In the Scheme of Things

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By Mordechai Schiller

Tuesday, August 8, 2017 at 7:23 pm | " "

You can hardly open a newspaper these days without reading about some scandal, corruption or fraud.

If its not politicians or auto manufacturers, its the banks. Only now the bankers are the bank robbers. (Wheres
Jesse James when you really need him? Then again, outlaws became folk heroes because they robbed the banks
and railroads who were robbing the people.)

It almost makes you miss the good old days. Except that there never were any good old days. Its always been this
way. Humans have been dishonest since day-one. Present company excluded, of course.

Im not talking about garden-variety burglars. Mark Twain knew how to deal with that species. He put up a sign in
front of his house:

NOTICE, To the Next Burglar: There is only plated ware in this house now and henceforth. You will find it in that
brass thing in the dining room over in the corner by the basket of kittens. If you want the basket, put the kittens in the
brass thing. Do not make noise it disturbs the family. Please close the door when you go away.

(One night, a burglar tripped over Twains brass thing. He landed in prison for 10 years.)

Im talking about grand schemers. The first big-league (adjective form of bigly?) dishonesty goes all the way back to
Cain with his Garden-of-Eden-variety whopper: Am I my brothers keeper?

Cains father, Adam, did blame the woman You gave me. But he didnt deny what he did. In fact, the Midrash
(Bereishis Rabbah 19) points out that Adam didnt say vachalti and I ate. He said vaochel and I will eat.
Meaning, Yes, I ate and I will continue to eat.

How could Adam have such chutzpah? The Kotzker Rebbe says it wasnt chutzpah at all. Adam was really
confessing, I know Im going to slip up and eat again. His response was almost a prayer for help.

I want to tell you about a special breed of scoundrel: the confidence (or con) man. No petty thief, this operator first
gets people to have confidence in him. Then he takes advantage of their trust.

The first confidence man arrived a few generations after Cain. Rabbi Yochanan Zweig, Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshivah
Bais Moshe Chaim, in Miami Beach, has an interesting take on this: The Torah describes [Yaakovs father-in-law]
Lavan as a ramai confidence man, rather than a thief.

The region of Aram, where Lavan lived, was rampant with hustlers. So much so that the name Aramean is related
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to the word ramai. Rabbi Zweig explains that a ramai preys upon the basic human desire to gain something for
nothing; he takes advantage of his victims by leading them to believe that they are getting the better part of a deal.
Once the victims realize that they have been fooled, it is too late and they have only themselves to blame.

The confidence man uses mental jujitsu to turn the victims own cunning against him.

Im going to beat the High Holiday rush now and confess my sins early. I spent 13 years writing sweepstakes
promotions for a mail-order company. How do you make money by giving away money? The secret is rooted in the
same psychology as the confidence man. People buy the products sold with sweepstakes even though they could
enter without buying. Why? The wily president of the company printed on each mailing: No Purchase Necessary.
But please order two products when responding.

People thought they were manipulating the company. They were playing with loaded dice buying products in an
attempt to increase their chances of winning.

A book by James Walsh about the most infamous confidence man of all time played on this concept: You Cant
Cheat an Honest Man: How Ponzi Schemes and Pyramid Frauds Work.

In 1919, Carlo Charles Ponzi, a dreamer and schemer with $150 in his pocket, began the business of borrowing
money on promissory notes. He started out by inviting friends and relatives to get in on the ground floor of what he
dubbed the Ponzi Plan.

Ponzi claimed to be making 100 percent profit on his money within a few months. All he needed was more capital to
get things rolling. He generously offered to invite other investors in on the ground floor.

In what became an egregious tradition for such schemes, Ponzi abused the trust of his community. He targeted
people with the same ethnic background as his own.

So how do you protect yourself? Theres an old saying, if youre not sure of someones intentions: chabdeihu
vchashdeihu Respect him; but suspect him. (Dont bother looking for it in the Talmud. Its not there.)

So if anyone even a friend or relative tries to sell you a deal thats too good to be true, just smile and nod your
head politely.

But if he persists reach for some hefty brass thing. And apply with confidence.

Please send smiles, sticks and stones to language@hamodia.com.

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