Shabbos, kashrus or any of the other mitzvos. We want people to keep the mitzvos even in the absence of force. We want people to keep Shabbos even if there is no Bais Din which is going to punish them, or some thug ready to break their window. God wants us to keep the mitzvos both in public and b'chadrei chadorim (in the innermost chamber -- i.e. in private). God doesn't want us to put on an outward display of keeping the mitzvos but yet break them when we're alone and reasonably safe from prying human eyes.
And, in many parts of the Orthodox community, that seems to be the case. I keep Shabbos not because someone is going to beat me up if I don't, but because I want to. I keep kosher not because the kashrus police are out there spying on me, but because I want to. If I wanted to violate Shabbos in the privacy of my home, I could easily do so with no repercussions from any communal authorities. If I wanted to, I could easily sneak pork into my home, or even make a cheeseburger from existing kosher products in my house; but I don't -- because I want to keep kosher. And this holds true for the vast majority of the Orthodox community today.
There is a story that is told of R. Levi Yitzchock of Berditchev. R. Levi Yitzchock was known as someone who was always trying to find a way to find favor for the Jews in the eyes of God. One erev Pesach, after the time for the burning of the chametz, he called in his shammos (aide) and asked him to try to obtain some beer (which is chametz) from one of the Jews of Berditchev. The shammos was shocked at the request, but eventually agreed to try to obtain the beer. After a few hours, he returned and told his Rebbe that he had failed in his mission. He then asked him to try to find some tobacco*, a substance banned by the government. Within a short while, he was able to procure some. Seeing this, he turned to the heavens and proclaimed "Ribbono Shel Olam, see how much Your people love to observe Your mitzvos. The king has all sorts of police and soldiers and yet people still flout his authority and smoke tobacco. But You - You have no soldiers, no armies, no police - and yet, Your people keep Your mitzvos and not a drop of beer was to be found in their possession on Erev Pesach."
*That's* the type of approach that we need to foster if we are to see an increase in the observance of the mitzvos in the future. But to maintain that, and certainly to extend this to the non-Orthodox community, you can't take the stick approach -- you have to use the carrot. Throwing stones at people, yelling at them, throwing acid in their faces and the like does not encourage a single person to want to keep the mitzvos - on the contrary - it causes the victim and other non-Orthodox people to move further away from the keeping of the mitzvos. Even when violation of the mitzvos were punishable by Bais Din, I'm sure that the violence had a harmful effect. I don't think a single person who ever witnessed a person receiving malkus (lashes) for eating treif ever came away from it feeling "Wow! That inspired me to keep kosher." They may have kept it out of fear, but not out of desire -- and lacking that, they can and would continue to violate when they felt they could get away with it. I would be highly surprised to find that violence ever inspired anyone to keep a single mitzvah out of desire. And in an environment such as ours, where there is no direct enforcement of mitzvos, it is imperative that we mandate the carrot approach.
Ultimately, I think that people who use violence, intimidation and harassment have much to answer for. Ostensibly, they do these things thinking that they are increasing the observance of the mitzvos. But knowingly or unknowingly, they are, in fact, harming the cause of mitzvah observance. With every act of violence, they are driving more and more people away from seeing the beauty of living by the mitzvos and observance of the mitzvos. And for that, they will one day have to answer.
The Wolf
* The banned substance changes in various versions of the story. The one I heard was tobacco, but there are other versions with different substances.
And yet, we find that this isn't always the case. We find people who stone cars that drive through neighborhoods on Shabbos. We find people who stone buses because they aren't segregated, or those who beat up women for presuming to sit in the front of a non-segregated bus, or people who throw acid in the faces of a young girl for daring to walk through a neighborhood while not living up to their standard of tznius. We have seen stories of people who harass or shun their neighbors for failing to live up to the "chumra of the month." People have been pressured to move from their homes through violence, intimidation or harassment because they chose to live within halacha but not within the extra-halachic standards that some communities decide upon.
