Haredi Rabbi: It's Kosher To Cheat On Your Taxes

Rabbi Dovid Cohen is Ohel's halakhic advisor and served on the RCA's Vaad Haposkim. The RCA recently disbanded the Vaad HaPoskim to dump Cohen.

 

Rabbi Dovid Cohen

Ohel’s Halachic Adviser: OK To Cheat On Taxes?
Rabbi Dovid Cohen: RCA panel he served on was quietly disbanded last week.
New York Jewish Week Staff Report

The halachic adviser to Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services, which receives millions of dollars in state and federal money, told a Bergenfield, N.J., synagogue audience in 2007 that tax evasion is permissible under Jewish law as long as one doesn’t get caught, according to people in attendance.

The adviser, Rabbi Dovid Cohen, a Brooklyn-based, highly respected halachic expert who also serves as one of three rabbinic guides to Nefesh International, a network of Orthodox mental health professionals, is said to have made the comments about tax evasion during a Shabbat talk at Congregation Beth Abraham in Bergenfield in February 2007.

Now, more than two years later, the repercussions may be taking a toll on Rabbi Cohen and his reputation.

Several in attendance at the talk said that Rabbi Cohen gave an extended response to a question from the audience, asserting that tax evasion is permissible under Jewish law, as long as there is no realistic possibility of being caught, thus causing a chillul hashem, or desecration of God’s name.

The justification was based on the rabbi’s apparent belief that the reason the rabbis of the Talmud forbade stealing from a non-Jew was only out of fear of anti-Semitism.

Virtually every halachic source agrees that tax evasion, as well as theft from non-Jews, is categorically forbidden.

Rabbi Cohen allegedly told his audience that he was making his controversial remarks on Shabbat — he is also said to have asserted that, like the biblical Esau, non-Jews still hate Jews — knowing he was not being recorded, and that if subsequently questioned about his statement, he would deny it.

The rabbi told The Jewish Week on Monday that the statements attributed to him were "totally misunderstood" and that he "repudiated" them.

Based on letters obtained by The Jewish Week, it appears that at least seven people in attendance at the lecture wrote to or called the Rabbinical Council of America, the largest group of Orthodox rabbis, where Rabbi Cohen, though not a member of the RCA, served on its prestigious Va’ad HaPoskim, a group of halachic authorities. Some of the letter writers sought to have Rabbi Cohen removed from the panel; others simply attested to their having heard the rabbi make the remarks, which he denied to the RCA.

The RCA appointed a committee to look into the matter, and concluded that, based on Rabbi Cohen’s assurance that he opposes tax evasion and affirms treating non-Jews with full respect, the matter was closed.

But last week, without fanfare or notice, the RCA disbanded the Va’ad HaPoskim.

Some speculate that it may have come about in light of recent reports in the Jewish press regarding Ohel, with which Rabbi Cohen is affiliated. Others note that the RCA passed a resolution at its annual convention last month calling on congregations not to give honors to those who engage in unethical conduct.

"So how would it look if one of their halachic authorities is alleged to have approved of cheating on your taxes?" one source noted.

In response to a query from The Jewish Week, RCA Executive Director Rabbi Basil Herring explained that the Va’ad HaPoskim move was taken "to avoid confusion." He said that while individual members of that group will be consulted on halachic matters, as in the past, the RCA’s halachic decisions will continue to be made by its Va’ad Halacha, made up of RCA member rabbis.

But according to an RCA official, "the catalyst for the move was the Rabbi Cohen issue."

The official, like most others contacted for this report, asked not to be named out of concern about repercussions.

Asked in an e-mail whether it was appropriate for Rabbi Cohen to continue to serve as halachic adviser for the group, an Ohel spokesman did not respond.

Rabbi Cohen, an American-born graduate of Yeshiva Chaim Berlin, with a pulpit on Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn, has a longstanding reputation as one of the most respected and practical-minded authorities in the charedi community.

"He has taken courageous positions" on matters of domestic and sexual abuse, according to Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, the outgoing executive director of the Orthodox Union. Though some halachic experts are reticent, as is Ohel itself, Rabbi Cohen has encouraged victims in some cases to go to civil authorities, including the police.

