Behrman House Blog

When Jewish Values Collide

Recently, the New York Times and the Washington Post reported the final outcome of a sad story that embarrassed the Jewish community. Rabbi Menachem Youlus, a sofer and Jewish bookstore owner in Silver Spring, MD, pleaded guilty to mail and wire fraud in a scheme to steal money from Save a Torah, a non-profit organization he had helped to create.

As the former editor of BabagaNewz magazine, I had published two stories about the courageous exploits of Rabbi Youlus, which now have been exposed as lies. Youlus had described himself as the Jewish Indiana Jones, a fearless rabbi who searched for sifrei Torah that the Nazis had defaced. According to his accounts, he rescued many sacred scrolls, restored them, and sold them to congregations.

When Youlus’s fraud became known, the Behrman House staff discussed what we should do; after all, the articles about the rabbi were still available on our website.

As we considered our options, we realized that two important Jewish values were present: Emet (truth) and Chillul Hashem (desecrating God’s name and bringing dishonor to the Jewish community).

We discussed:

1. Do we have an obligation to correct the story BabagaNewz had printed earlier? [Emet]

2. By telling the truth, would we be publicizing behavior that reflected negatively on the Jewish community? [Chillul Hashem ]

3. If we reported the story, would we be harming young Jews’ opinions of rabbis and others in positions of communal authority?

4. Do we have an obligation to help our young readers process the story, which they might already have heard on the news?

Our editorial debate was rigorous and the staff was split. When we are confronted with tough ethical issues, we often turn for advice to people we trust; we did so in this matter. We consulted two rabbis who have regularly commented on controversial material that we’re considering for publication. One rabbi recused himself from offering an opinion because he had a relationship with Rabbi Youlus. The other rabbi, Michael Broyde, who teaches law at Emory University, felt we had an obligation to print the story, explaining, “There is no significant chillul hashem in sharing information that is widely known already and it is a chance to address practical ethical conduct.”

You'll find our coverage here.

Did we respond correctly? I look forward to your comments.

9

Comments

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Ron Muroff picture

As the rabbi of a congregation that hosted Menachem Youlis and his Save-A-Torah program, that we now know was fabricated, I totally support your decision to write something in BabagaNewz about his conviction. Framing your decision as a struggle between emet and chilul Hashem is helpful. Certainly, none of us should be cavalier about sharing stories about the failures of leaders and others. Yet, the truth must be told.

In addition to your thoughtful reasons for sharing this matter with your readers, I would add that it is important for young people to learn that sometimes those in positions of authority do commit sins and crimes and that if ever they see or experience anything that concerns them about such people they should tell their parents or other adults whom they trust. And when a person - younger or older alike - has the courage to express a concern about a rabbi or cantor or educator or synagogue president or anyone, the institution - synagogue, school, camp et al - and in some cases, the professional organization - has a responsibility to investigate the matter thoughtfully, deliberately and completely and when mandated or appropriate refer the matter to police. Too often concerns about chillul Hashem end up protecting those who continue to take advantage of and betray those who place their trust in them.

Thank you, Behrman House, for enabling this sad and tragic story to become a teachable moment for children and parents, educators and all of us to explore how we can make our Jewish community safer and live up to the Jewish values we strive to teach in our classrooms and homes.

David Behrman - student picture

I am thoroughly proud of the way my colleagues at Behrman House handled this. It takes courage to discuss news of which we might not be proud. And yet, sometimes it's necessary in order to learn, and in order to teach our children. Far from harming anyone's opinions of rabbis and others in positions of authority, I think it reinforces the value of truth-telling, and of accountability, and stresses the fact that those in positions of authority and respect are not immune from standards of good conduct.