Humble Opinions

Over the last few days, the largest financial scandal in Wall Street history has begun to unfold. The facts are still coming in, and it will be some time until the full scope of the scandal is truly understood - but so far, it appears devastating. Bernard Madoff was arrested on Friday, December 12th 2008 after admitting to having been running the largest Ponzi scheme ever, spanning decades, and involving over $50,000,000,000 (that’s right, billion) of investor money - now all gone.

As I began reading the initial news article, my jaw hung open. Not only did someone work up the inhumanity of stealing tens of millions of dollars from countless individuals, and spending it on mansions, a yacht, and a first class lifestyle, but this is unfolding at what can be said as literally the worst possible time. The United States (and much of the Western civilized world) is just beginning to plunge into the worst economic situation in memory. Then it got worse…

Mr. Madoff is a Jew! Not only a Jew, but he served as the treasurer of the board of trustees for Yeshiva University - one of the most well-known Jewish institutions in all of New York. At this point my jaw was on the floor. Upon his arrest, Yeshiva University instantly took a catastrophic hit on its endowment. Many prominent Jewish people have been completely wiped out, many of them elderly (living in Florida, obviously).

Why is it that people don’t realize their actions will paint future history books, and shape the world of their grandchildren? Is there any doubt in your mind that when the history of American Jewry is written, Madoff’s name will not be written in bold letters, and described as the name that did enormous damage to the entire Jewish nation, and ran American Jews’ reputation through the mud? His family is ruined. His future descendants are ruined. And to a certain extent, American Jews are ruined. Worst of all, it seems his only response can be “Who, Me?”

What is the world to think of Jews now? Factor in that Mr. Madoff was a huge contributor to Jewish charities across the globe. What is the world to think of Jews that give charity now? In Jewish law there is a well known concept called Mitzva HaBaa b’Aveira - a good deed that comes as the result of a bad one. The individual responsible is not credited for that good deed. It is invalid. Rather, they are punished for the bad one. We are witness to the clearest example of this that I have ever come across.

Mr. Madoff is officially responsible for the destruction of thousands of lives, families, Jewish institutions, and more. It has been 1 business day since this scandal has surfaced, and already two non-profit Jewish organizations have been forced to terminate their entire staff, and close their doors. What will be the future of Yeshiva University, no one knows. This man has single handedly prevented an untold number of Jews from receiving a greater Torah education, from visiting the land of Israel, from being able to afford Kosher food for their children!

If all this isn’t bad enough, major foreign banks have been hit, some for as much as over a billion dollars. Great job Bernard - I’m sure Jews have all really been missing the atmosphere of open anti-semitism, like that of 19th century France, which produced the Dreyfus Affair (read about it). I cannot express how damaging this is for worldwide Jewry - and at a time when the security of the state of Israel is in tremendous limbo… I need not remind you the 6-month ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is coming to an end, and Hamas has vowed not to renew it. I need not remind you Iran is still rapidly assembling a nuclear weapon with Israel’s name on it, in open defiance of the entire world. I need not remind you the security of the state of Israel (which believe it or not is a security blanket for all of world Jewry) GREATLY depends on the stature and reputation of powerful foreign Jewish communities (at the present time, those in America).

We are in serious trouble, fellow Jews. Do not take this lightly. And please do not respond “Who, Me?”

Yes, You!!!

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I would like to bring to your attention a man I greatly look up to. Among many other things, I find him extremely knowledgeable, realistic, well researched, and insightful. He has written 19 books, produced 13 movies, given thousands of lectures on History and Jewish topics, and writes weekly for one of the most prestigious media outlets in Israel, the Jerusalem Post. He has also served as the executive vice president and Chief Rabbi for the most recognized Kosher certification on earth, the OU. Lastly, he has also founded and run a high school, has served as the rabbi for multiple Jewish synagogues, and has traveled the world extensively. I introduce world renown author, historian, and educator Rabbi Berel Wein (buy his products, they’re sick).

Among his many accomplishments is a 116 hour audio lecture series on Jewish history that spans from the creation of the world until 1984. I have listened to all of it, and can attest to its magnificence. I would very much like to share the concluding 9 minutes of the entire series. Press play to begin playing:

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The future is now… well, almost now. I believe mankind, and the world at large, is on the fringes of a new era. Although I wish I had something more positive to report, I think we are about to begin an era that will later be seen as the Age of Terrorism. I have many reasons for believing this, but I also believe there is a chance to alter this.

The human (and especially American) psyche is often times led to trust that the countries of the world have boundaries, and limits to what they can/will do - especially in warfare. Thus, although the New York Times reports stabbings and rapes daily, people still believe their world has relative safety. I should note that I am talking about America for the last 40 or 50 years. In the 19th, and early 20th centuries, people knew the world was not safe (at least to an extent far greater than today). It’s a relatively new phenomenon for people to think they can simply live their entire lives going to work, vacationing, relaxing, and watching television. It has worked for a bit more than a full generation.