Rabbi Abraham Twerski, a psychiatrist and fellow halachic adviser to Nefesh International, said Rabbi Cohen is one of the most "highly respected" rabbis and "one of the most flexible halachic experts" who is unafraid to take lenient positions.

Both rabbis expressed surprise at the controversial statements about tax evasion and non-Jews attributed to Rabbi Cohen.

But another leading rabbi, who described himself as a longtime friend and admirer in many ways of Rabbi Cohen, said that though he had not heard of the tax evasion statement before, he found it "consistent" with the rabbi’s views on non-Jews.

"The irony is he’s a big liberal in the haredi world," the rabbi said.

Others recalled that Rabbi Cohen is no stranger to controversy, and that at a Nefesh International conference in 2000, he suggested that women in abusive marriages stay in the marriage for the sake of their children. After much heated discussion, he apologized the next morning.

Rabbi Cohen's Pro-Tax Evasion Speech First Reported On Failed Messiah in February 2007.

[Hat Tip: The Other DK, Joel Katz, Dr. R-F.]

Comments

[David]

"The irony is he’s a big liberal in the haredi world."

Why does having disgraceful attitudes towards non-Jews make one a "liberal" or a "conservative" in the Haredi world?

What does halachic leniency, or a lack of it, have to do with being a racist?

How can it be the case that the more "strict" one's halachic rulings, the more one has reprehensible views of non-Jews?

[Honestly Frum]

I have been posting about this story for the last few months and the RCA finally did the right thing and disassociated themselves with this man. It is one thing to believe these crazy ideas it is another thing for a so called well respected rabbi to get up in public and make these outrageous comments. The RCA should be commended for doing the right thing and standing up for their principals.

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

Fans of Yochanan's parodies might enjoy
http://www.newsday.com/media/flash/2009-04/46217527.swf

[Shmarya]

I have been posting about this story for the last few months and the RCA finally did the right thing and disassociated themselves with this man. It is one thing to believe these crazy ideas it is another thing for a so called well respected rabbi to get up in public and make these outrageous comments. The RCA should be commended for doing the right thing and standing up for their principals.

I believe Basil Herring and other leaders of the RCA (and OU) knew about Cohen's remarks two years ago, along with other problematic things.

They left him in place until the RCA resolution was passed a couple months ago.

At that point, Herring had to worry that he and the RCA would be outed in the press.

That's when they quietly dumped Cohen.

I wouldn't say there is much to commend Basil Herring and RCA leadership for.

[Minneapolis Man]

I have had dealing with him he is a very unreasonable person.

[A. Nuran]

Whisky. Tango. Foxtrot.

Tax evasion. Conspiracy to commit. Convincing others to commit. Conspiracy to obstruct justice. Oh, dear Lord. The Tax Man - Federal, State and Local - are going to take a personal interest in him if he says things like that in public. When they do there is going to be a reckoning of dare-I-say Biblical proportions. He will find that being a rabbi with a long beard and a black hat means nothing when Uncle Sugar pays a call.

[phil]

The issue you are all missing here is what the hell is the RCA - a modern orthodox organisation - having one of its official poskim who is chareidi and presumably disagrees with the whole ethos of the RCA?

This is typical of the inferiority complex these MOs have. Pathetic. Get some spine Basil.

Phil

[Just a Goy]

' Tax evasion is permissible under Jewish law as long as one doesn’t get caught, according to people in attendance. ' - Rabbi Dovid Cohen '

Let the audits begin...

' Talmud forbade stealing from a non-Jew was only out of fear of anti-Semitism. '

Talk about reading between the lines... So the Talmud teaches - You can do just about anything to a goy, as long as you don't get caught... brilliant. What a shmendrik.

About as brilliant as Minister-without-Portfolio, Yossi Peled tabling a motion - Israel establish sanctions against the US, as proposed in a letter to cabinet ministers on Sunday, with regard to Obama's recent speech in Cairo.

[Ma. Rabbi]

Reply to just a goy
The Talmud says it is forbidden to steal from anyone Jew or Gentile and this is codified as the law in Shulchan Aruch. The question of avoiding taxes has nothing to do with stealing. Rather it is a question of "obeying the law of the land" which the Talmud rules we are required to do.

