Yom Kippur 5763 (2002):

Torah, Teshuvah, and Enron

Last week we all mourned the first anniversary of September Eleventh. With these attacks, terrorists from outside our country brought much suffering and continued insecurity to many throughout America. Yet it was not the only blow to our nation's strength this past year. There was another series of attacks from within that brought fear, chaos, and suffering as well. The ground zero of these attacks was not the World Trade Center but Wall Street.  They were not launched from camps in far off Afghanistan, but from the corporate headquarters of Enron, Tyco and World Com. These explosions of financial treachery toppled American financial markets. The force pulverized the average person's pension fund. It brought to millions the terror of financial insecurity. The fall-out of its debris has ruined thousands of lives. It's a sad day when you can't trust, even Martha Stewart anymore.

So what does Judaism have to say about this? That's what I'm going to explore with you tonight. I recently heard a story about a rabbi whose congregant came to him to ask for some advice from the Torah because his business was going badly. The Rabbi told him everything was in the Torah. He should first start reading it and they would meet next week. The very next day the man called. He said Rabbi, I did what you said and God has already provided me an answer. "Tell me about it," the Rabbi said with interest. "Well Rabbi, I opened up the Bible just as you suggested and there was the answer: Chapter 11! *

Actually the Torah has a lot to say about the corporate scandals of the last year. In Exodus, in the 19th Chapter of Leviticus, known as the Holiness Code-in tractates of the Talmud devoted to issues of ethics in the marketplace. Consulting these, a Torah commentator appearing on Wall Street Week would say the market bull that appeared in Houston turned out to be in many ways, a golden calf.  Or, a Torah commentator appearing on Nightly Money Report might submit the following question for the viewer quiz of the day. Guess which of the Ten Commandments, was announced to have been violated by a major corporation today? We would have an advantage of course because we have them for reference right here on the doors to the ark. Or he/she might take a poll of viewers watching This Is Your Money. Which of the commandments violated do you thinks was the worst? We could see if people concurred or not with an important rabbinic commentary that said violating the tenth one was the worst. Why? Because coveting of possessions, power or status can lead to the breaking of all the others. Because of this, crossing number seven, stealing money from the stockholders became easy. Crossing number five, hurting the elderly, wiping out their life savings, became a snap. Violating number six, causing loyal employees to be ruined and feel like their life had been taken from them, was a piece of cake. The free market and profits moved from something that is good to a god, without ethical limits or restraints. There went commandments numbers one and two. Arthur Anderson came in to help cook the books and took care of number eight, bearing false witness.

The High Holiday prayer book could even get into financial market journalism. When it is mentioned on the news, as it usually is, that trading was closed because of the Jewish holidays, a small side bar could pop up on the TV screen.  It could say, "Here are the eight things most likely to have been violated in corporate America according the Al Chet prayer of Yom Kippur.   For the sin we have sinned openly or in secret. For the sin we have sinned knowingly and deceitfully. For the sin we have sinned by the utterance of our lips. For the sin we have sinned by wronging our neighbor. For the sin we have sinned by denying and lying. For the sin we sinned by false oaths. For the sin we have sinned in matters of business. For the sin we have sinned by breach of trust.

