Dear
Readers,
These columns began on my area of America Online, called: Judaism
Today: Where Do I Fit? People anonymously
sent me E-Mail, and I began to choose one for a public response
in my Jewish E-Mail of the Week column. The column has become
quite popular and is now syndicated internationally in many
Jewish papers and websites. I hope you find they help you
as you think about the Ethics, Spirituality and Peoplehood
components of the Jewish way of Life. I welcome your
comments... see the end of the column.
Gil
PS
Teachers and others, feel free to copy my columns and forward
them or use them as you see fit. Please see the friendly
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CLINTON,
PARDONS AND JEWS
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Dear
Gil:
The
Marc Rich pardon: Israelis using their
influence with President Clinton to
grant the pardon. The Hillary Clinton
campaign: Four Hasidic Jews have their
prison sentences shortened by
President Clinton after they deliver
votes in their community for Hilary
Clinton's Senate run.
What
kind of an image does this project to
Gentiles just looking for excuses to
mock Jews? This behavior is so
disappointing to me as a Jew that it's
sickening. It just reinforces ugly
stereotypes of Jews.
E
Dear
E:
These
pardons pierce our sense of Jewish
ethics and peoplehood. When a fellow
Jew does something good or bad, we
feel pride or shame...or as you wrote
"sick and disappointed." I
feel as you do. Before going any
further I will put some of my partisan
bias on the table. For the most part I
have liked President Clinton policies.
His personal behavior and what he
calls honesty....well, that's another
story.
And,
I know that I'll probably get angry
email about this next line, but I have
also favorably viewed his policy
toward Israel. I believe Bill Clinton
has genuine and deep feelings of
affection for Israel which is one
reason he has visited Israel more than
any US President. As a result, he is
warmly regarded in Israel by many. I
lived in Israel when the Monica
episode hit the news and recall being
amazed to see Israelis loudly and
publicly showing their support for
him. As for the peace process, Clinton
worked tirelessly. He believed,
naively, along with Rabin, Barak, a
few million Israelis (and me) that
Arafat was capable and willing to
compromise and make peace. Arafat has
proven us all wrong.
Having
said all of that, now the pardons. On
one level, this was just politics as
usual. Presidential pardons are often
controversial. From the pardons of
unknown people up to Casper Weinberger
(ironically, who's vehement
opposition, is often cited as a major
reason Jonathan Pollard has not been
granted a pardon) all the way to
Richard Nixon, pardons have become a
way of life and political
considerations drive many of these
pardons...not the merits of the case.
Unhappily,
I can live with this (do I have a
choice?) but as I mentioned at the
beginning, I am particularly sensitive
to the Jewish related pardons. The
Hasidic case is simply tough to
stomach. As for Marc Rich, quite a few
prominent Jews and Israeli officials
lobbied on his behalf. I have read
their comments about Rich's repenting
and wonderful record of philanthropy
and I respect many of these
individuals.
Still,
there are significant Jewish reasons,
why these pardons seem wrong. I agree
with Rabbi Eric Joffee, leader of the
Reform Movement's congregations when
he criticized how money came into
play. He said, by remaining silent,
Jewish leaders "have undermined
our community's moral fabric,
jeopardized our political standing,
disillusioned our youth and
compromised the sacred values of our
tradition.²
Additionally,
in the Rich case, there is an apparent
violation of Jewish law. Orthodox
Rabbi Saul Berman recently pointed out
that it is wrong to honor a person
whose money is tainted. Rich fled the
US to avoid charges of tax fraud. A
March 5th New Republic article by Leon
Wieseltier cites a 1954 case where
Rabbi Moses Feinstein -- one of the
greatest experts of Jewish law in this
century -- wrote that "property
stolen from individuals must be
returned precisely to the individuals
from whom it was stolen ... for it is
to them that one is liable ... and one
is not acquitted by the donation of
this property to charity." The
money in this case allegedly belongs
to the US.
Some
might say, this hoopla that some of us
are making is because of our concern
about anti-Semitism. While I care
about what non-Jews think about Jews,
in these cases, I am more concerned
about what my children and other Jews
might think about Jews and our ethics.
This
concern was stated well in the Israeli
paper Haaretz by writer Eliahu
Saltpeter who wrote: "Israelis
should also ask themselves what kind
of value system they uphold if, in
their own country, cabinet ministers,
the heads of major academic
institutions, representatives of
culture and senior rabbis can become
lobbyists for a person who is
suspected of having grossly
sidestepped the laws of the world's
leading democracy and Israel's best
friend."
As
Jews and Americans, these cases should
make us ask similar questions about
our ethics and challenge how we
conduct ourselves. I hope in Jewish
classrooms, pulpits and dinner tables
these questions will be asked.
Gil
A FRIENDLY COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© Copyright Gil Mann
These columns can be found at www.beingjewish.org. Not
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