[Hometown Postville]

Rabbi Cohen speaks from both sides of his mouth- one side rebukes anti-semitism while the other perpetuates it.
"...rabbi’s apparent belief that the reason the rabbis of the Talmud forbade stealing from a non-Jew was only out of fear of anti-Semitism."
"...non-Jews still hate Jews — knowing he was not being recorded, and that if subsequently questioned about his statement, he would deny it."

[Just a Goy]

I understand, Ma. Rabbi. I just can't imagine his justification nor how he (nor others) managed to formulate such beliefs from the Talmud. His findings appear as pure racism.

As previously stated by HP, r Cohen does appear to speak from both sides of his mouth; perpetuating anti-Semitism.

What is it with man and greed...? When one justifies such actions theologically, it is unquestionably, the ultimate offense.

I know Christian's with similar beliefs; G-d's law is the ultimate law - Therefor I don't have to obey man's secular laws (this interpretation makes me nauseous). One can only imagine this rings true with all fundamentalists, including OJs... A true foundation of anarchy.

Do OJs see Israel as a theocracy, secular State, or both? And when people in Israel cheat on their taxes, what's the justification? Is it somehow theologically based, as well?

[Steven in UK]

To "Just a Goy. Ref Israel

As far as some "Heradi Jews are concerned, Isreal is just another secular State, like the USA or the UK, and do not feel bound by its laws.

Modern Orthodox Jews mostly reject these ideas.

[zweibel the skunk]

This man is a MASSIVE ROSHO. My wife made allegations of child abuse against me which were lies, investigated by the authorities and dismissed as unfounded based on his 'heter' to be oyver mesirah.

he also sent me a letter telling me that i was wWELCOME at my own son's Bris despite the fact that the b***h put an order of protection against me if i came to her parents house which was included in the court order. i was to be arrested if i appeared.

may he rot in hell, the chollol and mamzer boy.

[R]

Zweibel, you don't really make yourself sound like the innocent party here.
Just alot of foul language and bad mouthing because someone went to the real authorities instead of the Rabbis who do nothing.

[Michael Makovi]

Would anyone here believe that for the two years of my being a baal teshuva, the German/British Neo-Orthodox variety of Orthodoxy was the only one I knew? This variety is still the variety I follow, but now I've since learned how alone I am in the world.

[Michael Makovi]

In other words, it was two years before I learned,
1) Not everyone holds that aggadot are subjective umdena with whom anyone is free to disagree and reject;
2) Not everyone holds that the purpose of Judaism is a practical sociological tiqun olam;
3) Not everyone holds that university is de rigeur for the sake of the inherent benefit gained therein, aside from parnassah;
4) Not everyone paskens Meiri.

[Michael Makovi]

Though I did meet a rabbi this Shabbat, smiha from YU and a doctorate from Professor Menachem Kellner, who has named his son "David Tzvi", in honor of Rabbi Hoffman. The truth is not yet dead.

(Rabbi Marc Angel's Conversations magazine and Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals is a G-dsend as well. Rabbi Benzion Uziel's opinions fit quite well with Rav Hirsch. www.jewishideas.org)

In this fellow's home, I was looking at Professor Marc Shapiro's book about Rabbi Weinberg, specifically at the Hildsheimer class photo.

David Tzvi walked up, pointed to Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Berkovits's photo, and said, "Abba!". David Tzvi has good taste indeed.

[Clue]

Of course, Rabbi Cohen added an impossible condition; if you can guarantee you not get caught.

For all you tzadikim out there, who are all of a sudden authorities on Jewish law:

- Have you bought a suit out of state and then not paid the instate sales/use tax?

-Have you paid cash and received a discount?

-Have you declared your gambling winnings?

-Have you exaggerated your charitable contributions?

[PARSHANDATA]

rabbi cohen,shame on you.what about "dina demalchusa dina".what about "al titvada lareshus"-pay taxes,so you shouldnt be known to the govenments,and you chamor ben shchem,you twist the written from pirkei avos? and they call you a poysek?who were the idiots that gave you the title of poysek!ochen vey to those idiots,and shame on you for saying it,and then you stupid idiots do wonder how come the non jews hate jews so much???