Business

ETHICS page 21

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THE JEWISH NEWS

B22

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INSURED

Deuteronomy states that this
principle applies to Jew and gen-
tile alike:
"Thought shalt not oppress a
hired servant that is poor and
needy whether he be of thy
brethren or of thy strangers that
are in thy land within thy gates.
In the same day thou shalt give
him his hire, neither shall the sun
go down upon it; for he is poor,
and setteth his heart upon it; lest
he cry against thee unto the Lord,
and it be sin in thee."
Rabbi Shmuel Irons serves on
the Beit Din, a Jewish "court" of
judges charged with resolving dis-
putes within observant commu-
nities. Rabbi Irons says the Jewish
way of conducting business ought
to extend beyond hard-and-fast
monetary guidelines.
"There are two concepts in
Jewish law having to do with be-
havior," he said. "There's din, jus-
tice or the law. And then there's
chesed, kindness or tzedakah."
Many business conflicts, he
said, could be resolved more eas-
ily if people approached their ne-
gotiations with a heightened
sense of chesed.
With the many precepts of Jew-
ish business ethics, what accounts
for negative "shylock" stereotypes
of shifty Jewish misers and un-
derhanded merchants? Rabbi
Irons believes part of it has to do
with anti-Semitism and jealous-
ly of Jews' historical business suc-
cess.
But not all Jews follow the
law.
"A Jew who wants to consider
himself a religious Jew but does
not abide by the laws is a hyp-
ocrite," Rabbi Jacobovitz said. "I
think we have an obligation, as
teachers and parents. We fail our
jobs if we don't stress again and
again monetary ways of conduct
to our children."
Mr. Goodman believes im-
moral Jewish businessmen give
Judaism a bad name. Lou's Deli
caters to a multi-ethnic clientele,
so he says he feels a tremendous
responsibility to represent the
faith, as well as himself.
"(Jews) are ambassadors of
God. How you act as a business-
man is in the public eye. It fig-
ures into how the public
perceives you as a Jew. It is a re-
flection of what it is to be a reli-
gious Jew and a servant of God,"
he said. "If you do it right, you
sanctify God's name. If you do
it wrong, you desecrate God's
name."
Laws of Jewish business
ethics might make moral sense,
but do they make dollars and
cents? Financial success, Rabbi
Irons said, is ultimately in God's
hands.
"There are immoral people
who are very successful. There
are moral people who are very
successful," he said. "Being an
honest, decent person is success
in itself. It's the highest level of
success." El