The Test of Honesty 

By Rabbi Moshe Krieger, Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah (www.bircas.org)

In Parshas Mishpatim, the Torah warns us (Shemos 23:7), “Distance yourself from words of sheker (untruth).” Note that the Torah emphasizes “distancing” ourselves from such behavior. Regarding other negative commandments, even severe ones, the Torah simply prohibits the action. Why does the Torah require us to distance ourselves from lying?

Rav Chaim Friedlander explains that we don’t always realize how much falsehood is already a part of us. If a person would examine every detail of his behavior, he may be shocked to discover that dishonesty has crept in. For instance, when someone tells a story about himself, does he say it exactly as it happened, or does he embellish, or perhaps gloss over, certain details? Unfortunately, stretching the truth is common, whether one is insecure and needs validation, or he’s bored by the dry details and livens up the story.

People who learn in yeshivah should be acutely aware of how easy it is to lie to oneself. One may say things he doesn’t really believe, just to avoid confronting a difficulty in the text that will “cost him” time and energy.

The Torah is alerting us to these situations, and showing us how to act if we want to become people of truth. We must get as far away from sheker as possible. We need to keep moving away, because falsehood is a constant enticement. Unlike the response to other dangerous situations, dealing with falsehood requires fight and flight. This is the only way to become a man of truth.

Rav Yechezkel Levenstein asserts that becoming a man of truth is within our reach, even though it takes work to eradicate our tendency for falsehood. The Midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 8:5) illustrates this by chronicling a debate that took place during Creation:

Chessed (the attribute of kindness) argued that man should be created, because he would be a creature that does chessed. Emes (the attribute of truth) differed, saying that man was full of falsehood. Tzedakkah (the attribute of righteousness) spoke in favor of man, arguing that he is generous, whereas Shalom (the attribute of peace) was against man, because his very nature is to be argumentative. Hashem decided in favor of creating man, throwing Emes to the ground.

All the angels looked on in shock, astounded at Hashem’s denigration of Emes.

“How can You act towards Emes in such a way?” the angels asked.

Hashem answered that His decision to throw Emes to the ground was for the good. Once truth was on Earth, it would be accessible to all who wanted it.

Rav Levenstein maintains that the truth is closer than we think. Even though it may not come easily to us, we are capable of perfecting our commitment to truth. In Kelm, when a person asked his friend what time it was, he was answered with the precise time, to the second. We see that it is indeed possible to be so committed to truth that even an approximation would never leave our lips.

I believe that we all should take some time out of our day to review our actions and think about where we are succeeding in living up to the truth, and where more work is needed. It is up to us to invest the time and energy needed to become the people of truth that Hashem wants us to be.

A wealthy man once went to visit Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, saying that he intended to make a generous donation to rescue a family from poverty. “Perhaps the Rav knows a family worth donating to?” he asked.

Rav Shlomo Zalman contacted Rav Yitzchak Shlomo Zilberman, who was responsible for the Zilberman school system in Eretz Yisrael. Rav Yitzchak Shlomo and his family of twenty-one children were in abject poverty. Rav Auerbach shared the wealthy man’s proposition with Rav Zilberman, excited about the incredible opportunity this offered them.

Surprisingly, Rav Zilberman asked to think it over. Even more surprisingly, a short time later he decided to refuse. What was his reason? He had made a careful calculation, and he realized that his family needed an additional twenty percent of the amount offered to completely extricate themselves from poverty. This man was offering much less than he needed, but still intended that the money should save a kollel family. Since this would not happen for Rav Yitzchak Shlomo’s family, to accept the sum would have been dishonest.

Due to Rav Yitzchak Shlomo’s dedication to the truth, the money went to a different family. He never regretted his decision. Perhaps it was the merit of his commitment to the truth that caused all his sons to become true talmidei chachamim.

May we be zocheh to keep ourselves far from falsehood, and become people of truth!

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