The ‘word on the street’ is that Bernie Madoff was not an observant Jew. If Judaism is partially defined by business ethics as the Midrash on some level indicates (If one is honest in business, and earns the esteem of others, it is as if one has fulfilled the whole Torah), then he clearly was not observant in any way. But I still couldn’t help but wonder what Bernie’s first Shabbos behind bars was like. Without the distraction of lawyers, accountants and Ponzi scheme’s, was Madoff forced to face his conscience for the first time? Better yet, was there any conscience left to face? When the stillness of his small cell set in, did he feel anything? Did he feel regret? Did he feel remorse? Did he feel fear? Did he cry for what he had done to others? Did he cry for what he had done to himself?

Some of my congregants asked me this weekend, “after Madoff has spent the rest of his life in prison, will he be forgiven?” I don’t claim to know exactly how G-d’s justice system works, but it seems that according to Maimonides one would need remorse and actions that show that one is trying to make right what once was made wrong. Remorse we may never be able to ascertain, but as far as trying to make right and reveal the buried treasures – well, it looks like Madoff is keeping that with him until the very end. Analysts estimate that Madoff has hidden close to a billion dollars. Every time Madoff has another quiet Sabbath, he carries with him the noise of a billion secrets. That’s a billion secrets that destroyed families, charities, and entire lifetimes of work. That much noise on a silent Sabbath can be deafening.

The saintly Chassidic Rebbe known as the Be’er Mayim Chaim once explained why the Sabbath, for some people, is almost magical, and for others it can be tedious. He presents a creative analogy: two farmers with adjacent fields. Both farmers need a water supply in their field. Farmer Joe takes the time to dig a sophisticated ditch that incorporates some of the newest and slickest pipes around. Farmer Fred is less careful. He digs a ditch with an heirloom shovel and throws in a couple of rickety pipes. Farmer Joe’s water tastes so much sweeter. Farmer Fred’s water is filled with dross and impurities. It all depends on how much work one initially put into the ditch. Such is the Sabbath. If your life and your week is filled with compassion, honesty, holiness, then your Sabbath is sublime. If your life and your week is filled with spitefulness, usury, impurity, then your Sabbath will be torture.

Somehow I have a feeling Bernie had a very tough Shabbos.