It was just a few months back that I penned a letter on YWN warning people of a growing laundry list of financial schemes and scams that have plagued our communities in recent times. From outright thieves to dopey businessmen and their pie-in-the-sky projections, tens of millions of hard-earned dollars have been wiped from the bank accounts of our community members’ bank accounts. In that original letter, I begged everyone to be mindful of what they were getting into when entering a business deal. Far too many people were ready to hand over their money for the impossible promise of sky-high returns, only to predictably be left emptyhanded – and sometimes destitute – when the deal originator turned out to be a grifter. I hoped that my letter my open some people’s eyes, but alas, it was simply not meant to be. In recent days, I have been made aware of two Ponzi schemes to the tune of $20,000,000 each that have taken place in Brooklyn and the 5 Towns. And in Lakewood, and additional disaster appears to be unfolding, with investors losing many millions more. I am truly flabbergasted at what is occurring. I understand if you want to dream big, and I know that we have this concept that open and innovative thinking could bring about spectacular wealth. But can we have a little seichel? Why are we okay with being so openminded that our brains fall out? The answer, I believe, delves into a far broader issue, in which our communities have become beholden to materialism and the crushing pressure people feel to be viewed as successes. But that’s for a different time. For now, my primary concern is: how have we drifted so far from common sense? התורה חסה על ממונם של ישראל is referring to your money too! After my first letter, which I now see was published seven months ago, YWN said that they received lots of hate mail. Some readers were incensed that it was willing to “air the dirty laundry.” Well, now that there are three more of these schemes going down, are you still upset? We have community members losing their pants, and you’re worried about perceptions? But even worse, nobody took the warning to heart. After my letter, multiple Jewish magazines and newspapers ran features about the crisis of people going headfirst into ill-advised investments. Yet despite the deluge of warnings and urgings for people to be more careful, many people have apparently not learned their lesson. If we want to solve this, it has to come from the top. By that, I mean rabbanim have to be more involved in the finances of their kehilla members. That doesn’t mean the rabbanim should actually be sifting through their bank transactions, but they should be exhorting them to be vigilant. Secondly, we are in desperate need of an organization that can provide free reviews for potential investors, where people can bring this organization – filled with financial professionals – the numbers they were given by the deal leader, and they can then warn the investors of potential pitfalls. We have organizations for relatively small things, like helping get on a government program that save families several hundred or several thousand dollars; shouldn’t we have an organization that would undoubtedly save people from […]