VERBAL DEFRAUDING
The concept of fraud is commonly
understood as related to financial dealings. Indeed, the Torah (Leviticus 25:14) is very specific in warning against
defrauding anybody in the process of buying or selling.
Strangely, another warning about fraud
appears later in the same chapter (verse 17) without reference to finances. It
says: “Do not defraud each other, and you shall fear your G-d”. What is the
meaning of this generic fraud? The answer to this question is indicated in the
book of Exodus (22:20): “Do not defraud or oppress the stranger”. It is clear
from the context of the paragraph there that the verse is about fraud through
words that aggrieve the other person.
The Talmud (Bava Metzia
58b) clarifies the distinction between this form of fraud and financial fraud.
It provides several examples of aggrieving statements that are forbidden. The
common theme for all of them is that they embarrass people by mentioning events
or periods in their past. The Talmud
specifies, for example, that if people who had lived their lives badly have
repented and turned their lives around, it is forbidden for others to talk
about those old misdeeds. Two of the
very few Talmudic examples are about
converts: it is wrong to associate the children of Jewish converts with the
actions of their predecessors and it is similarly prohibited to remind converts
who are now students of Torah about
their former lives. Actually, our sages teach that when people convert they are
like newborn babies with a new beginning.
Our sages were very sensitive to the
difficulties that converts may face as they join a Jewish community. They
taught us that it is a Jewish mitzva to protect the dignity of our fellow human beings in
general, with particular emphasis on converts. This is an important and
valuable lesson for all of us to follow.
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