“By us Jews,” said Rav Weinberger, “finance is no less of a religious area than prayer”
Hundreds of attendees packed the Westin hotel in Chicago last week for the H3 Business Halacha Summit hosted by the Agudath Israel of Illinois. In session after session, rabbanim and leading balabatim shared insights with the participating businessmen on halachah and hashkafah topics relevant to their various industries. Addressing the crowd at the opening lunch, Rav Yisroel Reisman, rosh yeshivah of Torah Vodaath, recounted a story that set the tone for the event.
The Seridei Eish, Rav Yechiel Yaakov Weinberg, was once approached by a non-Jewish professor, who complained that the Jewish religion wasn’t a logical one. As evidence, he brought up the point that if two Jews were involved in a financial dispute and the great Kaiser Wilhelm came to offer testimony, a beis din wouldn’t recognize it. Yet, continued the professor, if a simple, poor Jew were to come in and offer the same exact testimony, the dayanim would accept it. How, the professor challenged, does that make sense?
Rather than answer the question directly, Rav Weinberg seemingly strengthened the claim by adding that not only would Kaiser Wilhelm’s testimony not be accepted in a beis din, but that also if there were nine Jews waiting to pray, the Kaiser wouldn’t be able to complete the minyan while a 13-year-old boy could.
“Well,” said Rav Weinberger’s challenger, “that I can understand — prayer is a religious obligation, and as such, only religious people would be able to be take part.”
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