H3 is the annual shot in the arm needed by every Jew in business who cares about his spirituality

Photos: Dudi Braun

Three years ago, ask a frum British fella in business to identify the industry’s high point and he’d probably have looked at you blank. Today, he wouldn’t blink. It’s H3. The annual one-day conference covering halachah, hashkafah, and hanhagah in business is jam-packed with hard-hitting workshops and a no-holds-barred look at the often challenging confluence of Jew and workplace.

For a conference that weds business with halachah, the location of this year’s London summit couldn’t have been more apt. The O2 Intercontinental Hotel sits right across the water from the headquarters of some of London’s most recognizable titans of commerce, business and banking: HSBC, Barclays, Citi, and the iconic Canary Wharf tower.

For the founder and chair of H3 in the UK, Reb Shaul Bodner, the mission is simple. “You make sure to tick your health and safety box, you’re careful about ticking your compliance box, and you’re right on top of your tax liabilities. But what about ticking the box of ensuring the Eibeshter is comfortable in your business, too?

“We were amazed to discover that the most dominant demographic among our attendees is the 25–35 age bracket,” says Mr. Bodner. “Here we have a new generation of young, frum men entering the business world — mainly straight out of kollel — grappling with thorny halachic and hashkafic issues. Questions around doing business with non-Jews, how to interact with females in the workplace, ribbis questions — these are all real life, daily issues. H3 is designed to address that.”

Rabbanim Roundtable

Dayan Yehoshua Posen is a member of London’s Federation beis din and an acclaimed expert in Choshen Mishpat.

Rabbi Yaakov Robinson is the executive director of the Midwest Council of Synagogue Rabbonim in Chicago, founder of the H3 summit (now held in seven cities across three continents) and a member of the executive leadership team at Agudath Israel of Illinois.

1.What are the top contemporary challenges facing Jews in the workplace today?

Rabbi Robinson:
We find that many people in the younger generation show a pursuit of money that their parents perhaps didn’t, which that leads to haste, cutting corners, and not conducting business in line with halachah. And if someone gets into money quickly, and raises their standard of living, and is then unable to maintain that, they end up in debt. We’re seeing a lot of that. This is especially true post-Covid, when it was easier to make money quickly due to various programs that existed then.

Secondly, bnei Torah going to work feel that they’re doing something second-rate, bedi’eved. From being at the pinnacle of their spiritual success, they’re now sitting behind a desk. We want to drive home the message that you’re not only a good Jew when you’re setting aside time for learning and davening. Your workplace can also be a place of constant avodas Hashem if you play it right. This is my place right now and the Ribbono shel Olam has expectations of me here, too.

Dayan Posen:
To expand on the first point, people come into the workforce seeing others being successful and they feel pressured to do the same — and quick. They don’t realize that the nice cars and vacations are a mirage, and often not representative of the true picture. My father’s generation understood that it took time to see success. Nowadays there’s a peer pressure, almost an entitlement, to be successful, and it’s just a question of how quickly they can get there. Unfortunately, this can lead to shortcuts in ehrlichkeit.

Sometimes dayanim overseeing a din Torah can look at someone and think, You’re a ganef, plain and simple. What were you thinking? As he struggles to even articulate his rationale, the to’en for the other party across the room can hardly contain his eagerness to jump in. People are so caught up in their bubble and desperation to make a quick buck that they end up doing things they shouldn’t have. In halachah, the end never justifies the means. It’s a zechus to be a Yid and do the right thing, even though sometimes there may be easier routes.