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Community Views

Editor's Notebook

On The Issue Of Money:
Maguire Vs. Heschel

Remember The Most
Important Inspectors

RABBI HERBERT YOSKOWITZ SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

PHIL JACOBS EDITOR

Like so many of
you, I sat in a
crowded theater
to watch Tom
Cruise portray
Jerry Maguire.
The film depicts a
short span in the
life of a cocky,
successful, high-
-.
powe , greedy sports agent.
Unlike the rest of his col-
leagues, Maguire is portrayed as
an agent with a conscience. In an
extreme pang of guilt, he writes
a lengthy mission statement to
inspire his col-
leagues to be
more human,
more caring of
their clients'
well-being and
less motivated
by greed.
For writing
against greed
and for caring,
Jerry Maguire
is fired from his
job and loses all
but one of his
clients. How
prevalent is
greed in the
sports world!
Among
many sports
fans, there is a
sad feeling that
sports has become a business and
that players and coaches are no
longer fiercely loyal to their
teams, but just follow the money.
The example of one city re-
cently shaken by defections is
Boston. Roger Clemens, the heart
and soul of the Boston Red Sox
for a decade, signed in December
as a free agent with the Toronto
Blue Jays for a $24.95 million
three-year contract.
Having led the New England
Patriots to the Super Bowl, Bill
Parcells announced in January
that he was deserting. Patriots
fans were angry and disappoint-
ed. "Show me the money," a
phrase heard over and over again
in the Jerry Maguire movie,
echoes the refrain of sports play-
ers, managers and coaches in
cities beyond Boston.
We are told that the sports
world now reflects the real world
in which "Show me the money"
has become or is becoming the
norm.
In Judaism, there is nothing
against earning money. We are
taught, though, to master our
wealth rather than be enslaved
by it. "Who is wealthy?" the rab-
bi asks in Ethics of the Fathers.
He responds: "He who is satisfied
with what he has." To be truly

Herbert Yoskowitz is rabbi of

Congregation Beth Achim in
South field.

wealthy, one should express grat-
itude much more than one ex-
presses what he or she wants. A
culture dominated by "Show me
the money" is cursed, not blessed;
poor, not rich.
When Rabbi Abraham Joshua
Heschel wrote The Earth Is the
Lord's, he taught us about East-
ern European Jews who didn't
have much money but who knew
that whatever money they had
ought to be used to pay for their
needs, to support Jewish institu-
tions and to support those less for-
tunate than they.

They realized that prayer and
study are two great sources of
wealth of which they could par-
take in great abundance.
Some regarded Rabbi Hes-
chel's evaluation of Eastern. Eu-
ropean Jewry as a "wealthy"
community in a less than favor-
able light. Often he was criticized
for his view. At one social gath-
ering, the following conversation
between an eminent guest and
Rabbi Heschel took place.

We are taught
to master
our wealth, not be
enslaved by it.

"In a town in Poland that I
came from," the guest said, " I
knew of an old Chasid. He would
rise at the outlandish hour of 5
a.m. and make his way to the syn-
agogue, where he would proceed
to disturb everyone with his loud,
endless prayers and his study,
never pausing for breakfast or
lunch until 5 p.m., when he took
some nourishment. Now tell me,
is that what you would call a re-
ligion? Is that a sensible life for a
man?"
Rabbi Heschel was very upset
by these comments. He reflect-

ed on what was said and re-
sponded: "Isn't that strange. I
know someone just like that here
in New York. He is almost an ex-
act parallel to that old Chasid.
"He, too, gets up very early in
the morning, devotes himself with
single-minded passion to his work
and hardly takes food during the
day until late in the afternoon.
Indeed he worked so hard that at
42 he suffered a stroke. There is
only one difference between the
two — the purpose of one's work
is gold!
"Now tell me, is such behavior
commensurate
with reasonable
common sense?
Yet, you belittle
the one and prob-
ably admire the
other. Why?"
The guest said,
"But that Chasid
didn't do any-
thing with his
life. Who cared
about his prayer
and study?"
"Isn't it possi-
ble that God
cared?" asked
Rabbi Heschel.
The great rab-
bi did not mean
to imply that God
cares only about
study and prayer.
We should be making a satisfac-
tory livelihood and we should
handle the practical challenges
of our lives. Many people, how-
ever, become so preoccupied by
the quest for wealth that the urge
to acquire more and more pos-
sessions appears to dominate
their lives.
A key to a good life is to be able
to recognize when wealth be-
comes a curse rather a blessing.
After reaching a certain level of
affluence, a person who can in-
ternalize a commitment to focus
less on money and more on
prayer, study, communal activi-
ties and intellectual pursuits can
attain tranquility. Those who can-
not internalize such a commit-
ment will be preoccupied with the
quest for money and will en-
counter increasing unrest and
worry.
The world does not need Jews
who are like everybody else and
who, therefore, have no unique
contribution to make in this
world. In a world of "Show me the
money," there is a desperate need
for Jews who can and will expose
this insanity of greed and be
teachers of how to get back on the
right track.
Rabbi Heschel, not Jerry
Maguire, can lead us to remove
the decadence, the inhumanity,
the greed and the cruelty from a
world in which the theme too of-
ten is "Show me the money." ❑