Is this d'rachecha darchei noam? Is this v'chol nesivoseha shalom? And, more importantly, is this actually bringing anyone closer to observing the mitzvos?
The problem with violence is that it's a great motivator when those whom you want to influence have no other alternative. If a woman lives in the areas of Afghanistan or Pakistan ruled by the Taliban, she wears a burka -- not because she really wants to, but because if she doesn't, she's liable to be beaten, put in prison, or executed. Since the power of the state is behind the threats, the version of sharia that the Taliban practice is enforced.
But using force to compel behavior has two major drawbacks. The first is that in order to compel the behavior, you have to have the authority to back up your threats. If you want to force your neighbor to keep kosher, for example, you have to have the authority to do something about it if she or he doesn't. That does not exist today. Even in enclosed chareidi or chassidic communities, no one today has the governing authority to compel behavior. No community can pass a law stating that they have the authority to whip someone for not keeping kosher. Zealots may take it upon themselves to do so, but they may be subject to punishment themselves, as their activities are strictly extra-legal.
But there's an even more severe problem with using force to compel behavior. The problem is that of motivation. God wants us to keep the Torah out of a desire to keep it -- and force is a lousy way to achieve that result. Consider, for example, taxes. All of us (barring the most ardent anarchists and tax resisters) recognize the importance and necessity of taxes. We may argue about methods, rates and models, but we all agree that taxes are necessary to pay the police, the army, the fire department, the EMS workers, the garbage collectors, etc. And yet, despite the fact that we all know that taxes are necessary, how many people would actually pay them without the IRS's ability to take action against us? Very few. In other words, despite the fact that we all know that taxes are necessary, very few of us would actually pay without the fear of going to fines, penalties or prison. In other words, when force is the primary motivation for a behavior, then most people will not observe that behavior absent the force. If most people could find a foolproof out to paying taxes, they would take it.
But we don't want that to happen with Shabbos, kashrus or any of the other mitzvos. We want people to keep the mitzvos even in the absence of force. We want people to keep Shabbos even if there is no Bais Din which is going to punish them, or some thug ready to break their window. God wants us to keep the mitzvos both in public and b'chadrei chadorim (in the innermost chamber -- i.e. in private). God doesn't want us to put on an outward display of keeping the mitzvos but yet break them when we're alone and reasonably safe from prying human eyes.
And, in many parts of the Orthodox community, that seems to be the case. I keep Shabbos not because someone is going to beat me up if I don't, but because I want to. I keep kosher not because the kashrus police are out there spying on me, but because I want to. If I wanted to violate Shabbos in the privacy of my home, I could easily do so with no repercussions from any communal authorities. If I wanted to, I could easily sneak pork into my home, or even make a cheeseburger from existing kosher products in my house; but I don't -- because I want to keep kosher. And this holds true for the vast majority of the Orthodox community today.
There is a story that is told of R. Levi Yitzchock of Berditchev. R. Levi Yitzchock was known as someone who was always trying to find a way to find favor for the Jews in the eyes of God. One erev Pesach, after the time for the burning of the chametz, he called in his shammos (aide) and asked him to try to obtain some beer (which is chametz) from one of the Jews of Berditchev. The shammos was shocked at the request, but eventually agreed to try to obtain the beer. After a few hours, he returned and told his Rebbe that he had failed in his mission. He then asked him to try to find some tobacco*, a substance banned by the government. Within a short while, he was able to procure some. Seeing this, he turned to the heavens and proclaimed "Ribbono Shel Olam, see how much Your people love to observe Your mitzvos. The king has all sorts of police and soldiers and yet people still flout his authority and smoke tobacco. But You - You have no soldiers, no armies, no police - and yet, Your people keep Your mitzvos and not a drop of beer was to be found in their possession on Erev Pesach."
