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Chapter Twenty Two: ON FALSEHOOD

Concerning falsehood, you must know that just as a man weighs silver and gold on the scales and distinguishes between the light and the heavy, so should a wise man weigh utterances on scales until he is able to distinguish between truth and falsehood. And there is a great distinction between one lie and another. How is that? One who says of wood that it is gold, that lie is easily apparent. But one who says of shining copper that it is gold, that lie needs investigation, for these metals have the same appearance, and there are counterfeiters who make copper look like gold, so that even the experts can distinguish between the two only with great difficulty. So it is with the realm of thought and its expression. There is one who is very clever and proclaims all sorts of theories to establish a lie until it appears that is is the truth. But the wise man knows how to distinguish between truth and falsehood. And this is a thing known to all, that truth and falsehood are often joined together in one heart. There is the man so false that even though he knows for a certainty that a thing is false, yet he is attracted to it, and all the more so if there some evidence on both sides, so that the lie resembles the truth — then he is certainly attracted to his lie. But there is the honest man who will never deal in falsehood, except when there are many opinions to support that falsehood — then only is he drawn after the falsehood. But the wise man with his wisdom is able to refute those theories that are false. And you should know that every man is influenced in his opinions by his qualities : The lazy man will form all of his opinions in support of laziness, and the angry man will find rational support for his anger, and the arrogant person will find support for his arrogance. And thus it is with all the qualities that we have explained. According to the quality that is within him will a man act: the spendthrift, according to his extravagance; the miser, according to his greed; the lover, according to his love; the hater, according to his hate. Therefore, a person who wishes to be an honest man of God must, first of all, divest himself of all the inferior qualities, in order that the quality that is imbeded in him more strongly should not attract him, and then he will be able to attain the truth.

And there are nine categories in the matter of falsehood. The first is he who denies his friend's assertion that he gave him a pledge or a loan, or he who testifies falsely, and there are many instances of these. And for this type of falsehood there are two punishments. The first, because of the lie, for falsehood, even if it causes no damage, is an abomination to the Lord, as it is said, "There are six things which the Lord hateth … Haughty eyes, a lying tongue … a false witness that breatheth out lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren" (Prov. 6:16—19). And it is said, "And the froward mouth, do I hate" (Prov. 8:13). The second punishment is given because he has injured his companion.

The second category is where there is no present damage to his fellow in the lie itself, but where the liar intends to deceive his fellow into believing in him and trusting him, so that he will not be on guard against him — and then he will be able to do evil to him, as it is said, "One speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth wait for him" (Jer. 9:7). Even in the eyes of people, falsehood is repulsive, as it is said, "It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness … Righteous lips are the delight of kings" (Prov. 16:12—13).

The third category is where one lies to his fellow not to rob him of anything he possesses, but he learns that a certain good thing is going to come to his fellow in the future, and so with falsehood and with cunning he praises this good fortune that is coming, and makes it appear that he has a share in it. Or he lies to his fellow until he gives him a gift, for example, he brings him good tidings — false tidings — in order to get a gift because of this. And there are many similar cases. And our Sages, of blessed memory, said, "Whoever dissembles in his speech is as though he had practiced idolatry" (Sanh. 92a). As it is said, "My father peradventure will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a mocker" (Gen. 27:12). And it is said, concerning idolatry, "They are vanity, a work of delusion" (Jer. 10:15). Now this does not mean that one who lies is actually like one who worships idols, but the resemblance is there, for he conceals himself in falsehood and is helped by empty things.

The fourth category of falsehood is he who lies in recounting things he has heard. He changes part of the story, and does so intentionally, although there is no profit to him in that falsehood, neither will it cause any harm. And there are times when he tells things that he has invented entirely in his heart. He is punished for loving falsehood, even though it serves no purpose, and concerning this, King Solomon said, "A false witness that breatheth out lies" (Prov. 6:19). You should know that his quality will lead him to testify falsely against his brother, because he comes to love falsehood. There are also those who change part of what they have heard without intent to do so, because they did not pay attention at the time that they heard the words and did not search out to see whether they were true. This quality is also evil, and concerning this, King Solomon said, "But the man that obeyeth shall speak out unchallenged" (Prov. 21:28). This means that he who sets his mind to listen and understand the essence of a matter, and the things that are said, because he does not want his mouth to speak a falsehood (because of his inattentiveness), that man will speak forever, for people will want to hear his words, and they will not scold him because of his words.

The fifth category of falsehood is he who promises another that he will do good to him, or that he will give him a gift, or that he will help him, but he does not say this to him with certainty, on which the other can rely. And while he is saying all this, the thought in his heart is that he will not give. Concerning this, our Sages said "that he should not say one thing with his mouth and another with his heart" (Baba Mezi'a 49a).

The sixth category of falsehood is he who assures his companion that he will do him a favor, and he assures him so much that the heart of his companion trusts in him. Then he certainly must not profane his promise. And if he lies in this, then he bears a great guilt — more than in the previous case — for there it was merely general talk. And the one who tells his fellow that he will give him a small gift, even though he does not put it in the form of a promise, nevertheless we say concerning anyone who goes back on his word, that there is something of a lack of trust in him (see ibid.).

