Another Rabbi Behaving Poorly

Here we go again!  Another rabbi behaving poorly.

New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman (who reportedly goes into rage mode when referred to as "Eric Schneiderman" without the initial "T") has just announced the court-ordered temporary (for now) shutdown of 19 charities operated out of Brooklyn by one Rabbi Yaakov Weingarten.

[It is with profound shame that I now admit to having personally donated to a few of those charities, albeit only in the two figure range.].

The problem was that the 19 charities, mostly purporting to aid needy causes in Israel, did not send any appreciable amounts of money to those causes.  Instead, during the past 5 years, there have been questionable expenditures from the charities' bank accounts amounting to millions in the aggregate.  These include utility bills, dental care, video rentals, mortgage payments, and an Atlantic City casino trip.  And let us not forget some significant home improvements to the house owned by Weingarten's wife.

While there are no sure things here, there may well be some criminal charges in the coming weeks or months.  And it is very tempting to speculate as to what excuses and/or mitigational assertions might be tendered by Weingarten and/or his supporters and sympathizers.

Two issues that have not been so visibly addressed in the Jewish blogosphere are the following:

A.  The modus operandi of the charities has been for various individuals to make telephone solicitations, often but not always falsely claiming that a pledge allegedly made by the recipient of the telephone call has yet to be fulfilled.   There were several telephone callers involved, each using their personal cell phone or some other "boiler room" phone bank.  Query:  What did the individual callers know and when did they know it?  How knowingly complicit were they in Weingarten's scams?  How much did they benefit?

B.  The standard line used by the insular religious Jewish community whenever one of theirs gets foul ink in the press is that he (or sometimes, she) is an aberration.  I once heard a certain spokesman reply to a query by a reporter regarding some poor behavior by a high school student, to the effect that the insular Jewish community has 1 or 2, the Catholic schools have 10, and the public schools have 100 such bad actors.  This, perhaps, has some validity, though the exact statistics may not be so exact.

But be that as it may, I have to wonder whether Weingarten is the only player in his league.  One key reason my wife and I do not live in such communities (and have taken pains to avoid locating ourselves in such communities) is the degree to which everyone insinuates themselves into everyone else's personal business.  Therefore, if Weingarten is living such a charmed lifestyle, it surely has been noticed.  And neighbors and friends desirous of such a life would naturally attempt to emulate Weingarten's means of supporting such a modus vivendi.

And how could a major trip to an Atlantic City casino escape notice?

If Weingarten and his cohorts were not shunned by the community, then it would not astonish me in the least if there are a few more just like him.

A little more than a year ago, I publicly stated at a certain conference that I expected some sort of financial scandal to arise involving some charitable organizations within the insular religious Jewish community.  Painful as it is, I must now thank New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman for vindicating me from the naysayers at that conference.

New Levy on Account of Levy?

This Blog has had prior occasion to mention Steve Levy, the County Executive of Suffolk County, NY. Steve is once again in the news; specifically, his political career is now on indefinite hold after it came to light that, notwithstanding Steve's public pronouncements of the need to reform the campaign finance laws, his own campaign contributors have included many contractors working on Suffolk County public projects.

This posting will leave to other pundits the issues of the extent of Steve's questionable doings, (2) the terms, if any, of any deal that may have been made with the Suffolk County District Attorney regarding Steve's nonprosecution, (3) the effect of the current Steve Levy scandal on New York politics in general, and (4) speculations regarding Steve's short-term or long-term political future.

What this posting will note is the reactions of two Suffolk County Legislators to the Steve Levy scandal.

Legislator Jay Schneiderman (a political Independent) announced that he wishes to reanimate his proposed legislation to ban "pay to play" political contributions. Schneiderman's bill would impose fines and/or jail time for the tendering of contributions by County contractors and the acceptance of same by officials and candidates.

Legislator Jon Cooper, who co-sponsored Schneiderman's legislation in the past and is doing so again this time around, would go even further. Cooper wants to create a commission to oversee campaign finance in Suffolk County.

