When we start the Hebrew month of Adar, which began with Rosh Chodesh last Tuesday and Wednesday, we are commanded .Mishenechnas Adar. Marbim B.simchah. . .Once Adar begins we expand our joy.. I could never understand how one can be ordered to be joyous. After all, shouldn.t joy be spontaneous? This year though, I understand. As Americans, we are living through glum economic times. As Jews we have lived through painful and embarrassing headlines. I understand that Bernard Madoff masks for Purim are sold out. So in glum times, it is helpful that our Jewish calendar orders us to flip to the joyous side of life.
The Madoff scandal, requires an antidote. Matter of fact, it requires two antidotes. Madoff robbed individuals directly, and he robbed institutions which assist individuals. So two feel good stories from right now, in our Jewish community, as antidotes . one of a person who helped individuals, and the other of one who assisted an institution which helps individuals.
First, a Jewish man who generously assists individuals directly. His name is Leonard Abess from Miami. You heard President Obama refer to him in his Tuesday address to Congress and the Nation. A colleague of mine from Miami, Rabbi David Auerbach, filled me in as to who exactly is Leonard Abess.
Leonard Abess sold his bank . for nearly 1 billion dollars. It was privately held, no stock. His long term employees had no equity in the company. So he set aside 60 million dollars to reward his employees. Rabbi Auerbach's shul in Miami honored Leonard Abess at RH services one year the mentsch par excellence of the Miami Jewish Community.
Antidote number one . a fellow Jew who voluntarily assisted in a big way, individual lives.
Antidote number two, right from our back yard. An individual who assisted in a big way a Jewish institution that assists individuals in a big way. The person's name is Mack Ness who grew vegetables. I know you never heard of him, but none of us heard of Madoff either before a few months ago. So who is Mack Ness? He was a Jewish farmer and recluse. He lived privately . very privately . in Watchung, NJ. He died in his 90.s. Ness never married or had children, and he had virtually no connection to the local Jewish community in NJ.
A non-Jewish attorney took care of Ness's affairs. He never charged Ness for his work. You see, the lawyer had lived on the Ness farm as a student, but ran out of the money and couldn.t pay the rent. He was about to leave when Ness offered him a deal that lasted for over half a century. He told the young man that he could stay on the farm free of charge and continue with his studies with one stipulation. After he became a lawyer he would have to render his services to Ness free of charge. The student/lawyer took the offer.
As a recluse, Ness didn.t trust banks . smart guy . but he did have an account with Fidelity Investments.
When Ness was older and sick and didn.t have long to live, he inquired from Fidelity how much it would charge to transfer his funds to Israel. Fidelity answered 6%. Ness decided this was too expensive and he looked to the telephone directory for a Jewish organization. He chanced upon the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey . a neighbor of ours in Scotch Plains. He visited the Jewish Federation's office and its Director Stanley Stone. When Ness entered the reception area recalled Stone, his secretary called him and said a disheveled homeless man just entered the office. Stone told the secretary to have this homeless man meet with him in his office. Ness left more than 15 million dollars to the Federation, with two provisions . that the money go to Israel and that a memorial be established for himself, his mother and his brother. The result was what is called .The Ness Loan Fund for the Negev.. In Hebrew it is called .Keren Ness.. Maybe you know what that means in English. Keren means Cornucopia. Ness . his name means miracle. So serendipitously the Ness Fund . Keren Nes . means miracle Cornucopia.
And that's what the fund has been. More than 85 business loans have been dispersed in the Negev of Israel to people who are unable to get loans from a bank. Some of the ventures that have used the money have been so successful that they are repaying the loans to the fund ahead of time.
The business loan program was dedicated in the southern Israeli city of Arad. It attracts start up companies to Israeli's financially strapped and scarcely populated southern Negev region. The loans range form 10 thousand to 70 thousand dollars, with the average loan being 40 thousand dollars. The Federation committee chairman said that the Ness Business Loan Program brought to the southern Negev opportunities that .until know have only been a dream.. No wonder this obscure farmers name was Ness . .miracle.. He provided in concrete terms a miracle to the southern Negev area.
So two stories as antidotes to counteract the Madoffs of our Jewish world. The track that Mr. Ness took was the opposite of Madoff, in various ways. Madoff gained the trust of the community, and then exploited that trust to rob them. Ness was unknown in the Jewish community, first donated, and then left a name of great trust.
These two individuals, Leonard Abess and Mack Ness sound like the beginning of our Sidrah, Parshat Terumah, which says that .Kol Ish Asher Yidvenu Lebo. . .When a Hebrew donates to the sanctuary and his heart moves him.. We all know the term .Nedavah.. Nevadah means more than just a donation. The Hebrew term .Nidvat Lev. . .A gift from the heart. means generosity. The Hebrew term .Bindevah. means voluntarily and freely. So .Nedavah. is a donation which is not solicited or extracted from a donor, but like with Mr. Ness and Abess erupts spontaneously from within an individual.
Compare that to a comment in the Midrash on Pesachim. Rabbi Levi says: .There are three sorts of nuts . perek or soft shelled, middling, and stony ones. Perek . the first kind can be opened of themselves; the second type break if you knock them; the third are very hard to break. Even if you beat them on a stone and break them, nevertheless you gain no good. So it is with the people of Israel. There are those who give a .Nedavah. of themselves unasked; these are like the soft shelled nuts. There is another kind. If asked for tzedakah, give it at once. These are like the middling nuts. Finally, there are others from whom even if you press them any number of times, you get nothing..