It's clear that a lot of laws of the Torah have been broken in corporate America and that a lot of people have been hurt. But not many of us here tonight are CEO's of major corporations. What all this has to teach us came to me as I was sitting in Pauley Pavilion during my daughter Jessica's graduation from UCLA this past June.  The featured speaker was a nice young Jewish guy name Dov Seidman. He had graduated from UCLA, gone on to Harvard Law School, and then founded a multi-million-dollar legal consulting firm (The Legal Knowledge Company). What does he do? He consults with hundreds of companies, 200 of the Fortune 500, providing training of employees on legal/ethical behavior. Why do they pay him the big bucks? Because, as he shared, more and more companies are realizing that not following the basic ethical imperatives like those in the Ten Commandments, (like those in high holiday confessional), hurts their business, costs them money. Even more, it hurts the business of business? Why? Because the most important aspect of any human endeavor, even business – is the ability to trust. That depends on making and meeting of agreements. That is why paying attention to vows is what we do on this most sacred night of the year. That is why we often add to the end of a statement the Hebrew words, bli neder. Bli neder means, "This statement is not a vow." "I'll try but I can't guarantee it." "I think this is true but don't rely on it." When don't we add bli neder? When we say, "You can count on me." "I give you my word." "I'm signing on the dotted line." "You can rely on these figures." "This is the truth." The importance of the truth and reliability of what we say and what we commit to, is why there is an entire tractate of the Talmud, nedarim, just on the subject of vows. In it the Rabbis took pains to reminds us that false vows – false attestations of truth or fact, false representations of commitment or loyalty or friendship, can wreak great damage. They can cost a business a heavy price. Just ask Arthur Anderson. Or they can cost us heavily in our every day lives, in diminished reputation, broken friendships and family strife.  This was his message. The most important thing to know is not what you learn at some prestigious business or law school, but what you learn in Hebrew school or Sunday school. It's right there as you open up the Bible or as we see tonight, right in the Machzor. Its message is exquisitely simple.  It's usually very simple to discern right from wrong when you want to know it. Choosing to do the right thing becomes easier the minute you see that choosing to do wrong more than likely will have some very bad consequences. Choose to be trustworthy. His message for us tonight from the wake of corporate scandals is that the teachings of our faith are neither, naive nor irrelevant. They are our most important business, in every aspect of life – from the biggest business, to the most intimate business of our personal lives. 

There is a second lesson as we look through the lens of Judaism at the corporate misconduct that smashed into our economy this past year.  It has to do with a real incident that happened just a few years ago in Los Angeles.** The Los Angeles Times had secretly entered in to an agreement in which the paper would share in the profits of the Staples Sports Arena. In turn the management of the Times directed the news department to do more stories on the events that took place at the arena. The owners of the Times had not disclosed the agreement to their reporters, that the paper stood to profit from the arena's success.

One reporter Leo Wolinsky--- found out about it.  He felt that it violated one of the fundamental ethical rules of journalism. The news and the financial interest of the paper should not be intertwined.  Mr. Wolinsky broke the story about what the L.A. Times had done.  It was incredibly damaging to the credibility of the paper.  Why? Because deception and manipulation, strike at the heart of trust, which is essential in every relationship in life.  I don't know about Chapter 11, but if you open up the Book Of Leviticus to Chapter 19 you'll know why many Reform Temples have chosen it over the traditional reading, for tomorrow morning.  It tells us not to stand idly by but to be a whistle blower at work or a cell phone caller when you see someone in trouble on the freeway. It tells us not to oppress workers or rob them in the corporate market place. But it also tells us not to remains silent at the local market when we know that the cashier has rung up a price that is too low or given us what we know is too much change. But all of these are summed up in one verse that has been particularly beloved to Biblical commentators. "Do not put a stumbling block before the blind."(Leviticus 19:14)  They comment that this is understood, to apply not just literally, but to many aspects of life. It means do not misuse, mislead, or misrepresent any information or circumstances, in a way that takes advantage of another person. At the corporate level, we have seen the damage of false revenue and debt reports as well insider trading. But in our personal lives, this piece of Torah applies too. It is so easy to fall into false flattery, manipulative party invitations, or vastly overstating something we contributed to a situation to falsely inflate our stock. We so easily share private information about a third person, with a listener, to raise our evaluation, in the listener's estimation.

So we have to pay attention to basic teachings about right and wrong as Mr. Seidman suggested. We also have to pay attention to our more subtle but potent misdeeds as well.  We have to avoid manipulating and taking advantage of others,  "putting a stumbling block before the blind," not only in employment and business.  But also in subtle ways in our personal lives if we are to have healthy friendships and family relationships.