For the heart of his fellow relies upon him and trusts in him, inasmuch as the gift in question is so small. And if it is a poor man to whom he made the promise, even though the gift mentioned was a large one (for which reason the poor man should have doubted the promise) and he goes back on his word, then his evil is very great, for he has made a vow and transgressed the commandment, "He shall not break his word" (Num. 30:3). And thus it is with one who boasts before many that he will give a gift to a certain man, this is very much like a promise, for he boasts of his generosity, and therefore it is not right that he should go back on his word after he has honored and praised himself in this matter.

The seventh category of falsehood is one who deceitfully tells his friend that he has done a favor for him, or that he has spoken well of him, but has not done so. Concerning this our Sages, of blessed memory, said, "It is forbidden to deceive your fellow creatures, even a heathen, for there is in this a sin, inasmuch as we are obliged to speak words of truth, for this is one of the foundations of the soul" (see Hullin 94a).

The eighth category of falsehood is he who boasts of qualities that he does not possess. And this is a great sin. And even if he really possesses these qualities when he praises himself it appears from his words that he did not do his charitable or generous acts for the sake of Heaven, but for his own sake, for his own praise. And our Sages, of blessed memory, said, "He whom others honor because they believe that he knows two tractates of the Talmud, and he knows only one tractate, is obligated to say, 'I know only one tractate' " (T.P. Shebi'ith 10:5). All the more so is it forbidden to lie and to boast about qualities that one does not possess at all.

The ninth category is he who tells a story that he has heard, but he changes some of the narrative as he likes. Now there is no loss to any man in this, but he receives a bit of pleasure out of his lying, even though he does not gain any money out of it. For example (Yebamoth 63a), Rav would say to his wife, "Make me lentils," and she would make him peas — and whenever he would say to her, "Make me peas!" she would make lentils. Hiya, his son, went and reversed the matter. Whenever his father wanted peas, he would tell his mother, "Make lentils!" and she would make peas, and this the son did out of honor for his father, in order that there should be prepared for him the food that he wanted. Even so, Rav restrained him and persuaded him not to do this any more, because, "They have taught their tongue to speak lies" (Jer. 9:4). But the guilt in such a falsehood is not like the guilt of those who lie for no reason at all as we have mentioned in the fourth category.

Thus far we have discussed the nine categories of falsehood. But a man should be careful in the following matter too. If his friend comes to him and asks to borrow something that he has, he should not say, "I haven't got it." But he may refuse him in a manner that does not call for lying. And in the Book of the Pious, there is a ruling that even if a heathen should come to the house of a Jew and ask him to loan him money, and the Jew has the money but he does not wish to loan it to this heathen, he must not say, "I have no money," but he should refuse him in any way he can without lying (Sefer Hasidim, 426). But it may well be that if the heathen were to learn that the Jew did have money, then he would not be able to take his leave of the heathen without causing hatred. Therefore, it might be better for him to say, "I don't have money" — for the sake of good relations. It all depends on the circumstances and on how he sizes up the situation. If he thinks he will cause no ill will by saying, "I have money, but I need it for something else," let him do so.

Great is a liar's punishment. For even when he speaks the truth, no one believes him (Sanh. 89b). "And falsehood cannot stand for long."

No man should cause others to lie for his sake. What is meant by this? If a man sees two people speaking together about a secret matter, he should not go and ask one of them to reveal the matter to him. For he may not want to reveal it, and consequently he will put him off by telling him something else, the result being that he has lied (see Sefer Hasidim, 1201). Similarly he should be scrupulous in all of his affairs, not lying in business matters, and not causing others to lie. And he should be careful not to associate with a liar, and he should speak to such a one as little as possible. It requires great wisdom to avoid lying, for the evil inclination is always lying in ambush for a man, to cause him to fall into his net.

But there are times when the Sages permitted one to lie, for example, in order to make peace between one man and another (Yebamoth 65b). Similarly, one may praise a bride in the presence of the bridegroom and say that she is lovely and charming, even though she really is not (Kethuboth 17a). A guest (Arakin 16a) who has been well treated by the master of the house should not to say in front of many people, "How good that man is in whose house I was a guest, how much honor he paid me," lest many come to that host who are not worthy to be his guests, and concerning this it is said, "He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted as a curse to him" (Prov. 27:14).

And concerning a tractate of the Talmud, if they ask him if the lesson is fluent in his mouth, modesty demands that he should say, "No." And if he should be late to the synagogue because of marital relations, and they asked him why he delayed, let him ascribe it to something else (Baba Bezi'a 23b). And in all these cases where the Sages permitted one to alter the truth, if he can manage not to lie, that is preferable to lying. For example, if he is asked, "Do you know this particular tractate of the Talmud?" he might answer, "Do you think I know it?" And if he can put off the questioner in some way so as not to lie, that would be very good.