Pacific Jewish Center | Rabbi » economic crisis

Repost: Yosef and the Light of [Economic] Wisdom and Kindness – Drasha Miketz (Sermon 2008)

rabbifink — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:49:57 +0000

Last year I spoke from the pulpit about the recent economic melt-down, its connection to Miketz and the coinciding holiday of Chanukah.

It was posted last year and you can read Yosef and the Light of (Economic) Wisdom and Kindness – Drasha Miketz, by clicking here.

It is worth a read and I would love to hear your thoughts.

When Times Are Tough

rabbifink — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:09:34 +0000

The economic crisis has hit many families and individuals in different ways. This anecdote really hit me hard. Perhaps you will feel the same way.

We all know that money is tight for Americans all across the country. Los Angeles is no exception and even in the middle to upper class neighborhood where we live there are some disturbing signs of desperation. Sure, there are for rent signs all over the place and people are conscious about saving and reducing their expenses, but the most painful demonstration of the economic crisis that I have heard is so much worse.

Around the corner from our home is a Ralph’s Supermarket. (That’s like Pathmark and Shoprite for the east coasters, Publix for you southerners and Schnucks for you midwesterners.) We go there for many basic grocery items, but in the past they have been notoriously over priced so we would go to Trader Joe’s for anything that we could find there as the prices were much better.

Recently, Ralph’s has had some great sales and overall their prices have come down. Even their coupons have been more generous. One glaring example of an overly generous coupon is the buy one baby formula get another baby formula free coupon. Free! That’s a big coupon. The only problem with using that coupon is that the formula section is often bare.

Even early in the day, Ralph’s is often sold out of all the baby formula that they stock.

My wife decided to ask a Ralph’s stock person about the low stock of baby formula. The stock person said “yeah, it’s always like this now, the thing is that people aren’t even buying it, we will sometimes go through our entire stock of baby formula without making one sale. People have crying babies at home that need to eat, but they can’t afford the baby formula, so they’ve been stealing it. Kids and adults can get by on other stuff, even cheap stuff, but babies need formula…” (Now the 5$ coupons make sense, Ralph’s would prefer that they buy the formula for a deeply discounted price rather than steal it.)

(Ralph’s now has the formula behind lock and key to prevent theft.)

When I heard that, it brought me to tears. As I type it right now, tears form in the corners of my eyes. I cannot imagine how disheartening it must be to a parent who cannot afford to feed one’s family.

For those of us who have what we need, it is a call to reach out and help our friends and neighbors who are going through difficult financial times. It is heartbreaking to hear about these stories, but it is reality.

We all know people who need help. Let us all try and share what we have with those who don’t.

Too Smart For Their Own Good

rabbifink — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:44:23 +0000

While the blog was down a very interesting Op-Ed appeared in the New York Times.

A journalist had a discussion with a man who could explain how the financial industry collapsed last year in one sentence.

Intrigued, the journalist pressed the man to explain. The answer? Wall Street got too smart.

In the old days, the Wall Street guys were not the top of their class, they were the jocks and slackers.

But now, all the MIT brainiacs are going to Wall Street.

Huh? If they were so smart how did they mess the whole thing up?

They were too smart.

Briefly, they were so smart they realized they could leverage their assets to make money and they could explain it in a way that made sense to investors.

Read the NY Times column for the more expanded explanation.

The article also makes a statement about which industries smart people choose for their careers. For the last couple of decades the smart people have been choosing Wall Street. Working in finance is exciting, fun and can be lucrative. However, it is not productive.

Justice Scalia said the same thing about lawyers. So many lawyers are very bright, and they do help people and they help society, but they are not producing anything. Scalia said:

I mean there’d be a, you know, a defense or public defender from Podunk, you know, and this woman is really brilliant, you know. Why isn’t she out inventing the automobile or, you know, doing something productive for this society?

I mean lawyers, after all, don’t produce anything. They enable other people to produce and to go on with their lives efficiently and in an atmosphere of freedom. That’s important, but it doesn’t put food on the table and there have to be other people who are doing that. And I worry that we are devoting too many of our very best minds to this enterprise.

