It always starts with a gray area. Something one can rationalize as sort of OK, but perhaps not 100% kosher. Once that blurred ethical boundary is crossed, however, it can lead to a slippery slope of deception, evasion and crime.
No person or community is immune to the risk of the gray area. That’s why Project 432, an effort by the Aleph Institute, was created to educate our communities on the importance of fiscal responsibility and legal awareness and to promote Torah’s perspective on financial ethics.
The Compass Workshop, Project 432’s program designed for yeshiva and high school students, is a one-hour multimedia presentation that draws from lessons in the Torah and Aleph’s firsthand experience to teach yeshiva students about the halachic, moral and practical imperatives to handle finances in a way that is “l’fnim meshuras hadin.”
Now, two years after launching, Project 432 has announced that the Compass Workshop has reached more than 40 yeshivot across the United States, including Ner Israel Rabbinical College in Baltimore to the Mesivta of Greater Los Angeles, as well as Jewish schools in Canada and Israel. More than 1,850 students and young adults, ages 16 to 23, have gained crucial clarity and perspective on the subject.
“Our Compass Workshop is an effort to ensure that young men adopt a healthy attitude to financial decision-making before they are faced with any ethical challenge,” says Rabbi Levi Landa, director of Project 432. “By shaping attitudes towards livelihood, society and the legal system during these formative years in yeshivah, we can address blind spots and rationalizations before they crop up. The feedback has been incredible. We are hearing from students, staff and parents how deeply they appreciate that we are bringing this discussion to the forefront.”
To expand the workshop’s reach, Project 432 has onboarded a number of volunteer presenters to bring the workshop to their respective communities. Rabbi Yaakov Goldstein, an experienced CPA based in Baltimore, joined the team and has been instrumental in bringing the program to a number of yeshivot. “This area of Torah law and finances has always been close to my heart,” he shares. “This is an exciting opportunity to inspire the next generation of Klal Yisrael to be committed to ethical business practice.”
After the Compass Workshop was presented in Yeshiva of Greater Washington by Goldstein, the rosh yeshivah, HaRav Ahron Lopiansky, wrote a letter explaining why he thought the program was so unique and necessary: “Although boys in yeshivah spend so much time learning sugyos of mamanos [topics about money], to so many boys, the gap between the theory and the practical remains huge. They have a hard time connecting the dots, and unfortunately, at some point, they may ch”v [chas v’sholom, god forbid] not act in accordance with Torah values. Your program is clear, engaging and practical. May Hakadosh Baruch Hu help that you are matzliach to fill in that l’maaseh gap, for everyone’s benefit!”
As one student present at a workshop in Lakewood, N.J., said, “It opened my eyes. One message that really stood out is that by breaking the law, you’re not only affecting yourself, you’re also affecting your future self, your future generations, your family and your friends. That lesson will definitely stay with me.”
For this academic year, Project 432 aims to scale the Compass Workshop across the United States by onboarding even more volunteer presenters. Different versions of the workshops catering to girls’ schools as well as kollels are also currently in the works.
“We realized it was time to turn hindsight into foresight,” says Rabbi Aaron Lipskar, CEO of the Aleph Institute. “At Aleph, we work every day with families who have been shattered by the criminal justice system. It’s painful to contemplate that so much suffering was avoidable—resulting from a few bad decisions. Our goal is to give this generation the tools to live with honesty, integrity, and peace of mind.”
To bring the workshop to your school or community, email Rabbi Landa: at levilanda@aleph-institute.org. Learn more at www.p432.org and www.aleph-institute.org.
