Guilt-inspired mitzvot

Editorial

Over the past few weeks, numerous members of the community have received e-mails from a man purporting to be a young, hardworking Jew who says he is moving to Vancouver from Thailand.

The e-mails have been asking recipients for shelter and aid in finding employment. The first e-mail states that the sender is hoping to "start a productive life" in Vancouver and would be "attending Shabbat services at the nearest Chabad House," as he had when living here previously.

At least one local rabbi forwarded this e-mail to his entire congregation, offering it "as an opportunity for a mitzvah." One alert congregant immediately recognized the e-mail author's name. In fact, there is an entire website dedicated to following the man's whereabouts. Turns out he has been convicted of fraud and sexual assault in Quebec.

The man, who states that he was raised in a Jewish home, is obviously familiar with the halachic notion that Jews have a responsibility towards one another. "Please don't let one of your own starve," he writes in the first e-mail – following up in a second message with the statement, "I think it's nice to meet other Jews in a proper home, rather than a hotel if possible.... If you want to do a mitzvah, maybe you have some extra space for a few days...."

He has clearly taken advantage of this knowledge to try and dupe members of the Vancouver Jewish community into helping him. If the charges against this man are accurate – and the allegations are certainly well-documented – he obviously has no shortage of chutzpah. It is a shanda, a disgrace, that someone would try to take advantage of a community's goodwill using the kind of language we are all susceptible to as Jews.

It is, of course, important that we take care of our own – as well as the community as a whole – but not when taking that steps may put ourselves and our families at risk.

We strongly advise caution in this instance, as we do whenever you receive solicitations over the Internet from unfamiliar people and businesses.

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