The point is that for too long, the greatest minds in our country have not pursued industry and instead work in fields that do not have long-term benefit to society.

I discussed the evils of such a system in this post called Yosef and the Economic Light of Wisdom and Kindness.

I agree with the man the jornalist spoke with and I agree with Justice Scalia. We need to somehow get our smart people in industry. When was the last time a U.S. carmaker made a car that really caught your eye or impressed you more than an import? We import clothes, we import technology and we import food.

Instead we should be producing the best cars, the nicest clothes, the greatest technology and the most food. But we are handicapped because our smart people don’t go into those industries.

We need to find a way to fix it.

How Many Is Too Many?

rabbifink — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 20:55:44 +0000

This post has been cross-posted to DovBear – more discussion there.

An article on Ynet.com featured on VIN caught my ire this afternoon.

The writer, a woman, calls upon all Orthodox Jews to reject “the evil feminists” of Kolech and “have as many children as possible, as soon as possible”. For there is no greater joy in life than having many children.

Her arguments are weak (read it for yourself) and the ending says it all: “Trust me”. Why should I trust her?

As a proud father of 2 beautiful boys (a 6 year old and 8 month old) I can attest to the joys of parenthood. Giving the gift of life to one’s offspring is both very powerful and oftentimes emotional. I cannot imagine my life without my family.

I must take issue with this woman’s assertion that “the greatest gift we can give our families is a big family. Very big”.

In the VIN comments, there is a quote from R’ Shlomo Zalman Aurbach. When approached with a shaila regarding a woman who had 6 children and suffered a nervous breakdown for a heter to use birth control. His response, “why are you asking me, ask the Rav who gave her a heter to have 6 children in the first place!?”

Reb Moshe Feinstein writes in his Tshuvos that if the mother would suffer any physical, psychological or emotional harm from bearing more children she must use birth control.

Having a large family is not rooted in halacha. It is rooted in a social pressure to conform.

What has happened is the children of the “survivors” and that generation had a social calling to have large families. They were able to bear it (for the most part) with a low cost of living and 9-5 jobs, leaving time and money to spare. Enough to support many of those children in Kollel.

For many people pregnancy and childbirth as well as child rearing are difficult. For many families the cost of living is too high to support a large family. Work hours are long and the money does not go as far as it used to go.

Today’s society requires different approaches to life’s challenges from previous generations. The cost of living is higher. This forces most families to need a dual income. Who is going to raise these large families? What about the marriages? Husbands and wives who work full time, come home tired with children who need their time and attention. The idea of marriage in Judaism is to develop a relationship with a significant other. This cannot be ignored either!

Our schools are suffering from unprecedented deficits and budget cutting. Parents are having a hard time paying the tuition bills. Large families may be all of “your joy” but they can be an unfair burden on the tzibbur.

I am not calling for a “child cap” ala China. I am saying use your sechel and please don’t tell me what is good for you is good for everyone. Please don’t preach to me about what you think is right when it is not based on halacha.

Bitachon does not allow for recklessness. We cannot overburden ourselves or the system and expect bitachon to bail us out. There are children of large families who I know resented the lack of attention they received, the handouts they needed and the hustle and bustle of their busy homes. Those parents were likely ill equipped to deal with the large family dynamics and their children felt it.

Also, I happen to think that there are folks who have lots of kids to distract themselves from their unhappy lives, or their unhappy marriages (yes like a drug). Those folks need help. Not bigger families.

Which Of These is the Nobel Peace Prize Winner?

rabbifink — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 15:21:28 +0000

Last week Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison. In the early days of my blog I wrote a couple of Madoff posts (check them out if you have not seen them).

His recent sentencing reminded me about something that I did not post in the fallout from the scandal. This post is not “news” but its message is timeless.

Shortly after Madoff confessed his crimes and the number of victims began to pile up, it was revealed that noted author and famous Holocaust survivor, Eli Wiesel was defrauded of $37 million. Another victim of note was actor Kevin Bacon, married to fellow actor Keyra Sedgwick, who was reportedly cleaned out by Madoff’s scheme.

