Bringing faith into contempt
By his own admission, Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff is a crook. But that isn't the worst that can be said about him.
He defrauded his clients of millions of dollars, bribed public officials, cheated on his tax returns, and deceived lenders to qualify for a loan. But that isn't the worst that can be said about him, either.
He made himself at home in and contributed to the swamp of corruption that fills Washington with its stench. His e-mails to cronies, with messages like ''Can you smell money?!?!?!" and ''I'd love us to get our mitts on that moolah!!" oozed greed and boorishness. Behind their backs, he crudely mocked those who hired him, calling them ''morons," ''monkeys," ''troglodytes," and ''the stupidest idiots in the land." He played fast and loose with what were supposed to be charitable funds. But not even that is the worst that can be said about him.
The worst is that Abramoff is a Jew. Not only a Jew, but an Orthodox Jew -- someone who claims to be committed to strictly observing Jewish law and faithfully adhering to the Torah's ethical standards. But instead of upholding those ethical standards Abramoff trampled on them, and a ''religious" Jew who behaves so corruptly disgraces not only himself but all religious Jews. He brings his faith into contempt. He is guilty of what Jewish tradition calls, with disgust, ''chillul ha-Shem" -- a desecration of God's name.