In an already overtaxed county, Cooper (a Democrat) seeks to add another governmental agency! This, in my view, is a cure worse than the disease.

Cooper's proposed solution is just so Democrat and Obama! Government bureaucracies cost taxpayer money! While some bureaucracies are needed, the excessive proliferation of bureaucracies is an engine of tyranny, and a menace to our personal freedoms.

What should be done is to add to Schneiderman's bill a provision to provide for the compensation of whistleblowers, or, perhaps, a False Claims Act type provision allowing private parties to initiate lawsuits against contractors and/or politicians who violate the law. This approach could use the existing bureaucratic infrastructure, and not create any new tax-guzzling bureaucratic apparatus.

Rhymes with Improper

There is a scandal afestering, as many readers of this blog are surely aware. It involves some very damning evidence of a certain individual engaging in the provision of certain lewd and bawdy services. I shall not specify any names, but the whole thing both is and rhymes with improper. I expect further repercussions as everyone scrambles to cover their toochases, and in doing so, gets caught up in complicating falsehoods.

Much has been posted in the blogosphere and beyond regarding this scandal, but I cannot help but wonder about the tax angle here. The alleged services provided by the mistress are, more often than not, provided in return for money, and, if so, the alleged transactions would be taxable events, to the pimp if not to the sex object herself.

I am informed that counsel has been retained. Such counsel (if indeed, he still is admitted to the practice of law) should include, among the pieces of advice, the implications of reporting or not reporting the taxable events on the tax return.

The Madoff Scandal

There is so much on the Internet about the Bernard Madoff scandal, and the story will likely persist for some time to come. We obviously haven't seen the worst of it yet.

In addition to my agreement with all that it is a big disgrace, and in addition to my joining those who call for Madoff's incarceration and impoverishment, my specific commentary is as follows:

1. If indeed Madoff was running a "Ponzi" type scheme, then, by definition, the later the scheme collapses, the greater the numbers of victims and dollars that are involved. Better it should fall apart now than a month from now.

2. I don't have any money directly invested with Madoff, but the effects on the market cannot help but affect my other investments.

3. A few of the affected investors, institutional and corporate, have evinced arrogant attitudes towards the public in general and/or me personally. Maybe, just maybe, this will inject into them a small quantum of humility.

Black Hats on Empty Heads

Seems that the Jewish community in Lakewood, NJ, was duped by a man named Ted Floyd, who stole the identity of deceased veteran Nathaniel James Levi. Floyd/Levi has pleaded guilty of identity theft. The whole thing is now a big scandal in Lakewood.

With that in mind, the following Letter to the Editor of Yated Ne'eman has come to my attention [Yated Ne'eman, 13 Nissan 5768 / 18 April 2008, page 8]. The letter writer, who, like so many, does not give his real name, signs it as "A Yeshivaman in Lakewood." For the uninitiated, Yated Ne'eman is a publication directed towards the more insular elements of the religious Jewish community, many of whom object to the garbage in the common English language tabloids (a position certainly not without merit).

Yated Ne'eman recently began posting photos of the authors of its columns -- the male authors, at least; there are many who fear that pictures of females will cause men to have impure thoughts, so there are no pictures of women in Yated Ne'eman (though a few years ago, I did see an advertisement that featured a photo of the Statute of Liberty).

The essence of "Yeshivaman's" letter is that Yated Ne'eman's use of the author's photographs has a salutary effect because "The photos of the writers who pen the opinion and haskafa [rough Hebrew translation: Approach to life, world view, etc.] columns underscore the background of the writers. When we see the noble Bnei Torah who the Yated entrusts with the holy mission of conveying the ideals and outlook the Torah requires of us, we are assured that the message is as authentic as the messengers themselves."


English translation: Like so many in the Lakewood community, this "Yeshivaman" will blindly accept the authenticity of anyone who sports a beard and a black hat.

Which is exactly why Ted Floyd was able to pull one over on them!