Religious Jews don’t launder money

We in the Orthodox community have been very badly hurt this past week. Five rabbis were arrested in New York and New Jersey for money laundering and one for organ trafficking. The fact that rabbis, who must be held to a higher standard of morality and ethics, have been accused of such crimes is deeply troubling.

Whilst the overwhelming majority of Orthodox Jews have great integrity—in fact some of my teachers who are prominent rabbis are the most honest people I have ever met, nonetheless people within the Orthodox community seem less concerned about crime that is directed towards the government.

The reason for this is historical. Jews living in Eastern Europe prior to and during the 19th century were subjected to tough tax laws. In Poland for example, as late as during the 1920s, 40% of all tax revenue was raised from Jews. This was despite the fact that Jews only constituted 10% of the population.

The Polish government did this because they could not afford to antagonize the wealthy gentiles or the peasants by raising taxes so the major tax burden fell on the Jews. At the same time however, the Jews were the recipients of fewer governmental services than their gentile counterparts. This was the trend in Eastern Europe, up until the destruction of Jewish life by the Nazis.

Because of the unfair tax burden imposed upon them by undemocratic governments, Jews often felt that tax evasion was perfectly ethical and legitimate. To them it was the government that was immoral, not them.

Old habits die hard

Unfortunately this attitude towards government and taxes has lingered in the minds of some despite the fact that we now have a fair system of government and Jews are not unfairly taxed. But as the saying goes: Old habits die hard.

Some, a small minority, within the Orthodox Jewish community argue that because the government does not subsidize Jewish education for children they are forced to pay thousands of dollars a year per child for private education. This is despite the fact that all citizens are required to pay taxes towards the public education system that they do not use.

Ultimately, however, all of these arguments are baseless. The Talmud explicitly states that that the law of the land has the same power as Jewish religious law (Baba Kama 113a). This means that a Jew has a religious duty to follow the domestic laws of a gentile country. According to most authorities this rule has Biblical backing and one who transgresses it is transgressing a Biblical command. People who are truly religious don’t knowingly transgress Biblical commands.

Simply stated, according to Judaism if you don’t like the law of the land you live in, be it regarding taxes or anything else, you have one of two choices: move to another country or get used to it. Contravening a secular law is not an option.

No excuse for complacency

Now clearly none of us are perfect and anyone who is caught speeding or has received a parking ticket has broken the law. This is only human. However, when breaking laws becomes something that is tolerated that’s another story. Clearly, most people in the Orthodox community have tremendous integrity and would never lie or act dishonestly. But that is not good enough. We need to expunge the sympathetic attitude that exists towards those who commit White Collar crime.

The rabbis are the ones that must lead in this. It is inconceivable to me that there could have been a rabbi who did not give a sermon last Shabbat railing against any type of illegal activity. Unfortunately, the rabbi of the synagogue I was visiting did not give such a sermon. There is no excuse for complacency here; a stand against this type of behavior needs to be taken. It must stop now and those who continue must be sanctioned by the communities they belong to. They should not be allowed to receive honors in the synagogues and regular burial rights should be taken away from them.

I conclude with the following story. While I was a young student studying in Canada I needed to visit a doctor. A Canadian friend offered to give me his Medicaid card so that the appointment would not cost me money. When I mentioned this to my revered teacher he invited me over to his house. In his living room he severely admonished me. To him using another person’s Medicaid card was one of the worst crimes a Jew could commit. He then paid for my doctor’s visit from his own money. This made a great impression on me: Jews who take their religion seriously and truly fear G-d don’t cheat and when they hear about others who do they are outraged and do all they can to put a stop to it.

Rabbi Levi Brackman is author of Jewish Wisdom for Business Success: Lesson from the Torah and Other Ancient Texts