*That's* the type of approach that we need to foster if we are to see an increase in the observance of the mitzvos in the future. But to maintain that, and certainly to extend this to the non-Orthodox community, you can't take the stick approach -- you have to use the carrot. Throwing stones at people, yelling at them, throwing acid in their faces and the like does not encourage a single person to want to keep the mitzvos - on the contrary - it causes the victim and other non-Orthodox people to move further away from the keeping of the mitzvos. Even when violation of the mitzvos were punishable by Bais Din, I'm sure that the violence had a harmful effect. I don't think a single person who ever witnessed a person receiving malkus (lashes) for eating treif ever came away from it feeling "Wow! That inspired me to keep kosher." They may have kept it out of fear, but not out of desire -- and lacking that, they can and would continue to violate when they felt they could get away with it. I would be highly surprised to find that violence ever inspired anyone to keep a single mitzvah out of desire. And in an environment such as ours, where there is no direct enforcement of mitzvos, it is imperative that we mandate the carrot approach.
Ultimately, I think that people who use violence, intimidation and harassment have much to answer for. Ostensibly, they do these things thinking that they are increasing the observance of the mitzvos. But knowingly or unknowingly, they are, in fact, harming the cause of mitzvah observance. With every act of violence, they are driving more and more people away from seeing the beauty of living by the mitzvos and observance of the mitzvos. And for that, they will one day have to answer.
The Wolf
* The banned substance changes in various versions of the story. The one I heard was tobacco, but there are other versions with different substances.
Monday, October 27, 2008
The Implications Of Not Paying Wages On Time
Sephardi Lady (over at Orthonomics) has an interesting piece on a story that ran in the Times Herald Record last week. The story (carried by both YWN and VIN) concerns hotel workers upstate who were not paid on time because of Yom Tov. Specifically, as the story goes, the paychecks were sent to an office in New York, but because no one was there over Yom Tov to forward them to the hotel, the workers pay was delayed.
The workers were last paid on Oct 2. It would seem to me that they are probably paid every other week (or else they would have gotten their Oct 9 paycheck after Yom Kippur).
While you might think that this is just the sort of screw up that happens once in a while (hey, we're all human, right?), it should be pointed out that the same thing happened last year as well. One would think that the hotel staff would learn from past experience and try to prevent such a thing from happening in the future.
I've worked in several places throughout my long and varied career(s). When I worked for frum employers, not only did they make sure that Yom Tov didn't delay wages for two weeks, but they actually made sure to pay *early* if Yom Tov or a legal holiday came out on a payday. Payday was Friday, but if Yom Tov came out Thursday and Friday that year, we had our checks before we left the office on Wednesday. Needless to say, the non-frum (or non-Jewish) employers also made sure that (depending on the place) (a) if payday was a holiday we got paid early or (b) we got paid on the next day -- and everyone knew well in advance of the policy and the delay was never longer than over the weekend.
Truthfully, there really is no excuse for what happened at the hotel. Yes, as I said, people screw up sometimes. But then there are ways to handle it. As I've done before on my blog, I'll present the right way and the wrong way:
Wrong Way:
Workers ask about their paychecks on the 16th. You think to yourself "oh no, they're probably in the Brooklyn Office which is closed for Yom Tov." Oh well, they're poor workers, what can they do? Quit? Nah, they won't do that -- they'll be afraid that they'll never see thier money at all. I'll just call the Brooklyn office and leave a voice message telling them to mail out the checks first thing in the morning when they come back from Yom Tov vacation next week.
Right Way:
Workers ask about their paychecks on the 16th. You think to yourself "oh no, they're probably in the Brooklyn Office which is closed for Yom Tov." You get on the phone with someone from the Brooklyn office. You apologize profusely for asking them to go into the office on Chol HaMoed, but this is an emergency. You ask them to go to the office, find the package of checks and have them sent Fedex overnight to the hotel so that they'll be there first thing in the morning. Failing that, you actually go down to Brooklyn yourself and get the checks and bring them back to the workers.
Barring that, you call up the payroll company and order them to overnight new checks to the hotel. Then you call the Brooklyn office and instruct them to destroy the checks when they get back from vacation.
