Passing the final exam

Transparency and accountability are the buzzwords for 21st century corporate governance. No doubt all upright, honourable people welcome every effort to stop corruption and dishonesty in whatever sphere of society – corporate, government, or personal. But is this really a new phenomenon?

This week, at the very end of the Book of Exodus, we will be reading that way back in the days of Moses, a transparent and detailed accounting audit was conducted over the donations made by the Israelites towards the building of the sanctuary and its sacred vessels. The contributions of gold, silver, and copper were all weighed out and totalled so that no one could cast any aspersions on the integrity of Moshe and his team.

Ethics of the Fathers reminds us to consider that one day, we will all face ultimate accountability. Each of us will stand before the heavenly tribunal to give a din v’cheshbon, a “full justification and an accounting” for the way we lived our lives.

It’s fascinating to note that somehow, the Talmud (Shabbos, 31a) was able to get wind of the actual questions we will be asked by that supernal tribunal. Do you know what the very first question is going to be? Surprise! It’s not, ‘Did you believe in G-d, fast on Yom Kippur, or join a Pesach seder’. Believe it or not, the first question in this final exam of exams is, “Did you deal faithfully in business?” Not how religious you were, but whether you conducted your business affairs with integrity. Were you honest and fair?

The second question, however, does go to the heart of our Jewishness. “Did you set aside fixed time for Torah study?” Familiarising oneself with Torah and becoming a knowledgeable Jew is the key that opens the doors to everything else in Jewish life.

Is it not an anomaly that many of our most brilliant legal minds – attorneys, advocates, and judges – may have never opened a single page of the Talmud, Judaism’s classic encyclopaedia of law? Or that some of our finest doctors may be completely unfamiliar with the medical writings of Maimonides, the great 12th century physician and scholar? Or that our brightest business magnates remain Jewishly ignorant, even illiterate?

When it comes to crossing a red light, ignorance of the law is no excuse. No traffic cop will buy the story that the driver didn’t know it was illegal. In our day and age, with so many new opportunities for Torah study available, Jewish ignorance just doesn’t wash. If the Talmud was once a closed book, today it’s available in English, and there are teachers to go with it too. Opportunities for Jewish studies abound in every community. And on Zoom, from the comfort of your own lounge! You can even find yourself a virtual rabbi!

Let’s hope that when they pull us over to ask us a few questions, we’ll all be able to answer in the affirmative.