Illustration Credit: Rivka Tsinman
Halakhah הֲלָכָה
Deception
In Vayeitzei, Yaakov runs away without telling Lavan. Notice how the Torah describes this:
(כ) וַיִּגְנֹ֣ב יַעֲקֹ֔ב אֶת־לֵ֥ב לָבָ֖ן הָאֲרַמִּ֑י עַל־בְּלִי֙ הִגִּ֣יד ל֔וֹ כִּ֥י בֹרֵ֖חַ הֽוּא׃
Yaakov stole the heart of Lavan the Aramean, by not telling him that he was running away.
Geneivat da’at (גְּנֵבַת דַּעַת, stealing someone’s mind) is one way of talking about deception. This is because deceiving someone means you steal a true picture of reality from them (by preventing them from knowing the truth). In Yaakov’s case, deception might have been justified because Lavan no longer liked him and was out to hurt him. (See Bereishit 31:1-2.)
But normally it is forbidden to deceive people; we are expected to be honest and straightforward. This is particularly true when it comes to business and personal relationships:
אָסוּר לְרַמּוֹת בְּנֵי אָדָם בְּמִקָּח וּמִמְכָּר אוֹ לִגְנֹב דַּעְתָּם, כְּגוֹן אִם יֵשׁ מוּם בְּמִקָּחוֹ צָרִיךְ לְהוֹדִיעוֹ לַלּוֹקֵחַ...וְאַף לִגְנֹב דַּעַת הַבְּרִיּוֹת בִּדְבָרִים, שֶׁמַּרְאֶה שֶׁעוֹשֶׂה בִּשְׁבִילוֹ, וְאֵינוֹ עוֹשֶׂה, אָסוּר. כֵּיצַד? לֹא יְסַרְהֵב (בַּחֲבֵרוֹ) שֶׁיִּסְעַד עִמּוֹ, וְהוּא יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁאֵינוֹ סוֹעֵד, וְלֹא יַרְבֶּה לוֹ בְּתִקְרֹבֶת וְהוּא יוֹדֵעַ שֶׁאֵינוֹ מְקַבֵּל...
It is forbidden to trick people in business, or to deceive them. If there’s a flaw in an object you’re selling someone, you must tell them… It is even forbidden to deceive people just with words, by making it appear that you are doing something for them that you aren’t. How so? You shouldn’t plead with someone to come over for a meal when you know they can’t make it, and you shouldn’t offer them lots of gifts when you know they won’t accept them…
These rules recognize that it is natural to consider doing some of these things, but we have to push ourselves to be honest. Other ways to avoid geneivat da’at include:
Not bidding on something in an auction just to drive up the price, even if it’s for charity (Minhat Yitzhak III:97)
Never deceiving the government in order to get more public funding, even if it’s for good causes like schools (Iggerot Moshe HM II:29)
Refusing to copy someone else’s work in school, which would deceive the teacher (Peninei Halakhah Likkutim II 2:19)
-------------------
-------------------