The factors that cause this are many. The world has an international organization called The Red Cross, who seeks to enforce and monitor the upkeep of the clauses in the Geneva Conventions. We have an arms agreement called the Chemical Weapons Convention, which clearly outlines what is not acceptable during warfare in terms of weaponry. We have the United Nations, whose aim is to facilitate cooperation in international law, security, human rights, and world peace. We have embassies, diplomats, secretaries of state and defense, etc. Seems pretty solid, right?

The facts:

I wish I didn’t have to be so blunt about these, but here goes:

The Chemical Weapons Convention (signed in 1993, during Bill Clinton’s presidency) is nonsense. It is the modern addition to another document called the Hague Convention (signed in 1899 and re-signed in 1907), which already depicts what is considered a war crime, and declares chemical and biological weapons to be off-limits during war. Did that stop the German Keiser Willhelm II from releasing poison gas on the British and French armies in WWI during the battles of Ypres in 1915? Did that stop America from dropping 2 atom bombs on Japan in 1945? Has that ever stopped an Islamic fundamentalist from blowing up and torturing innocent civilians? No. Rules are rules, until the circumstances require breaking the rules, or unless one doesn’t care about the rules. So effectively, there are no rules.

The United Nations is a joke. It was formed after WWII, to ensure the senseless bloodbath that took place would never again. It replaced the League of Nations, which was setup after WWI, essentially to prevent WWII. Did it? No. Will the United Nations prevent WWIII? Yeah right. The United Nations has passed over 1800 resolutions since its inception, over 7% of them being directed at Israel, one of the smallest of the 192 member countries. UN resolutions are ignored and broken at will, and UN peacekeeping forces have proven ineffective, and for the most part, a waste of time. I need not give you a list of UN resolutions that have simply been ignored (especially in the Middle East), but just know it is quite a lot. Did the UN prevent the 8 year Iran-Iraq war that broke out in 1980? The Korean War? The Soviet-Afghan War? Will the UN have any influence on the tensions currently rising between Pakistan and India? Clearly not… only, this time, both of those countries are nuclear-armed.

If you read what politicians were saying in the months and years preceding WWI, they were toting a concept known as Total Mutual Annihilation, which basically theorized that since weaponry was so advanced by 1914, that in itself guaranteed no possibility of serious war, because it would completely devastate victor and vanquished alike. Today, that concept has been recreated and is called MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction), which states that nuclear war is simply not possible, because it would destroy both sides beyond their abilities to recoup. I’m sure this has been a major consideration of Ayatollah Khomeini and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad throughout their construction of Iran’s first nuclear weapon.

It would be pretty naive to not realize it will only be a matter of time until nuclear weapons become easy to assemble (relative to how difficult the task is right now - which is still FAR easier than it was in the 1930s). My estimate is that in less than 20 - 25 years, most countries on earth will possess nuclear weapons. Can leaders be trusted to not press the button? History has shown no.

In my commutes to work for the last 6 weeks, the subways of NYC have been flooded with police officers, usually in groups of 2 or 3. This is a good sign! The only problem is that I tend to see them chit chatting it up amongst themselves, and generally not prepared for spontaneous action. If these were Israeli-trained policemen, they would be keenly watching all that passed through the subways. (yeah, Israel rules)

Causes? Preventions?

My humble and correct opinion about how to prevent the potential disasters ahead of us lie in an energy revolution. I think our best shot of at least postponing the Age of Terrorism is for America and the world to place kicking mankind’s addiction to oil at priority #1. I believe one of the biggest disasters of the 20th century (obviously aside from WWI and II) was the discovery of 40% of the world’s oil reserves in Saudi Arabia in March 1938. This essentially gave radicals still stuck in the Middle Ages more money than they would ever be able to spend, and more influence than they were prepared to absorb. One would think that the Arab countries should have incredibly high qualities of life for its citizens, given their trillions of oil dollars. The lowest infant mortality rates, the longest life expectancies, the highest rates of literacy. Unfortunately, much of this money has not been spent in that manner. The highest quality of Arab life in the Middle East remains to be that of the Palestinians living in the West Bank under Israeli control (keep in mind Israel possesses zero oil, having given its massive oil reserves in the Sinai desert to Egypt in 1979 in exchange for peace).

An enormous amount of terrorism in the world is fueled by the fact that oil powers almost every aspect of our modern lives. As I said, this has given the Arab nations that comprise OPEC literally an endless budget. I think stemming this tide is our last possible chance of averting disaster… yet, in time honored fashion, no one seems to be doing anything about the situation. Awesome.

I really hope I’m wrong about everything I’ve said, but taking into account my exceptional rate of correctness, that seems unlikely (at least to me).

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