Evil Inclination

Dear Friends,

This week the headlines were ablaze with two very different scandals. The first, the sexual harassment scandal of presidential candidate ofHerman Cain. The second and more disturbing, the scandal at Penn State surrounding former Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky that has toppled legendary coach, Joe Paterno, and accomplished university president, Graham Spanier. The actions of the two perpetrators, Mr.Cain and Mr. Sandusky, cannot really be compared. Herman Cain’s behavior was sleazy and wrong. Sexual harassment is a terrible thing and should never be allowed or condoned. The child abuse and pedophilia of Jerry Sandusky, on the other hand, is so thoroughly depraved that one cannot think about it without getting nauseous.

Despite these differences, the behavior of the two men do have a couple of things in common that point us to similar lessons. The Talmud teaches, “The greater the man, the greater his evil inclination.” (Tractate Sukkah 52a) That is, as a person’s prominence, power or wealth grows so does their temptation and tendency to engage in acts that are inappropriate or worse. Power, fame and fortune multiply one’s opportunities to take advantage of and harm others. At the same time, they can also distort a person’s ego giving him or her a sense of entitlement or feeling of invincibility. Moreover, there is a connection between sexuality and power, sexuality and charisma, fame and fortune, that can drive those with it to do things that are deeply troubling.

Cain and Sandusky were in many ways “great” men. Sandusky was a brilliant defensive coach; some thought he was the genius behind a lot of Coach Paterno’s success at Penn State. He was a huge figure in State College, a small town, where he was treated, in many ways, like royalty. Herman Cain was a great entrepreneur and budding political star. His charisma helped him outshine many of his opponents and drew many followers. I know I need not remind you of a recent President of the United States who had similar qualities and was also unable to control his libido, engaging in sexual harassment and worse. For the record, I believed at the time of President Clinton’s scandal that he should have resigned and I believe now that Herman Cain should end his candidacy. Their behavior was shameless and people who commit such acts, who use their power to take sexual advantage of others, should not be allowed in positions of power. As far as Sandusky is concerned, they should lock him up and throw away the key. He is beyond the pale.

Also troubling is the behavior of those who witnessed or were aware of these acts. Sports fans, like myself, who have followed the Penn State story carefully cannot understand why Joe Paterno and President Spanier did not act clearly and forcefully to stop the sexual predator and child molester in their midst. They have rightly been dismissed from their positions. In the case of Herman Cain, it is those who were harassed by him who were also the witnesses to those acts. By keeping quiet for all these years, by accepting settlements from the National Restaurant Association, “hush money” in exchange for keeping quiet, they, too, are complicit in allowing Mr. Cain to continue his behavior with others. The Talmud teaches us that those who witness a person committing a sin are obligated to take action to try to stop them. If they have the ability to stop the perpetrator and they do not then, our tradition teaches, the sin belongs to the witness as well. Paterno may not be legally guilty of a crime under American law but morally he committed a grave offense.

“Who is mighty? One who controls his evil inclination,” Pirkei Avot teaches us. For a Jew, true power lies in one’s ability to control one’s destructive urges, whether one is “great” or ordinary. True greatness lies in the extent to which one lives a righteous life, including one’s willingness to stop those who lack such control from harming others.

Shabbat Shalom,
Jordan