SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE:

In an age when a generation has been taught there is no absolute right, there is an unprecedented need for an emphasis on traditional values and undiluted ethics. How do we teach ethics to our children so that they are not swept away by the wave of “who cares anyway?”

The Bible teaches us to be just and not waver from justice to injustice. Henry Samueli recently joined the ranks of men like David Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie.

He was questioned, and he admitted his dishonesty. Rockefeller and Carnegie are only two of the “robber baron” entrepreneurs who did well and were questioned about how they made their money, and they were lauded by then making large donations to charities.

This column is not about them, but about us. How do we live in the wake of fallen down heroes? We should not be so quick to judge them, but use their mistakes to learn.

Few of us tithe and give money to their religion, as Samueli does. Samueli has done many good things for other people. We praise his charity and learn from his mistakes.

This is not about forgiveness, but learning by example. Be fairer and more giving. In the future, a chief financial officer might think twice about putting a signature on a fraudulent document or engaging in a shady deal. He might sacrifice his own need and do a mitzvah for someone else.

There is another side to the equation that Samueli leads us in. He has taught locals the meaning of the Hebrew word “tzedakah.” This word is more than charity — it is right living, the obligation to give to others what we already have.

We are obligated to be meticulous with regard to the mitzvah of tzedakah. We are our brother’s keeper. We all make mistakes and must pay for them, but what we learn and do with our actions by giving to others is what makes the man.

Be just and charitable in your own life, and learn from this example of a man.

MARC RUBENSTEIN is Temple Isaiah of Newport Beach’s rabbi.