Mishpatim: Lies
Mishpatim: Lies
Distance yourself from lies. That is more than advice, it is a commandment.
מִדְּבַר־שֶׁ֖קֶר תִּרְחָ֑ק וְנָקִ֤י וְצַדִּיק֙ אַֽל־תַּהֲרֹ֔ג כִּ֥י לֹא־אַצְדִּ֖יק רָשָֽׁע׃
Keep far from a false matter; do not bring death on those who are innocent and in the right, for I will not acquit the wrongdoer. (The verse)
Not telling lies is certainly included in this meaning. But it must mean more than that. Otherwise the text would have just said what it means. מדבר שקר תרחק. שינה הכתוב לומר האזהרה בלשון זה ולא אמר לא תדבר שקר, לפי שאין עברה יותר תדירה ומצויה כמו דבר שקר (Haketav Vehakabala) . No transgression is more common than lying ( translation).
There are times when deception is needed for survival. When my parents renamed themselves Joseph and Mary to pass as Christians in Nazi occupied Poland, revealing the truth of their Jewishnes would have been a fatal error, That canard cannot be criticized. The commandment is to keep the falsehood distant: use only for emergencies.
The end of the verse identifies the context as the legal system. In that sense it means that the court should avoid any appearance of unfairness.
מדבר שקר תרחק, the Torah addresses the judge, telling him to stay clear of anything which could create the impression that [s]he has dealings with something corrupt. (Soforno).
After all, the peoples' belief in the legal system is based upon this perception of fairness. But fairness is sometimes redefined by those in power (which can undermine the citizen's confidence to judge a situation) leading to confusion, Such redefinition is not exactly a falsehood, but it is an approach to it, the opposite of keeping one's distance - as commanded.
Distance yourself from a false matter - put distance between yourself and those who speak lies, and gossipers, since on this the text already warned: 'you must not carry false rumors' (Exodus 23:1) and then 'do not bring death on those who are innocent and in the right' (Ex. 23:7) because liars cause the killing of the ones in the right and of the innocent. (Bechor Shor). Lies, and their kin, conspiracy theories, are toxic, a lethal poison. They generate unfounded hate and prejudice. We can all see these fantasies are increasing ... and destroying the world.
When Karen wrote My Soul is Filled with Joy, which is, in part, the story of my parents living through the Holocaust, I very strongly encouraged her not to write anything that was not proven by incontrovertible evidence. Those inaccuracies, no matter how trivial, make the story -and the holocaust- unbelievable. The denier will use the most trivial deviation to nullify the story. The distance from falsehood must be very far.
The commandment is not to pursue truth- that is an endless task- it is to run away from falsehood. That seems easier, but I am not sure. There is an awful lot of falsehood to flee from, and fabrication lies in any direction you turn. The only way out is up, to turn to the overriding truths and values that offer perspective...
There are times when deception is needed for survival. When my parents renamed themselves Joseph and Mary to pass as Christians in Nazi occupied Poland, revealing the truth of their Jewishnes would have been a fatal error, That canard cannot be criticized. The commandment is to keep the falsehood distant: use only for emergencies.
The end of the verse identifies the context as the legal system. In that sense it means that the court should avoid any appearance of unfairness.
מדבר שקר תרחק, the Torah addresses the judge, telling him to stay clear of anything which could create the impression that [s]he has dealings with something corrupt. (Soforno).
After all, the peoples' belief in the legal system is based upon this perception of fairness. But fairness is sometimes redefined by those in power (which can undermine the citizen's confidence to judge a situation) leading to confusion, Such redefinition is not exactly a falsehood, but it is an approach to it, the opposite of keeping one's distance - as commanded.
Distance yourself from a false matter - put distance between yourself and those who speak lies, and gossipers, since on this the text already warned: 'you must not carry false rumors' (Exodus 23:1) and then 'do not bring death on those who are innocent and in the right' (Ex. 23:7) because liars cause the killing of the ones in the right and of the innocent. (Bechor Shor). Lies, and their kin, conspiracy theories, are toxic, a lethal poison. They generate unfounded hate and prejudice. We can all see these fantasies are increasing ... and destroying the world.
When Karen wrote My Soul is Filled with Joy, which is, in part, the story of my parents living through the Holocaust, I very strongly encouraged her not to write anything that was not proven by incontrovertible evidence. Those inaccuracies, no matter how trivial, make the story -and the holocaust- unbelievable. The denier will use the most trivial deviation to nullify the story. The distance from falsehood must be very far.
The commandment is not to pursue truth- that is an endless task- it is to run away from falsehood. That seems easier, but I am not sure. There is an awful lot of falsehood to flee from, and fabrication lies in any direction you turn. The only way out is up, to turn to the overriding truths and values that offer perspective...
posted by Sheldon Goldberg at 8:27 AM
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