Summer of '95.
Driving to west-
ern Michigan
with a friend.
He happens to
be an Orthodox
rabbi.
Should I tell
him?
Do I dare?
What's the risk involved? How
will he react? Two hours of dri-
ving in front of us.
Felt like a struggle going on.
Remember a speech I gave
about Jewish journalism and the
"11th Commandment: Thou
Shalt Not Air Thy Dirty Laun-
dry.
Every once in a while as an ed-
itor, as a Jew, there comes a sto-
ry that I wish would go away.
It happened to me years ago
when it became necessary for me
to write a story about a small-
time, destructive cult leader. He
was an older man, and I worried
that exposing him at that time
would cause him ill health, would
hurt his wife and family.
I remember going to a couple
of friends, who happen to be rab-
bis, to talk to them about the sto-
ry. They urged me to tell that
story, even it meant doing it in
the pages of a newspaper.
This week, we read in the cov-
er story of The Jewish News of
the problems state health in-
spectors have found at some of
the area providers of kosher food.
We have known about this story
since the summer of 1995. When
it came to our attention, I was
hoping that it was some sort of
fluke, that it would get better or
even go away.
I asked staff
writer Jill Sklar to
get as many past
and updated reports
as possible. The re-
ports didn't get any
better. I am a week-
ly, regular customer
at many of these
kosher outlets. I
have friends in some
of these businesses who work
hard each day to stay in business
and to provide foods that are at
a high level ofkashruth and, yes,
cleanliness.
When the issue of the story
came up, I asked a handful of key
people all around the Jewish
community how they would feel
if they saw a story such as this
in The Jewish News. Some en-
couraged me. Others said they
expect to see something like this
in the daily papers, not The Jew-
ish News. Some said it was sen-
sational.
A couple of incidents:
I walked into a business and
got in line. The employees work-
ing with food had no plastic
gloves on their hands; there were

no hair nets on their heads.
That's not what bothered me. A
custodian is sweeping the floor
in the customer area and behind
the counter. When he is finished,
he takes the broom, lifts and
stores it in the corner directly
next to a counter where food is
sliced. The bristles from the
broom drop dust directly over the
counter.
A Jewish News weekly staff
meeting. The agenda that day is
to go over the stories for the next
week's issue. Food is served. We
typically purchase fruits, kosher
baked goods, cheeses. In front of
the staff, I picked out a roll at
random. I opened the roll only to
find a dead roach embedded in
it.
A container of cottage cheese
purchased at a kosher store came
home with me with an expira-
tion date a month old. A package
of cookies was covered with white
mold on the inside.
The terrible odor of a butch-
er shop.
I'm sure that there are an
equal number of problems in any
number of restaurants and food
establishments within the gen-
eral community. Pm sure that
pest control is a challenge for all
concerned in the food business.
Keeping a place clean should
not be a problem. With kosher
establishments, where the prices
are typically more expensive, and
maybe with good reason, I expect
the highest of standards.
There are those businesses
here who do a wonderful job
keeping clean. There are stores
without a trace of an insect prob-
lem that have been
cited for other, more
minor situations.
Perfection is difficult
to achieve in any
business, and that's
understandable.
What bothers
me, though, what
doesn't compute, is
how a kosher facili-
ty can be strictly
kosher, yet dirty.
Consumers of kosher products
have shown their loyalty to the
shops in our area, and I urge
them to continue that loyalty.
The purpose of our coverage is
not to hurt anyone's business.
We, however, want to encourage
the businesses not only to adhere
to the high level of kashruth pro-
vided locally, but also to reach
the same level of cleanliness.
Also, we need to open our eyes.
There are those in our Jewish
neighborhoods and in the gen-
eral community who see kosher
facilities as dirty or ill-kept.
Why should that image be al-
lowed to continue, especially at
a time when health is a major

Would
conditions
improve if the
story wasn't
published?

INSPECTORS page 30