In short, you have to do everything in your power to make sure that workers get paid on time. One of the commenters on YWN makes the point (I'll take his word for it that it's correct) that the lav (negative commandment) prohibiting delays in worker pay does not apply to non-Jews. That may or may not be so. However, even if delaying the payment of a non-Jews wages does not result in a violation of the commandment, there are still three very important points to consider:
1. Are you sure that *all* the workers are non-Jews? Isn't it possible that some of them *are* Jews and, therefore, you *are* in violation of the mitzvah?
2. Even assuming that they're all non-Jews, so what if one is not in technical violation of the commandment? It's *still* not fair or right to withhold wages. If you make an agreement with your workers that they will be paid on a particular day, they have a right to expect payment on that day. It's simple honesty, courtesy and the way that you would want to be treated.
3. I'm no lawyer, but I'm fairly certain that New York state has laws that require wages to be delivered to workers on time.
One thing that always puzzles me about this sort of scenario is how is reflects on the trustworthiness of the proprietors of the establishment. After all, if they're willing to delay someone's wages, in violation of state law (for which there are legal mechanisms of enforcement), how can you know that their business isn't being run in ways that are in violation of other halachos (for which there is no effective legal enforcement mechansim). Once someone openly displays dishonesty (and withholding of wages is dishonest), how can you consider them to be trustworthy with regard to the mitzvos?
Interestingly enough, I've had this experience twice over the last three years with both of my sons' bar mitzvahs. The first time was when I went to commission the writing of Walter's tefillin. The second time was when I went to pay the caterer for the kiddush in shul in honor of George's bar mitzvah. In both cases, I was given the opportunity to "save" the sales tax by paying in cash. In both cases, I turned it down -- and in both cases, it left a very bad taste in my mouth. If they were willing to be dishonest about the taxes, how could I be sure that the tefillin or the food were completely kosher? In the former case, at least, I can report improvement. When I went back for George's tefillin (you can check out the original post for the reason I was willing to go back) there was a sign in the store indicating that *everyone* must pay sales tax. In the latter case, this problem only surfaced after the kiddush was already over. But I can say this -- as nice as the caterer was to us (and he was) I would have serious hesitations about using him for any future function.
I'm not going to sit here and claim that I've never done anything wrong in the past and that I've always been honest in everything I've ever done. I'm only human and, yes, I've had my weak moments and acted in ways that I am less than proud of. But I don't go around offering people ways to cheat and steal from others (and, let's face it, that's what tax evasion is). I'm also not going to say that I pay every bill on time -- sometimes things happen and payment gets delayed. But when it does happen, I try to make sure that they get paid as soon as possible and I try to take any and all steps possible to see to it that it happens. I certainly don't use excuses such as "the office was closed." Especially when it's the worker's sole livelihood and the delay is an unacceptable two weeks and when the excuse is a lame "the office was closed."
The Wolf
The workers were last paid on Oct 2. It would seem to me that they are probably paid every other week (or else they would have gotten their Oct 9 paycheck after Yom Kippur).
While you might think that this is just the sort of screw up that happens once in a while (hey, we're all human, right?), it should be pointed out that the same thing happened last year as well. One would think that the hotel staff would learn from past experience and try to prevent such a thing from happening in the future.
I've worked in several places throughout my long and varied career(s). When I worked for frum employers, not only did they make sure that Yom Tov didn't delay wages for two weeks, but they actually made sure to pay *early* if Yom Tov or a legal holiday came out on a payday. Payday was Friday, but if Yom Tov came out Thursday and Friday that year, we had our checks before we left the office on Wednesday. Needless to say, the non-frum (or non-Jewish) employers also made sure that (depending on the place) (a) if payday was a holiday we got paid early or (b) we got paid on the next day -- and everyone knew well in advance of the policy and the delay was never longer than over the weekend.
