Let me suggest to you that religious people are incapable of perpetrating unethical business practices. I make this seemingly bold declaration as a means of comforting myself in the wake of the Enron scandal. Religious people would just not be involved in such massive deceit, I tell myself. I am sure that had Enron officials been men and women of true faith, they would not be capable of betraying the public trust.
But, rabbi! You invest too much trust in religion. Plenty of religious people are caught cheating, some of them even prominent members of the Jewish faith! These are people who practice their religion. They pray three times a day, keep kosher, honor the Sabbath, and give charity regularly. And yet, some have been known to steal millions of dollars. So, you see, my naive rabbi, even religious people can err.
My answer is that these people, the ones who outwardly display their religious piety but secretly deceive others, are not religious after all. How do I know?
There is a puzzling passage from the Talmud that addresses the issue of what we will be asked when we die and face the Heavenly Tribunal. The Talmud states that the very first question to be asked of us is: "DID YOU DEAL HONESTLY IN BUSINESS?"
What a strange choice! We might have expected to be asked about our faith in G-d, the contributions we made to the welfare of our families, our people, and to mankind in general. We could have expected to be drilled about how well we controlled our evil impulses or how often we went out of our way to help others. We could understand being asked how much charity we gave, how involved we were in synagogue life, and even more generally how good, moral, and ethical we were in our dealings with others.
But to be asked about our business dealings? Why this question above all? The answer is that business is the test case for religious sincerity. It goes without saying that anyone reading the Bible is struck by just how many declarations there are about the necessity for being honest, fair, and just in money matters.
Equally obvious are all the admonishments against participating in deceptive practices. Not only is "Thou shalt not steal" one of the Ten Commandments, but statements against the evils of lying, swearing falsely, taking unfair advantage of others, and denying wrongdoing are so numerous that any Bible reader has to be familiar with the high level of ethics required of any person who claims to be religious.
So why then is there so much dishonesty? The answer, as anyone that has ever tried to run a business knows, is that to remain honest and make a profit is a constant challenge. For most of us who are salaried, opportunities to cut corners are not anywhere near as grave as they are for corporate executives who run large corporations. In profit-driven companies, there is just too much temptation to cheat, to doctor books, to advertise deceptively, to make bogus claims, and to deny wrongdoing.
To be sure, few people enter into business with criminal intent. Most people want an honest day's pay for an honest day's work. But no matter how noble our intentions, the desire for profit often leads people into nefarious practices. And as the rabbis comment on the verse in Leviticus, "Don't steal, don't deceive, don't lie," stealing begins with innocent lying and deception and ends with egregious theft and embezzlement.
Even those who claim they were merely watching from the sidelines share in the deception if they are aware of illegal activity but do not report it to authorities. (The rabbis actually derive this conclusion from the fact that the pronouncement against stealing quoted from Leviticus is couched in the plural, i.e., to apply to major and minor players alike.)
So even assuming that people do not set out intentionally to become professional thieves, everyone faces the temptation to steal. That is why the Torah harps on honesty as an ideal and dissuades us from ever taking that first step onto what we could consider the path to innocent deception.
But there is even greater proof that anyone engaged in monetary fraud cannot be religious. The Torah makes it clear that people who are willing to steal not only disrespect their fellow citizens but also display irreverence to G-d. In fact, the rabbis go so far as to say that one who steals denies the very existence of G-d. This is made clear by the conclusion to the passage from Leviticus quoted earlier: "Do not steal, do not receive, do not lie, and do not swear falsely by my name so that you profane the name of thy G-d. I am the L-rd." (19:11-12).
An act of cheating shows that you are willing to tear apart the universal moral fabric that G-d has created, which is based on commerce operated by people who deal with each other fairly and honestly.
That is why I know that Enron officers and those associated with their deception could not have been religious, because truly religious people know better. And even though our society may have difficulty punishing the perpetrators, I take comfort in knowing that the first question the Heavenly Tribunal with ask of them is, "Have you dealt honestly in business?" At that time we can be assured that they will receive the punishment they deserve.
As we prepare for the holiday of Purim, which takes place this week, we must remember that the masks we wear must ultimately come off when we face our Maker. Better to look honestly at ourselves now and improve our ethical conduct while we still have a chance
Chag Sameach