Thinking about Youlus

Trust is built on truth, and both are rare commodities.

Who would have thought that a kind, good-natured, physically unimposing, seemingly well-intentioned rabbi could have succeeded in deceiving so many for so long? He seemed so unpretentious.

Who would have thought not to believe a person who purported to go on daring missions, supposedly at grave personal risk, to save Torah scrolls? He seemed to relish what he did with such enthusiasm, treating it as a mitzvah, performed out of love.

Who would have suspected that the wild and fanciful stories about how the scrolls were found were concocted imaginary adventures? Despite being far-fetched, they seemed plausible.

How could so many intelligent, sophisticated individuals be so gullible? Why would you not trust someone who appears to be a trustworthy person pursuing a worthy cause with missionary zeal and who projected himself as being so selfless? Why would you have any reason to suspect he wasn't telling the truth?

These are all questions that are being asked by many, myself included, in the wake of the admission of guilt in a New York court by Rabbi Menachem Youlus. I still find it all hard to believe and difficult to admit, but it turns out he was closer to being the Bernie Madoff, than being the Indiana Jones, of Torah scrolls.

Now that Rabbi Youlus has pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him, those of us who purchased Torah scrolls feel ripped off, defrauded, and taken advantage of. Our trust was violated by one who now admits his tales were not true.

In retrospect, now that the truth has been revealed and the fraud and deception exposed, the stories seem too far-fetched to be believed. And yet we did believe.

We believed him because there is a natural inclination to trust others. We believed him because we couldn't imagine a rabbi lying to us.

Up until the very end, he denied any wrong doing. He emphatically reassured people that the charges against him were not true. He seemed too nice to be involved in something so sinister and so we didn't want to believe that he had deceived us.

We believed him because we couldn't fathom a rabbi not telling the truth, especially about the veracity of something as sacred as Torah scrolls and the memory of the Holocaust.

I remember many years ago I was in a small antique store in the old city of Jerusalem. The store was filled with all kinds of artifacts and trinkets. I asked the kippah-wearing storekeeper about the kashrut of the parchment for a mezuzah he was selling. He said that it was authentic, and that I had no cause for concern. He reassured me that the scroll was kosher. As if to emphasize that he was telling the truth he then pointed to everything else in the store and admitted, about all these other objects he wouldn't swear to their being genuine, but about the sacred writing, he would never lie.

Perhaps one of the saddest aspects of the sorry saga of Rabbi Menachem Youlus is the realization that even seemingly well-intentioned people can take advantage of others and that we must always be on guard.

Ronald Reagan famously said, "trust, but verify." The Austrian Jewish novelist and playwright Arthur Schnitzler put it this way, with a touch of irony, "One can positively never be deceived if one mistrusts everything in the world, even one's own skepticism."

The Joy of Giving

A woman from out of town recently attended shabbat services for the bar or bat mitzvah of the grandchild of a friend of hers.

She approached me after services and inquired about a sign she saw in our building. She recognized the names of the people for whom the kitchen is named – Sophie Goldblatt and Paul Cooper and asked about them. I confirmed for her who they were.

She was excited when she realized that she knew the family and had lost touch, as they were neighbors many years ago. I was able to put her in touch with the members who had made the donation in honor of their parents.

What a wonderful tribute to know that these people were able to reconnect after all these years. It just goes to show, you never know the impact a donation may have!

Meeting Challenges to Ensure the Best

Executive Director Alan Blank and I recently attended a fascinating week-long seminar at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago. Part of their Institute for non-profit organizations, we participated in the fourth year of a special program developed for rabbis and synagogue executive directors about synagogue management and administration.

We were taught by an outstanding faculty, all from the highly acclaimed Northwestern Business School. Sessions dealt with a full range of topics including marketing, communication and branding, as well as financial matters such as fundraising, and reading and analyzing financial reports. We also studied leadership models, customer service, crisis management and how to implement change.

I always enjoy studying material from other fields, especially the business model to see how lessons can be applied to our work as a synagogue. Alan and I both gained a great deal from the opportunity to study together with some of the leading professionals in the field, as well as to interact with colleagues and to exchange ideas and learn from them as well. Each professor was better than the next.

Upon our return we had a meeting of our staff to discuss and apply some of what we had learned. We talked about the nature of the mission, vision, goals and purpose of B’nai Tzedek, about what makes our synagogue unique, why people affiliate, and the role of the staff in achieving that mission.

We concluded that among the reasons people join are because of the personal connection they feel, the personal relationships – with each other as well as with our staff, clergy and tradition. The wide variety of programs we sponsor offers multiple opportunities for people to connect to each other, as well as to our faith and heritage. In so doing we create meaning and value, which kindles and fans the flame of Jewish identity and deepens their understanding of and participation in Jewish life. Many other ideas were expressed as well, including being a part of a community that recognizes and embraces our connection to Israel and being a part of a place which nurtures and encourages positive Jewish identity. Needless to say spirituality, life cycle events, quest for God, a place to learn about , explore and express our Judaism are also all part of the central and primary focus of what we do.

One comment at the seminar that I will recall and that made an impression on me is that we should not think of our synagogues or any non-profit organization for that matter as a non-profit entity. While we are not for profit institutions, it would be more accurate to describe us and to conceive of ourselves as non-taxable organizations. We learned that if we think of ourselves as non-profits, and do not think about the business side of running our synagogues we will be out of business and not be able to fulfill the worthy goals of our places of worship.

There are many challenges facing synagogues and other institutions as we try to cope with the changing perception of affiliation and ever-changing reality. We come away better equipped and prepared to meet those challenges, and hope that you will share the goal with us of doing what you can to ensure that B’nai Tzedek remains a dynamic and creative synagogue.

Briefing to Israeli Delegation

Last month I was invited to attend a meeting in New York to brief staff members of Israel’s Knesset who were accompanied by members of the Israeli media. The session was part of a multi-day visit to educate Israeli opinion and decision makers about the American Jewish community. I spoke to them in Hebrew in my capacity as Director of Israel Policy and Advocacy at a luncheon sponsored by the Rabbinical Assembly at the Jewish Theological Seminary. My goal was to explain the nature of the partnership between the American Jewish community and Israel from our perspective. I wanted them to understand the nature of what we do and how significant our role as advocates on behalf of Israel is. I also sought to convey the role that Israel plays in the fabric and life of our synagogues.

To that end, I spoke about the high level of participation of Conservative Jews in national Zionist organizations such as AIPAC, Jewish National Fund, as leaders Jewish Federations of North America and of Israel Bonds. I also shared with them information about the work we did to help galvanize support for Israel in the United Nations to thwart the effort of the Palestinian Authority for member status without direct negotiations with Israel this past September. I spoke about our access to and lobbying of members Congress and the administration on behalf of Israel, as well as the visits to embassies that came to the aid of Israel to help extinguish the Carmel fire in December of 2010.

I also spoke about the role that Israel plays in our individual congregations. Among the things that I referred to were congregational trips to Israel and the regular recitation of the prayer for the State of Israel at shabbat services. I made mention of the pride we take in sending so many young people to Israel along with the educational programs we have sponsored to help prepare our young people for Israel related issues and anti-Israel propaganda they may encounter on college campuses.