.HILCHOS BEIN ADAM L'CHAVERO -------------------------------------------------------------------------BOOK NUMBER 1===========================Book 1, Topic 1M'Dvar Sheker TirchakR' Berkovits at Ner LeElef28 Aug 09Two sides of Bein Adam LChavero:1. Chessed, lo sisneh etc. and2. Business ethics.After the tax scandals in the US, high schools are more open to have a course on business ethics. To this end we will learn four topics related to integrity. The topics of truth and falsehood are essential in teaching anything related to business ethics. The problem is that there seems to be hetterim and people conclude like they do by lashon harah(acc to Chofetz Chaim), it's muttar to lie if you have a goal.In Beis Din1. Shavuos 30b gives 13 cases learnt from the verse "mdvar sheker". Sfas Emes in Shoftim points out that in no other mitzvah does the Torah say to "distance" from something, and the counterpart is "justice, justice shall you pursue."Without integrity, others don't know who you are, and you don't know who you yourself are, since you lie to yourself. This gemara lists cases that are not blatant lies.Case 1. Do not defend yourself if you actually think you're wrong. Many stories are told of ingenious pieces of Torah to defend gedolei yisroel who made mistakes, and others who came upwith such pieces to defend themselves.Case 2. Jeopardising your own sense of what's straight is a lack of your own "distancing from falsehood."Case: there was something muttar but a slight deviation from the truth. R' Eliashiv said: "even though it might be muttar, do not corrupt your sense of straightness, since how will you learn honestly later."Case 3. You know he's a thief, but since there were never two witnesses he's still a kosher witness. Even though I know it's true, and he's kosher in Beis Din, nevertheless I'm using a process in Beis Din that I know would not accept such a person if they knew he was a thief.Case 4. The judge has a gut feeling that the witnesses are not telling the truth - the judge cannot rule since he must "distance himself from falsehood."Case 5. You cannot remain silent when you know evidence against a rich litigant. Case 6. He wants that the judges rule incorrectly, and then get honor by correctly. HereWhat's the difference between cae 5 and 6? In case 5 he wants the ruling to remain wrong permanently. In case 6 he wants the judgement to remain wrong temporarily until he becomes famous. (Maharal: if you keep quiet to have the poor litigant win it's muttar. Birkei Yosef: disagrees.)You do not have to protest if you here something false and can keep silent, but you cannot remainsilent if you have an agenda. In the halacha of tochacha we can discuss when to protest.Case 8. We do not say that the ends justify the means and therefore cannot lie to bring about a gilgul shavua.Case 9. Cannot protect yourself from a false claim in Beis Din by lying.Case 10. Cannot lie even when you're right.Case 11. Appearance makes an impression.Case 12. It's much easier to lie when the other litigant is absent.Therefore, in summary:Assur to lie when you're right.Assur to intentionally mislead even when you're not saying any false words, even if it's temporary and you'll tell the truth.Assur to remain intentionally silent with an agenda.Outside of Beis Din3. Why are we permitting saying "she's a nice bride" when it's not true? And in Beis Din it would be assur! What's the difference?Conclusion: it's assur to lie outside of Bein Din, just that there are hetterim that do not exist in Beis Din.7. Rambam: only regarding a Talmid Chachom does he say "mdvar sheker". This is just because a talmid chachom is careful in these halachos and others aren't careful.8. Yad Haketanah: In Beis Din everyone is bound by absolure truth, and anything less is disgusting since you're using an instrument of justice to be unjust. But everyone should distance themselves. 9. Chinuch: The shoresh hamitzvah in a part (chelek) of the mitzvah.12. Yeraim: The issur doraisa is only when you have an agenda, and there are consequences to another. But an inconsequential lie would not be assur doraisa since you're not tricking anyone, but one's words make it look like trickery and would be assur drabanan possibly and only muttar for shalom. 13. R' Yonah: it could be that even an inconsequential lie is doraisa, but we don't know.Case: a made up story for no reason: Yeraim: assur drabanan. R' Yonah: assur, maybe doraisa.However, if it's for a good reason, such as diffusing a tese atmosphere to make a constructive meeting, you could make up a funny story about what happened to you on the way there, if there's no other way.14. Chofetz Chaim: lying outside of Beis Din is doraisa according to all.15. Aruch LNer: inconsequential lies, like calling someone up by the wrong name is an issur doraisa. Can a gabbai call up someone by the name he gives? Since it will be used as his nameon the get it's a doraisa.R' Shimshon Hisrch in Horeb: makes a strong case to have every word that comes out of one's mouth be true.16. Ran, Nedarim: exaggerations are a matter of vocabulary and not lies.So if everyone knows that 7pm on an invitation is actaully 8pm and everyone knows, thenit's not sheker. But if someone thinks it really means 7pm, you have to tell them, then you're dealing with a sheker. You have to understand the vocabulary of the society. It depends on the message, not on the dictionary definition of the words. 17. Sdei Chemed: If you call yourself rabbi, you have to know what that means in your society. And you have to no how the government defines rabbi, and whether they require that you have been ordained. 18. Sanhedrin: it sounds like lying for shalom and humility is assur and causes death.19. Maharal: this place Kushtah is not geographic, but rathar a position. This amorah put himself a place where everything he said was absolutely true, and therefore "no one died before their time", which is a form of sheker. However, this amorah realised that modesty is more important than truth and thus has to remove himself from the place called Kushta.In summary:In Beis Din misleading is assur doraisa.Outside Beis Din, misleading is assur (Aruch l'Ner: doraisa) and therefore a little white lie is a big fat lie. Where it doesn't make a difference it's muttar for shalom, modesty, making someone feel good about himself (in the case where he already made a purchase), or for doing a mitzvah (as in the R' Yonah)