opinions & letters
What Do We Do When
Our Leaders Are Bad People
Who Do Good Things?
By Rabbi Uri Pilichowski
O ne of the most frequently asked philosophical
questions is why bad things happen to good
people and good things happen to bad people.

The Talmud relates that Moses himself was per-
plexed by this question, but instead of receiving
an answer, he was told by God to simply accept
the world as it is and humanity’s inability to fully
understand it. Ramban and others tried to mini-
mize the question by explaining that good and bad
are frequently subjective and not all people agree
on what they are. Still, the question remains.

In our generation, the question has taken on
another dimension. We are faced with the paradox
that bad people sometimes do good things and
good people do bad things. This is particularly the
case with prominent leaders or other authority
figures. in mere hours if not minutes.

There are many benefits to this new transpar-
ency. Victims of authority figures, who in the past
were often traumatized, shunned and alone, now
see themselves validated and supported. Possible
future victims, who were once unaware of the
danger they faced, are now forewarned and thus
protected. Before this change, failed or dangerous leaders
and authority figures would often go from position
to position, city to city and victim to victim. Today,
as word spreads quickly of their deeds, evil people
are stopped and often imprisoned.

In some cases, while these leaders’ actions were
sickening, they were not illegal, meaning public
shaming would have been the only way to stop
them. But in the past, the public was unaware of
their behavior, and thus could not shun them. As a
result, they sometimes rose to positions of consid-
erable power. It is a good thing that this is often no
To build a better society, people of quality are
needed to lead each community. We can tolerate
mistakes and sins, but we should not accept
leaders — however effective — whose character
and behavior continuously fail to meet the most
elementary moral standards and will not mend
their ways.

We are frequently disappointed when people
we admire make mistakes or commit grave sins,
while we are sometimes surprised when people
we despise act in admirable ways. While it’s easy
to explain this paradox by positing that people are
complex, and never fully good or evil, we are still
faced with the question of how to deal with such
leaders. In the past, we usually did not have to answer
this question, because the actions of good or bad
leaders were easily concealed. This has changed
with the advent of the internet and social media.

With news and rumors spreading at the speed of
light, acts that in the past would have been swept
under the rug are now exposed for the world to see
longer the case.

But perhaps even more baffling is the case of
bad people who are nonetheless good leaders
and do good things. A person can have a bad per-
sonal character and act like a boor to their family,
constituents and supporters, but also use their
position to do good for people and institute poli-
cies that benefit the public. It’s easy to condemn a
leader who has poor character and does bad things.

It is not as easy when a leader has poor character
but uses their talents and skills to the benefit of
the community.

When should a community condemn such lead-
ers? All great Jewish authority figures have failed
and sinned at certain points, sometimes grievously.

Abraham, Moses and King David all made mistakes.

It’s unrealistic to demand perfection from our
leaders. So, where is the line between acceptable
failings, even sin, and condemnable behavior?
The line between acceptable and condemnable
sin should be drawn at the point where the sin
causes irreparable harm and the sinner refuses
to make amends and change their behavior. If the
leader’s sin did not cause irreparable harm and they
repent and make amends to those they harmed,
while also reforming their behavior, they should
be permitted to continue in office. While these
requirements do not necessarily apply to every sin-
gle case, they draw a clear line between acceptable
and unacceptable leaders.

To build a better society, people of quality are
needed to lead each community. We can toler-
ate mistakes and sins, but we should not accept
leaders — however effective — whose character
and behavior continuously fail to meet the most
elementary moral standards and will not mend
their ways. JE
Rabbi Uri Pilichowski is a senior educator at numer-
ous educational institutions. He is the author of three
books and teaches Torah, Zionism and Israel studies
around the world.

letters Would You Act Differently?
Mitchell Bard’s op-ed “Don’t Get Hysterical Over
Israel’s Election” (Nov. 17) was outstanding and so
practical. For example, Israelis showed they have no inter-
est in compromising with people they see as a
mortal threat. Would any of us act any differently
if someone who threatened bodily harm to our
family were planning to become our neighbor? And
he ended his article with a truism: “Some American
Jews will always focus on its flaws, but true lovers
of Israel … do not turn on the country because they
have disagreements.” JE
Bob Altman, Yardley
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