So the Los Angeles times found how damaging secret agendas and manipulations can be when their secret agenda was brought to light. How they responded takes me to point number three. What do you think they did? If they were the average company or person, you would guess, they denied it, minimized or ignore it. Angered to have to deal with it, you would guess they struck back at the ones exposing their misdeeds. What did they do?  The owners quickly issued the following statement. "Leo Wolinsky is being appointed chief of the news department because of what he did in the Staples Arena matter. Because we need someone who has the courage and the honesty to speak up and tell the truth when we go wrong."  Then added Michael Parks, the editor in chief. "I understand the impact of the Staples agreement on our credibility and on the ethics of our journalistic profession and on our moral position in the community and in the profession. And therefore, for all these reasons I have profound regret." To make sure such a breach of ethics didn't occur again Mr. Parks announced the appointment of the San Fernando Valley Editor, Ardith Hillard, to be Mr. Wolinsky's assistant. Hillard's job was to make sure that there was a complete separation between the business and news sides of the paper. The paper fairly quickly weathered this major transgression and confidence in the ethics of the paper was fairly quickly restored. Contrast this to the chairperson of Enron, Kenneth Lay, and the board of directors and CEO's at other corporate scandals this year. "We didn't know."  "We aren't responsible" "We did it to keep the value of the stock high for the shareholders." Or there was Mrs. Lay, saying that she's sorry for all those hurt when Enron went belly up, but really she and her husband are the real victims.

What I found fascinating from watching the financial market commentators was what they had to say, when people started being arrested for these crimes; when other executives and board members started stepping forward or down from their boards, to take responsibility; when the Congress passed new tougher laws about the responsibility of regulators and board members. Then one corporation after another came forward, admitting its hidden debt, that it had been deceitful, and giving the real genuine numbers. One after another leading market mavens observed that these actions produced one of the key elements in the stock market finally beginning to stabilize and heal. Why? Because they said, people were admitting they had transgressed. They were taking responsibility for their breaches of trust. They were publicly, openly rectifying their mistakes. There was a new climate that made admitting transgressions and rectifying them highly prized.

I thought to myself. They seem like they are saying that one major factor in the recovery and stability of our national economy was the performance of Teshuvah – genuine repentance, as described in our tradition. Then I thought of the Los Angeles Times. What a stunning real world example of what happens when you do teshuvah; what happens when you admit you've really done wrong to others, when you apologize openly and sincerely, when you do something to rectify the situation and show you've changed as they did in appointing Wolinsky as news editor and choosing a trusted journalist to fill a new position to oversee their ethics. How much less damage you inflict when you do Teshuvah sooner rather than later, genuinely and fully.  How much easier it is to recover trust and rebuild relationships.

So this is the third lesson we can glean from Enron et al tonight. The teachings about doing Teshuva that we learn from our tradition are not naive or irrelevant. They were an important part of the recovery of our national economy. They were at the heart of the recovery of trust by the Los Angeles Times. They are at the heart of our healing of breaches in our personal relationships. They are the way to recovery of trust and repair of family relationships." 

From Enron and The Los Angeles Times, we learn some really important lessons for tonight. From big business to personal business, the teaching of the ethics of the Torah and our prayer book are not naive. If we choose to be trustworthy and act ethically, it's good for business and it's good for us in our everyday lives.  If we don't, from Wall Street to within the most private walls of our homes, we will pay the price! But our transgressions of manipulation and insincerity can often be subtle and require our careful thought and attention, as they are easy to fall into and ignore. When we do transgress – sooner, rather than latter, more fully rather than skimpily – doing Teshuvah, helps raise both the stock market and our stock in the eyes of loved ones and friends.

On this night of care in our promises and attestations, I want to make it clear that I am not giving financial advice. They say it is a good time for basic values investing, reading the fine print, and trying to get the best return. You'll have to consult one of the fine brokers in the congregation about these matters. But when it comes to how you invest your life, Judaism has a lot to teach. There are not better basic values to invest in that those of Judaism. There is no better fine print to read than the fine print of the Torah commentaries that teach us about the subtle transgressions of life. There in no better return than Teshuvah, of making a turn and returning to God, to other, and your better self through repentance.  I hope you'll consider this as you make your vows tonight. As you begin to write yourself in the ledger of another year, I hope it will show a high yield of deeper friendship and love. Amen.

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* Rabbi Elliot Perlstein, Kol Nidre, 9/ll/02

** Rabbi Jack Riemer: Good News in Corporate America

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