Truthfully, there really is no excuse for what happened at the hotel. Yes, as I said, people screw up sometimes. But then there are ways to handle it. As I've done before on my blog, I'll present the right way and the wrong way:
Wrong Way:
Workers ask about their paychecks on the 16th. You think to yourself "oh no, they're probably in the Brooklyn Office which is closed for Yom Tov." Oh well, they're poor workers, what can they do? Quit? Nah, they won't do that -- they'll be afraid that they'll never see thier money at all. I'll just call the Brooklyn office and leave a voice message telling them to mail out the checks first thing in the morning when they come back from Yom Tov vacation next week.
Right Way:
Workers ask about their paychecks on the 16th. You think to yourself "oh no, they're probably in the Brooklyn Office which is closed for Yom Tov." You get on the phone with someone from the Brooklyn office. You apologize profusely for asking them to go into the office on Chol HaMoed, but this is an emergency. You ask them to go to the office, find the package of checks and have them sent Fedex overnight to the hotel so that they'll be there first thing in the morning. Failing that, you actually go down to Brooklyn yourself and get the checks and bring them back to the workers.
Barring that, you call up the payroll company and order them to overnight new checks to the hotel. Then you call the Brooklyn office and instruct them to destroy the checks when they get back from vacation.
In short, you have to do everything in your power to make sure that workers get paid on time. One of the commenters on YWN makes the point (I'll take his word for it that it's correct) that the lav (negative commandment) prohibiting delays in worker pay does not apply to non-Jews. That may or may not be so. However, even if delaying the payment of a non-Jews wages does not result in a violation of the commandment, there are still three very important points to consider:
1. Are you sure that *all* the workers are non-Jews? Isn't it possible that some of them *are* Jews and, therefore, you *are* in violation of the mitzvah?
2. Even assuming that they're all non-Jews, so what if one is not in technical violation of the commandment? It's *still* not fair or right to withhold wages. If you make an agreement with your workers that they will be paid on a particular day, they have a right to expect payment on that day. It's simple honesty, courtesy and the way that you would want to be treated.
3. I'm no lawyer, but I'm fairly certain that New York state has laws that require wages to be delivered to workers on time.
One thing that always puzzles me about this sort of scenario is how is reflects on the trustworthiness of the proprietors of the establishment. After all, if they're willing to delay someone's wages, in violation of state law (for which there are legal mechanisms of enforcement), how can you know that their business isn't being run in ways that are in violation of other halachos (for which there is no effective legal enforcement mechansim). Once someone openly displays dishonesty (and withholding of wages is dishonest), how can you consider them to be trustworthy with regard to the mitzvos?
Interestingly enough, I've had this experience twice over the last three years with both of my sons' bar mitzvahs. The first time was when I went to commission the writing of Walter's tefillin. The second time was when I went to pay the caterer for the kiddush in shul in honor of George's bar mitzvah. In both cases, I was given the opportunity to "save" the sales tax by paying in cash. In both cases, I turned it down -- and in both cases, it left a very bad taste in my mouth. If they were willing to be dishonest about the taxes, how could I be sure that the tefillin or the food were completely kosher? In the former case, at least, I can report improvement. When I went back for George's tefillin (you can check out the original post for the reason I was willing to go back) there was a sign in the store indicating that *everyone* must pay sales tax. In the latter case, this problem only surfaced after the kiddush was already over. But I can say this -- as nice as the caterer was to us (and he was) I would have serious hesitations about using him for any future function.
I'm not going to sit here and claim that I've never done anything wrong in the past and that I've always been honest in everything I've ever done. I'm only human and, yes, I've had my weak moments and acted in ways that I am less than proud of. But I don't go around offering people ways to cheat and steal from others (and, let's face it, that's what tax evasion is). I'm also not going to say that I pay every bill on time -- sometimes things happen and payment gets delayed. But when it does happen, I try to make sure that they get paid as soon as possible and I try to take any and all steps possible to see to it that it happens. I certainly don't use excuses such as "the office was closed." Especially when it's the worker's sole livelihood and the delay is an unacceptable two weeks and when the excuse is a lame "the office was closed."
The Wolf
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)