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Statement of Integrity
To our great sadness, recent criminal convictions and ongoing prosecutions of individuals associating with or representing various Orthodox Jewish institutions (fortunately, none of them in Ottawa) have raised questions regarding core Torah values and beliefs. So that there should be no confusion, we feel we therefore have no choice but to make our views public and to formally distance ourselves from any such behaviour.
It is the position of the Ottawa Torah Institute that theft, fraud, money laundering, the abuse of government social programs or any similar crimes (including, Heaven forbid, crimes of violence) are plainly forbidden by Torah law no matter who stands to gain or who the victim may be. We believe that Jews should have an especially deep sense of gratitude to the governments of the Western world - our own Canadian government in particular - for having provided us with a safe, prosperous and truly free home without parallel in all the centuries of our people's exile. We also share a very keen interest in preserving and enhancing the rule of law. Being the proud and grateful beneficiaries of our nation's just laws and their fair enforcement, it is unfathomable to us how anyone similarly blessed could spurn them. We invite other like-minded Torah institutions to similarly make their beliefs known. Let us know if you do join in. Read this particularly appropriate article, written decades ago by Rabbi Shimon Schwab of the Breuer's kehilla of Washington Heights, New York. |
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Ottawa Torah Institute
151 Chapel St. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 7Y2
151 Chapel St. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 7Y2
A beneficiary agency of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa
