Shedding Light on Burning Issues #8 - When May One Lie?

(13) You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

(7) Keep far from a false charge; do not bring death on those who are innocent and in the right, for I will not acquit the wrongdoer.

(11) You shall not steal; you shall not deal deceitfully or falsely with one another.

(18) Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says, "On three things the world stands: on judgment, on truth and on peace, as it is said (Zachariah 8:16), 'Judge truth and the justice of peace in your gates.'"

God's seal is truth.

(2) The root of the mitzvah is known, that falsehood is despicable and reviled in the eyes of all; there is nothing more despised than it. Scourge and curse will enter the house of any who love him, for God is a Lord of truth, and everything with him is truth, and blessing is only present among those who resemble Him with their actions...

There are three things that God hates: one who speaks one way in the mouth and another in the heart...

Anyone who is inconsistent with his words is comparable to one who worships idolatry...

(13) Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remain alive thanks to you.”

(2) Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sarah brought to him.

(7) When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say “my wife,” thinking, “The men of the place might kill me on account of Rebekah, for she is beautiful.”

And R. Ilea said in the name of R. Eleazar b. R. Simon: A person may edit what has been said for the sake of peace, as Joseph’s brothers said “Your father commanded… please forgive.” (Gen 50:16) R. Natan says: this is a commandment, as it is written “Samuel said, ‘How can I go? If Saul hears it he will kill me.” (1 Sam 17:2) The school of R. Yishmael taught: peace is so important that even God altered what was said for its sake! For at first, [Sarah says] “My husband is old” and afterwards, [when God repeats her words to Abraham] it says “I am old.” (Gen 18:12)

In these three things the Rabbis were accustomed to change their words (i.e. lie) In matters of tractates, matters of the bed, and in matters of hospitality.

MISHNAH. ONE MAY VOW TO MURDERERS, ROBBERS, AND PUBLICANS THAT IT [THE PRODUCE WHICH THEY DEMAND] IS TERUMAH, EVEN IF IT IS NOT, OR THAT IT BELONGS TO THE ROYAL HOUSE, EVEN IF IT DOES NOT.

R. Joshua b. Hananiah remarked: No one has ever had the better of me except a woman, a little boy and a little girl. What was the incident with the woman? I was once staying at an inn where the hostess served me with beans. On the first day I ate all of them leaving nothing. On the second day too l left nothing. On the third day she over seasoned them with salt, and, as soon as I tasted them, I withdrew my hand. ‘My Master’, she said to me, ‘why do you not eat?’ — ‘I have already eaten’, I replied: ‘earlier in the day".

Our rabbis taught: How does one dance before the bride? Bet Shammai say: The bride as she is. And Bet Hillel say: “A beautiful and graceful bride”! Bet Shammai said to Bet Hillel: If she was lame or blind, does one say of her, “Beautiful and graceful bride”? Whereas the Torah said, “Keep away from a lie” (Exodus 23:7). Bet Hillel said to Bet Shammai: According to your words, if one has made a bad purchase in the market, should one praise it in front of him or denigrate it? Surely, one should praise it in front of him. Therefore, the sages said: One should always have a pleasing disposition in front of other people.

The bride as she is: And if she has a blemish, they are quiet and they do not praise it. And also (another possibility is) they praise her with something pleasant that she has - for example, [he praises her] about her eyes or her hands if they are beautiful. And Beit Hillel says that you praise her altogether, as when we mention that which she has to be praised, it implies that the rest is to be denigrated.

It once happened that Rabban Gamaliel said: 'Send me up seven [scholars] early in the morning to the upper chamber [for this purpose].' When he came in the morning and found eight, he asked: 'Who is he who has come up without permission? Let him go down.' Thereupon, Samuel the Little arose and said: 'It was I who came up without permission; my object was not to join in the intercalation, but because I felt the necessity of learning the practical application of the law.' Rabban Gamaliel then answered: 'Sit down, my son, sit down; you are worthy of intercalating all years [in need of such].

(7) “From matters of falsehood” – this speaks to the judge, that he should not render false judgment, similar to “Justice, justice shall you pursue” (Devarim 16:20).

Raba said: I used to think at first that there is no truth in the world. Whereupon one of the Rabbis, by name of R. Tabuth — others say, by name of R. Tabyomi — who, even if he were given all the treasures of the world, would not lie, told me that he once came to a place called Kushta, in which no one ever told lies, and where no man ever died before his time. Now, he married one of their women, by whom he had two sons. One day his wife was sitting and washing her hair, when a neighbor came and knocked at the door. Thinking to himself that it would not be etiquette [to tell her that his wife was washing herself], he called out, 'She is not here.' [As a punishment for this] his two sons died. Then people of that town came to him and questioned him, 'What is the cause of this?' So he related to them what had happened. 'We pray thee,' they answered, 'quit this town, and do not incite Death against us.'

(19) אנכי עשו בכרך I AM ESAU THY FIRST-BORN — I am he that brings food to you, and Esau is your first-born.