If you bribe a tzaddik, was he ever a tzaddik? (Parshat Shoftim)

Parshat Shoftim urges the Jews to designate honest judges and to abjure bribery:

לֹא־תַטֶּ֣ה מִשְׁפָּ֔ט לֹ֥א תַכִּ֖יר פָּנִ֑ים וְלֹא־תִקַּ֣ח שֹׁ֔חַד כִּ֣י הַשֹּׁ֗חַד יְעַוֵּר֙ עֵינֵ֣י חֲכָמִ֔ים וִֽיסַלֵּ֖ף דִּבְרֵ֥י צַדִּיקִֽם׃

You shall not judge unfairly: you shall show no partiality; you shall not take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distorts the word of the righteous.. (Devarim/Deuteonomy 16:19)

Evidently the Torah is making a distinction between the wise (חכם) and the righteous (צדיק), making it clear that one can be wise without necessarily being righteous and vice versa. Specifically, that righteousness is not necessary, and certainly not sufficient, to qualify one to be a judge.

But the real question is why the Torah added the second part of this verse. Yes, we understand that even a wise judge is corrupted by bribery.  But what connection does this have with צדיקים .  And in what context is a tzaddik bribed altogether?

I would like to suggest the following:

A wise judge who is bribed in a particular case becomes blind for that particular case only. In other words, his having been corrupted in case A does not necessarily mean his judgment will be impaired when adjudicating case B in which he was not bribed. After all, in litigating torts, all a judge has to do is determine the facts and consult the statutes.

The Torah then goes on to tell us that when a righteous person (צדיק) accepts money from donors who expect recognition of some sort for their largesse, his words become twisted forever.

Nothing he says subsequently on any subject can ever again be trusted.

We see this all the time – the way roshei yeshiva and  hasidic rebbes accept money, ostensibly for their institutions and for the sake of increasing Torah in the world. Even assuming these rabbis have the noblest of intentions, that they do not personally benefit in a material way, and that they are not in quest of self-aggrandizement through the enhanced prominence and grandeur of their institutions – the very moment a donor expects some sort of honor and recognition in return for his philanthropy the rabbi becomes fundamentally corrupt and his words are forever distorted.

One has to merely observe the behavior of so many ‘gedolim’, rabbinic luminaries; when the ‘gvir’ come around. Suddenly the tzaddik’s schedule is wide open; the moneyman cuts to the head of the line; the paeans of ‘chanifa’ (sucking up) that spill forth from the rabbi’s mouth lend new meaning the term “purple prose.”

It doesn’t stop there. The sheker (dishonesty) that flows like honey from the rabbi’s lips is outdone only by the degree to which the rabbi will go to bat for the donor – be it by sending amicus curiae letters to the court when he is indicted, loosening the rules of admission or conduct for the donor’s son, or hooking the donor up with other tycoons for cozy business deals.

Two years ago, one of the major hasidic rebbes here in Israel, decided he needed a new stadium. After all, what rebbe worthy of his title doesn’t have a stadium of bleachers in which he can hold forth to his hasidim? Ad this was not some bush league rebbe, no he was major league all the way.

The money was raised almost instantly. A hasidic tycoon in New York  was delighted to cough up the $2million needed to build this extravaganza

Before the ground for this arena was even broken, the hasid-philanthropist was arrested and indicted for embezzling the healthcare fund of his, mostly Black and Latino, employees.

One would think the rebbe would have immediately sent the money back.  After all everyone – even a Hasidic rebbe – knows that מצוה הבאה בעבירה   a mitzvah made possible by a transgression is no mitzvah. And one can hardly call a miniature Yankee stadium in which hasidim jump up and down a mitzvah.

However our rebbe had a better idea.  He issued a call for his followers around the world to observe a day of tefilos and tachnunim, of prayers and supplications, so that this noble philanthropist would prevail in his trial.  The number of amicus curiae letters that landed on the judge’s desk could fill a library – mountains of praise for this righteous paragon of generosity who, accidentally and without awareness, got entrapped into a single act of malfeasance.

To no avail. The heavenly gates were closed. The pleas and prayers rejected. Justice was served, and the donor was sent to the hoosegow for an extended, but not extended enough, period.

Was our rebbe ashamed? Was he contrite?  Did he make an effort to reach out to the hundreds of minimum wage employees who could not get the medical care they had paid form?  Did even a single hasid question the propriety of the rebbe’s dealings and the acceptability of using the new arena?  Of course not.  Instead the vaunted rebbe, spiritual leader to thousands of diehard acolytes, a tzaddik respected here in Israel in far wider circles than his home base of Bnei Brak, decided it was time for a real Kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of the Lord’s name.  He packed his gartel (sash) and his tallis and tefillin and flew off  to America – first class of course – to visit Reb Generous in prison in order to give him divrei chizuk, words of encouragement to remain steadfast during his yisurim (agnony).

So what is the moral of the story? The answer is there is none. This is business as usual. This is the way it’s done. Were the words of the tzadddik distorted? Was he a tzaddik to begin with?  Are there any rabbonim or rebbes in the community who would have acted differently than this rebbe? Is the religious public so inured to fiscal hanky panky that they are incapable of even of seeing that something is very wrong with this picture? Or is it just business as usual, and an example of how business should be conducted, one that will surely be emulated by thousands, all with a clear conscience.

Indeed, מסלף דברי צדיקים – bribery distorts the words of the righteous, and nothing they say can any longer has any veracity.