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potential hire's past infidelity, I'd be
very unhappy with whoever told me
that," he said, adding:
"That would be damaging and ter-
rible.
rible. I think that there isn't a way to
handle this in personnel codes, and it's
not the right question to ask. We want
people with positive moral standards,
but I don't know if we should start to
• legislate."
The potential for bringing on
unnecessary scandal, or even mis-
truths, was a concern for many leaders
•
interviewed.
Rabbi Avraham Jacobovitz of
Machon L'Torah said, "If the person's
behavior will affect his ability to lead
and be a proper leader, we need to
come out and protest, but it has to be
done in a proper way. If someone does
wronab it's a mitzvah to rebuke that
person in private in order not to
embarrass him or her.
The same goes for leaders," he
continued. "If all attempts fail and
there is potential damage to the pub-
lic, then you should expose the per-
son, but this has to be dealt with care-
fully. It's a very sensitive issue and
every case must be dealt with in accor-
dance with the circumstances and
severity of the situation."
Rabbi Stephen Weiss of Shaarey
Zedek agreed, emphasizing that trans-
gressions should be exposed or shared
only when relevant.
"A leader has an obligation not just
to show political leadership or give
financially, but to demonstrate leader-
ship through midot (behavior, deeds)
and Jewish values. On the other hand,
the question of whether we should be
talking about someone because he or
she doesn't meet that standard is a dif-
ferent issue. There's a danger that you
will make assumptions that aren't true
and could be harmful."
Even if someone is actually guilty,
he noted, that "doesn't necessarily
give you the right to say it. If infor-
mation is true and relevant, you may
have the right to say it, but where
you draw the line for a leader is a
gray area. There are times when it's
right to speak up, but we also live in
a society that enjoys the voyeurism
of looking into people's lives and
exposing them and that atmosphere
is dangerous."
Rabbi Michael Moskowitz of Temple
Shir Shalom also warned against judg-
ing based on hearsay. "So much of what
we hear is just talk and people devour-
ing information not knowing its truth-
fulness," he said. "People love to share
stories, but personally I'm very careful

'

not to judge because we never know the
entire story"
Bergman noted that at BAHM, sex-
ual transgressions, lying and stealing
are grounds for dismissal of all staff,
although the policy toward lay leaders
is more lenient. "There are certainly
things that if the president of the syn-
agogue did I would suggest to them
strongly that they consider either
resigning
or not running again,"
said
n
n
Bergman. "I might say, 'Finish this
year then step aside,' because you
don't want to bring too much scandal
into the family."
But the standard for the clergy has
to be higher, he said. "We're hired
because we are supposed to be role
models. That doesn't mean we don't
make mistakes from time to time but
if we find ourselves in situations like
this we ought to evaluate why we're in
the clergy business in the first place.
"I believe" he continued, "that rab-
bis have an absolute obligation to have
good personal conduct even if no one
else knows about it — God knows
about it."
Jewish Community Center
Executive Director David Sorkin said
that he does not factor in issues of
personal behavior when hiring or fir-
ing, noting "Who am I to hold any-
body to a 'greater than thou' ethical
standard?"
Norman Keane, executive director
of Jewish Family Service, said "integri-
ty means a great deal," but added that
"There are a number of people who
have paid for their errors and been
incredible for the organization and
have used that in a positive way.
Personal experiences, positive or nega-
tive, can be positive learning experi-
ences.
Bob Slatkin, president of the
United Jewish Foundation, said he
believes a community leader should
"believe in and practice the Ten
Commandments and live a life that is
exemplary," and said he is very con-
scious "of how I conduct myself pri-
vately and publicly because of my
position in the community."
Nonetheless, he conceded no one is
perfect," a view that Shaarey Zedek's
Weiss echoed.
"You can't expect people to be saints.
Everybody sins, and everyone's entitled
to do teshuva (repentance). Its not per-
fection chat we expect but a striving
toward good qualities and the humility
to acknowledge one's faults." ri

— Stet writer Lonny Goldsmith
contributed to this report.

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