Wiesel’s reaction was predictable. He called for Madoff’s head and publicly lobbied for Madoff to be severely punished. There was name-calling, as Wiesel called Madoff “evil, thief, a scoundrel” and Wiesel came off as a justifiably broken, bitter, and angry man.

Wiesel made headlines when he was asked the following question at a breakfast meeting:

Asked if he could forgive Madoff, Wiesel paused for a very long moment. “Could I ever forgive him?” he asked, almost to himself. Finally, he said firmly “No,” to a burst of applause.

Nobel Peace Prize winner, Elie Wiesel could not make peace with the man who defrauded him.

(Equally disturbing is the round of applause following an announcement that Madoff was unforgivable. None of those who applauded have ever been forgiven?)

What was interesting to me was the reaction by actors Kevin Bacon and Keyra Sedgwick when they commented on their losses to Madoff. Sedgwick spoke on their behalf:

“…the fact of the matter is that we did not lose everything, we lost hard-earned money that we worked very hard for that was what we thought in a safe place. It’s painful but a lot of people lost a lot more. And we have a lot of things to be grateful for in our life, and we never ever forget that.”

I sense a completely different tone from the Hollywood couple than that of Wiesel. They seem at peace with their prediciment and recognize that money is just money. There is so much more to be thankful and appreciative for in life that it seems silly to get angry and bitter over a tough financial situation.

Contrast that attitude with Wiesel and maybe we should give the Bacon / Sedgwick couple a Peace Prize too!

Believe me, I can understand Wiesel’s cantankerous mood after losing his personal fortune and his charity’s funds, especially after surviving the Holocaust. I may have had the same reaction. What is refreshing to me, is the reaction of the Hollywood couple. They realize that it is really just money and they have a lot of other things to be thankful for in their lives.

Many of us are going to financial hardship in these tough economic times. It is important for us to keep everything in perspective as remember it is just money and we do have so much else for we should be thankful.

Speak Up! Economic Crisis Hitting Jewish Day Schools

rabbifink — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:11:38 +0000

I blogged a little while back about the pinch being felt in Jewish Day School and Yeshivas.

The LA Times must be reading my blog because they finally caught on to this growing problem. Today I read about the familiar names in our Los Angeles Jewish community who are suffering budget crises.

Is there hope for our schools? Is it possible to sustain a system that requires such tremendous financial commitment from its families?

Last time I reiterated the Torah’s priorities for charity. Charity for Torah education is pretty near the top of the list. It is above non-education communal needs. Unfortunately, the public does not keep these priorities. I think this could help the situation tremendously but I know there is a lot more that could be done.

Tuition costs are nearing $10k for elementary school children and are significantly higher for high-school and secondary education. The cost are astronomical and aside from the schools failing financially, some parents are having a very difficult time staying afloat economically.

I want to harness the power of the web to try and solve this problem.

What do you think?

Is there a solution?

Can this sysem be saved?

Do you have a better system?

Sad News Post

rabbifink — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:00:04 +0000

We are all aware of the economic uncertainty in our country right now. A little while back, I wrote about how the Yeshivas and Day Schools for Jewish children and teens are being pinched.

Things are looking slightly improved since then. Unfortunately, the situation has not yet completely reversed course.

I have criticized the media in the past. It bothers me when the news that is reported is all negative and virtually ignores all the good in our world.

Once in a while there will be some “feel good” news story to push back the critics of negative media.

Today I saw a negative news item that was presented so well that I feel it is necessary to share. The point was made so well, with such class, professionalism and sensitivity that it was moving.

Take a short break from reading this post to watch this audio slideshow from the LA Times. (It’s about 4 minutes.)

I will just wait here ’til you are done.

Done?

What did you think? How do you feel?

This is the point at which the story traverses from media news item to documentary style art. When news is presented in such a powerful way it becomes art. I hope we see more news presented this way. (Although, it could be dangerously used if promoting hate or other universally negative ideals.)

As I have mentioned in the past, I think when we are emotionally moved by anything we need to reflect on what we are feeling.

What I felt watching this slide show was pity. I feel so strongly for these people. I feel in many ways I am one of them. We never know what the future brings and we can only do our best. Those of us who are more secure in our positions in life must do whatever we can to alleviate the suffering of others. We also must be careful to avoid the harmful behaviors that caused this mess.

