Monday, April 6, 2009

The 50 Most Influential Rabbis are Dead......

B"H

We talk about them as though they are still with us (my teachers didn't say "Rashi said" -- they said "Rashi says"). But, in my opinion, the 50 most influential Rabbis are all dead.

My list would include my favorite Rabbi, Rabbi Akiva, a man who was a shepherd and didn't even learn to read until he was 40. He spent 24 years learning and teaching (thanks, in a huge part, to his wife, Rahael's encouragement (courage being the operative part of that word -- Rahael was the daughter of one of the richest men and he disowned her for marrying a shepherd) and was one of the tannaim -- the Rabbis of the Mishnaic (early Talmudic) era.

My list would include several of the Gaonim (post Talmudic Rabbis). These Rabbis took the Talmud and explained it for the people in their generation.

My list would include Rashi, Rabbi Shelomo the son of Yitzhak, one of the most famous biblical commentators. His commentary is simple enough for any Yeshiva 2nd grader and deep enough for the most learned Talmid Haham (wise "student").

My list would include Maimonides, also known by his initials Rambam (Rabbi Moshe the son of Maimon), who is famous not only in the Jewish world, but also in the Gentile world. He wrote "The Guide for the Perplexed" and several other books about Jewish law and Jewish philosophy while earning a living as the physician to the Sultan.

My list would include Nahmanides, also known by his initials Ramban (Rabbi Moshe the son of Nahman), who defended Judaism in debates all over Spain until he was forced to flee to Israel.

My list would include the Ari (Rabbi Yitzhak Luria) (literally the Lion), a middle ages Kabbalist from Tzefad, and his student, Rabbi Moshe Luzzato who wrote down the Ari's thoughts and teachings.

My list would include Rabbi Yosef Caro, the author of the Shulhan Arukh, literally the "Set Table" -- a book of Jewish Law for the "everyman" Jew.

My list would include Rabbi Moshe Isserlis, who wrote a commentary on the Shulhan Arukh. And the Taz and the Shach (who also wrote commentaries on the Shulhan Arukh).

My list would include Rav Yisrael Salanter who started the Mussar movement (that encourages people to examine their lives and be the best people they can be).

My list would include Shamshon Refael Hirsch, who showed that you can still be Orthodox in a secular world. It would include the Gra (also known as the "Vilna Gaon") and the Hofetz Hayim, who encouraged people to watch what they say about other people. I would include Rav Aharon Kotler who was largely responsible for the Lakewood, NJ Jewish community. I would include Rav Soloveitchik and Reb Moshe Feinstein who were Gedolim (great men of learning) when I was growing up.

To be honest, I think these Rabbis were far more influential in the Jewish world than anyone on the Newsweek list of the 50 Most Influential American Rabbis (granted most of the people on my list aren't American, but, so what??? They did influence many Americans). I hope you agree.

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Strong Biblical Women
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Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
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Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
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Top 10 Presidents
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Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb?
My Vocational Experiences
Why I'm a Red Sox Fan
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Saturday, March 14, 2009

He Madoff with all the cash.....

B"H

Bernie Madoff has been in the news for some time now. For those of you who don't know who he is, he has apparently been running a $65,000,000,000 (that's 65 billion dollar) ponzi scheme, an enormous shell game, a con of monumental proportions. In the process, he swindled a huge number of people and organizations, including many charities. I doubt he single-handedly created the economic turn down we are now experiencing, but I have a feeling he made a big contribution to the cause.

(It seems, from what I've been able to glean, this was originally designed as a small con, but it's been going on almost 20 years and mushroomed....)

In any case, it's hitting a bit of a crescendo with Madoff being sent to prison, away from his "house arrest" in his gorgeous, expensive penthouse apartment. Legions of "fleecees" (people who were fleeced by the billionaire swindler) were in the courtroom or trying to get into the courtroom when the judge sent him to prison.

But, despite my anger at this man, despite my embarrassment that he's Jewish, despite my strong feelings that he committed not only an enormous crime, not only a sin, but a huge Hillul Hashem (loosely, a black mark on the name of G-d by not reflecting G-d as good), despite all this, I get very little joy in sending Bernie Madoff to prison for the rest of his life.

Why? Well, probably because sending him to prison, from my perspective, accomplishes nothing except pure punishment. The Tora, in my opinion, supplies the appropriate response to this.

While I don't want to go into a long halakhic (Jewish legal) discussion about the ins and outs and specifics, Jewish law calls for the repayment to the victim of anything stolen, often having to repay double or up to 5 times the amount stolen.

I much prefer this as a solution for two reasons -- firstly, it takes the needs of the victim, someone largely ignored in the justice system, into account and makes those needs paramount. Secondly, this system makes robbery, thievery, burglary, a potential loss of income. How many movies, TV shows, books, plays have we all seen where someone makes a big "hit", was sent to prison, but hid the money and came out of prison to live well on the money "socked away". In Jewish law, however, this couldn't be.

In Jewish law, where the stolen money or goods end up is irrelevant. It's not THAT money that needs to be "returned" -- the perpetrator is required to PAY the victim. Part of the problem with the whole Madoff pyramid scheme is that different people got some money and who gets to keep what when. In the halakhic system, this would be irrelevant. All that would matter is who Lost money and how much they lost. That would be what Madoff would have to make good.

Selling Mr. Madoff's extravagant possessions might go a long way toward raising the money to pay the victims. But so would having him work to pay off the victims. I prefer having him work for money and having this money (or at least a huge chunk of it) go to pay his victims for what he stole from them. I prefer having him repay what he stole with interest.

Unlike a murderer, who can never compensate for the loss he has caused, Bernie Madoff can. He can return his ill-gotten gains to Hadassah, Yeshiva University and the scores of other people and organizations who swindled. I would feel as though justice had been done if Mr. Madoff can be in a different kind of prison, one where he works hard and earns money to repay his victims' losses. That is justice. Having him sit in prison with murderers and rapists may assuage people's feelings of vengeance, but it does nothing toward helping the people he swindled to rebuild their lives. And that, in my opinion, is a travesty of justice.

Check out my squidoo lenses (articles):
Strong Biblical Women
Strong Biblical Women 2
Why Be Vegetarian
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 1
Vegetarianism: Getting Started 2
Rosh Hashana
Quick Vegan Cooking
Creating new recipes from old
Strong Biblical Women Part 3
Hanuka
About the Jewish Calendar
Witches and Morality
Presidential Trivia Quiz
Christmas and the Jewish Single
Math Hints 1 -- Adding Fractions
Presidents1: George Washington
Passover: Holiday of Freedom
Ruth and Naomi
John and John Quincy Adams
Television Trivia Quiz
Tamar -- Mother of Kings
Jewish Perspective of G-d
Yocheved -- Mother of Moshe (Moses)
Purim, Esther et al
Being an internet small business owner
Why I'm a Red Sox fan
Pythagorean Theorem
My Blogs
Top 10 Presidents
Bottom 10 Presidents
How Can We Appeal to G-d for Forgiveness?
Math Tips 2
Searching for a Fashion Partner
Math Hints 3
One Actor, Two Shows (TV Quiz)
Presidential Tidbits
Why Should anyone hire Me?

Check out my other blogs:

Israel and it's Place in the World
Jewish Singles
Strong Jewish Women
Everything Goes