Doing The Right Thing,Elliot Resnick and Eli Chomsky, <i>Jewish Press Staff Reporters</i>

With chapter titles like "Whistleblowing" and "The Mean Boss," Dr. Aaron Levine's latest book, Moral Issues of the Marketplace in Jewish Law, is sure to provide a moral respite in this age of the Enron, WorldCom and Martha Stewart scandals.

An economics professor at Yeshiva University, Levine (who is also the rabbi of the Young Israel of Avenue J) has authored four previous books on Torah and economics, a topic which has long fascinated him. A member of the World Jewish Academy of Science, Levine was also the respondent to Nobel laureate Milton Friedman in a symposium on the morality of the financial markets.

The Jewish Press recently spoke with Dr. Levine about his book.

The Jewish Press: Can you provide an example of an issue that halacha would treat differently than secular business ethics?

Dr. Levine: Negative comparative advertising. I use the example of an Orajel ad in Parent magazine. The ad says, "One minute after Orajel" and shows this beautiful smiling baby, and then says, "One half hour after Tylenol" and shows a screeching baby. The ad asks, "Which one do you want for your baby?"

In secular business ethics, this ad is okay. In halacha, though, there's about 10 things terribly wrong with it. The ad creates a false impression because Orajel is fast acting but not long lasting. If you give a baby Orajel, the teething pain stops right away but then starts again in five minutes. If you give the baby Tylenol, it will take long to kick in, but it's long lasting. People don't know that. I asked my daughter, a Harvard-trained pediatrician, which one is better. She said, "Give the baby both!"

Do you think that many Jews ignore the topics you discuss in the book?

Not at all. People want to do the right thing. I've been teaching for 35 years at Yeshiva University and the students are very serious about these matters. I don't think I have a unique set of students.

Do you think that people have an innate sense of fairness?

I like to tell the story about a capuchin monkey experiment at Emory University. The experimenters placed two capuchin monkeys in a cage. One we'll call Abigail and the other we'll call Isabel. They trained Abigail to exchange a granite token for a cucumber slice. You give me the granite token, I'll give you a cucumber slice. Then they went to Isabel and trained her. You give me the granite token and I'll give you a grape, which is a much more attractive award.

When the experimenters went back to Abigail and gave her a cucumber slice for the token, Abigail went into a tantrum. "I'm doing the exact same task and you want me to accept a cucumber slice while my colleague here is getting a grape?" So even capuchin monkeys have a sense of fairness.

But the interesting thing is that when the experimenters went back to Isabel and gave her a grape in exchange for the granite token, Isabel didn't go into a tantrum. It didn't bother her at all that the other one was treated very unfairly, as long as "I'm getting my grape." So selfishness and greed sometimes color people's sense of what is fair.

Can you tell us something about the chapter on whistleblowing?

The Chofetz Chaim gives about 13 different conditions that you have to fulfill before it is legitimate to blow the whistle. And one of the most important things is that you must have a toeles. That means, there has to be a benefit. If the person can't show that what he's saying is valid, then it's just words that will result in no benefit for anyone.

An Orthodox Jew in a position of authority can mitigate lashon hara and motzi shem ra [speaking negatively or in a defamatory manner behind another person's back] in the workplace by changing the organizational structure and giving people a venting mechanism where they can voice complaints and have an airing. This is really something that is doable and would provide people with a much more satisfying work environment.

Some Jews seem to think that it is okay to steal from a non-Jew. What is your response?

The Chacham Tzvi has a diatribe against that. He says [based on reasoning derived from the Talmud] that stealing is prohibited because it debilitates the character and sullies the soul. Therefore, it makes no difference whether the victim is a Jew or a non-Jew.

He says it's worse if you steal from a non-Jew because not only will he be aggravated, but he'll curse our religion. So on top of the prohibition of stealing, you're also causing a chillul Hashem.

What do you hope your book will accomplish?

Anticipatory thinking. That's one of my favorite themes. That you really can't rely on yourself to think quickly on your feet when something hits you. You have to read and study about something in advance so that you're sensitized to it and can take action.

What is the next topic that you're tackling?

Age discrimination - how halacha deals with it, compared to secular society. I'm very interested in that. I'm reaching that age, you know.

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