November 15, 2007
Fundraising the Rabbi Hier way
Follow JewishJournal.com on 
(Page 3 - Previous Page)
MH: I've never met a human being that is infallible. Jews do not believe in infallibilty. We say it in the machzor, 'koh ha'adem kozev" -- all human beings tell half-truths, we are all sinners, and for that, that's why we have Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, to clean the slate. If a person made a mistake, and with that mistake that person has done restitution, or has said, 'OK, I shouldn't have done this. This is bad.' Are we supposed to ban that person for eternity? The Torah teaches the very opposite. That's why we have teshuvah!JJ: But should institutions looks into the origins of people's funds?
MH: Yes, we should, if what we're looking for [is] when someone has done something and has not apologized. If what we're looking for is perfection, you're not going to find perfected human beings.... It is against the principles of our Torah to keep the person forever as a pariah.
JJ: Do you ever tire of holding out your hand?
MH: If I would get tired of the ideas, I would get tired of fundraising, but as long as I have ideas, I won't get tired of fundraising.
JJ: Anything else you want to say about fundraising?
MH: I think you asked me so much that I'm going out right now and looking for a donor.