I would never want to feel the way the last character in the slideshow feels. It must be so terrible. I have a family and I never want to feel the way he does. It breaks my heart.

We need to be responsible and prudent to fix our economy. Quickly too. We will come out of this stronger and more viable than ever before.

A Nation's Challenge and "Seabiscuits"

rabbifink — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:07:21 +0000

Today was closing day at Santa Anita Park. That means the season of horse racing has come to a close at Santa Anita Park and I was there.

Today, we took the boys to see the ponies run.

Previously, we lived in Baltimore MD, home of The Preakness at Pimlico Race Track. The Preakness is one leg in the Triple Crown. In fact we lived right around the corner from Pimlico and we always thought about going to the track for a day at the races. For some reason, we never actually made the 2 minute trip to Pimlico and never saw a race in person.

Today we drove 35 minutes to Santa Anita Park and we experienced our first day at the races. It was amazing. I learned a lot about a lot of things.

First of all, I saw a dad with his 3 sons, ranging from the ages of 9-14. Incredibly, he was teaching them how to bet on the races.Is this considered normal? Are pre-teens supposed to be betting on horse races? Needless to say, this was disturbing to me.

Second, I have known about Santa Anita for some time now. One of the most poignant films that I have ever seen is Seabiscuit. The story is simply about a horse, its owner, trainer and jockey. The spirits of these characters has been broken. The horse wins race after unlikely race lifting the spirits of its team and the ultimately the entire nation. As the United States tries to extricate itself from the Great Depression the horse represents their struggle. The story is powerful, the cinematography is beautiful and the point is made subtly.

A key part of the film occurs at Santa Anita Park. Santa Anita has a statue of Seabiscuit as well as a small Seabiscuit museum. So, ever since seeing the film I have wanted to visit Santa Anita. Today I saw Santa Anita.

It is beautiful in Pasadena and Santa Anita did not disappoint in that regard. The races were not terribly exciting, especially because I did not place any bets. What I loved was the pageantry. The trumpets, men in suits, shiny jockey uniforms and play-by-play in the “Queens’s English” all made the atmosphere unique.

Due to the Seabiscuit connection, I remembered the film and its message. The Nation was recovering in 1937 and a National sports hero sparked the hearts of the people. It happened again in history in 1980. The “Miracle in Ice” captured the imagination of the country as a ragged group of young men defeated the seasoned, clinical, (evil) USSR Soviet National Hockey Team in the 1980 Winter Olympics Medal Round. The surprising victory launched (you must watch that clip) Al Michaels‘s career and inspired a nation to rebound from a tough decade (the 70′s).

Then I read about the Hungarian Seabiscuit in the NY Times. In Hungary, the country is recovering from economic turmoil and they’ve given their hearts to a horse. An undefeated horse that is inspiring their nation.

We need a mascot. America is ready to recover, to rebuild, to rethink its priorities (as I have mentioned previously), I think we just need something inspiring to get the juices flowing.

Will we need to wait for the 2010 Winter Games? Will America’s National Pastime provide a true hero?

All of this, from a short outing at Santa Anita Park…

Comments On America's Standard of Living

rabbifink — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 17:53:46 +0000

Today I read about the declining standard of living in our country. Salaries are coming down, more and more people are getting laid off and credit is harder to find.

“Rampant consumerism” will be a necessary casualty of the current economy. That is a good thing. We need to curb our spending as a country and reinvest in our future.

What really opened my eyes were some of the comments.

Here is the first comment:

Sensible enough. America has had a decidedly different approach to spending than Europeans / Asians etc. and it cannot be bad for us to learn from them.

Next comment:This one is a little disturbing. It says “I don’t mind if my children and grandchildren need to sacrifice, but I am not willing to sacrifice for them”. This is exactly what got us in this mess. Mortgaging the future for the present was the root of this entire economic mess. America became a superpower because of the willingness of its citizens to work hard and sacrifice for their children and grandchildren. Now, there is a sense of entitlement which has taken hold of our country. People just want their lives to be comfortable and they don’t care what happens next. We need a shift in attitude to turn the economy around and this is a great place to start. You can read more of my thoughts on this idea here.

Last comment:This one is just disturbing. People are so desperate for meat that they are eating roadkill? If you need any motivation to try and help us turn this country around just think about this comment.

Change is hard but that is what makes it worth it.

Time Marches On

rabbifink — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 07:10:48 +0000

This article hit me in a very interesting way today.

I am not that old. I am 27 years young. I slowly began to notice becoming older when certain milestones occurred. First, I noticed athletes whom I can remember their debuts, retiring. I am not talking about those athletes who are only around for a year or two. I am talking about those guys who have loooooong careers and are part of the very fabric of the game for a generation. Mike Mussina is an example. I am a closet Baltimore Orioles fan (embarrassing, I know) and when Mussina debuted it was a very exciting time for the O’s. I then watched Mussina make his final farewell 17 years later. That was pretty scary. A long baseball career that I saw from start to finish was a defining moment in my life.

Second, one day I realized that I could remember when my father was my age. It was when I was 25. I remember being 5 years old. And I remember what my father was like when I was 5 years old. That was the first time that I could remember my father when my father was my age. Crazy! When you are too young to remember your father being your age, the thought never occurs to you. Then when you are 40 it is no big deal to remember your father at 40. The first time it happens – you notice!

It happened again today. I remember seeing the first Saturn commercials in 1990. “A different kind of company, a different kind of car” was the tagline. I saw the company succeed and now I am seeing the end of Saturn. GM is phasing out the brand. It’s not that I care passionately about Saturn. It is just kind of weird when you can remember the entire lifetime of a product. I am not old enough t0 remember the rise and fall of Pontiac. Pontiac began in 1932!

I doubt that anybody saw the rise and fall of Bear Stearns. That company was around for 85 years! The current economy has taken down some historic companies. The interesting thing is I can actually see the entire life of some of those casualties.

Time marches on. Our job is to march along with it…

Tough Times for Private Schools and Yeshivas

rabbifink — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:27:31 +0000

My father is the Dean of a Jewish girls private school in New York. It is a girls Yeshiva called Ateres Bais Yaakov. The government provides no funding to run the school however there is grant money as well as some other federal and state programs which contribute to the school’s bottom line. The bulk of the budget is set off by tuition and donations. Last week my father told me about the recent economic situation’s effect on his school.

It has been on my mind since then. Today the Wall Street Journal has an article detailing the current pinch for private schools and their parents.

In the observant Jewish community nearly every single child is enrolled in private school (Yeshiva). This pinch is being felt more and more in our community. Tuition is a lot of money and when times are tough tuition takes a back seat. This in turn has an unsettling effect on the schools.

Times are tough for everyone. When times are tough there is less money for the non-profits, charities, synagogues and private education institutions. We need to be more careful with how our charity monies are allotted. There is a specific order by which the Torah teaches us to give tzedakah (charity). We are told that our primary obligation is to our close relatives. The next level of obligation is to Torah Scholars and the institutions that teach Torah. Yeshivas is certainly in this category. After this we look to further relatives, residents of your city and then residents of Jerusalem and then the rest of Israel. Then and only then are we to give for communal needs.

Unfortunately for most people who do have the funds to give charity they don’t follow these Halachic guidelines. People like to give to cool and exotic charities before they give to their Yeshivas. Sometimes at the expense of taking a cut in tuition so that they can give charity to places that are lower on the Tzedaka totem pole. This is wrong. Our Torah institutions are the basis of our entire community. These institutions cannot make it without our donations. We cannot forgo them and give charity to other projects so long as they are suffering.

Please remember the halachic precedence for charity giving and help our local Torah institutions navigate these difficult waters of our troubled economic times. You will be fulfilling the mitzva of Tzedaka in its proper function.

I cannot criticize the Jewish people for their incredible philanthropy and history of charity giving. Actions speak louder than any words. Tzedaka is a basic tenet of Judaism and is observed by almost all Jews regardless of level of observance. I am constantly amazed at the sheer number of public service and kindness organizations within the Jewish community that survive on charity alone. We all give charity. But we all want to do it right. Right?