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It is written in our Torah portion this week: "You shall not put a stumbling block before the blind (לִפְנֵי עִוֵּר לא תִתֵּן מִכְשׁל); you shall fear God; I am the LORD" (Lev. 19:14). Just as no one can deny the validity of logic by means of argument, so no one can intelligibly deny that truth is necessary... Indeed, every person intuitively believes that truth exists, since otherwise he or she would not ask any questions or make any statements. In other words, we instinctively presuppose the value and reality of truth whenever we communicate, and we understand that there is an implied social contract to be honest and not to deceive others. Deceitful language puts a "stumbling block before the blind" when it is used to withhold important information from others. Politicians who make mutually exclusive promises to different groups of people are dishonest and cloak their true intentions. The same may be said about people who sell products or services using misleading claims.
Those who willfully misdirect others violate the ninth commandment not to bear false witness (Exod. 20:16; 23:1). Such deception is called "genevat da'at" (גְּנֵבַת דַעַת), or "stealing of the mind," since it defrauds another person's thinking. Misleading people is a violation, then, of both the commandment not to steal and the commandment not to bear false witness. The Torah warns us never to exploit other people's vulnerability or to take advantage of their good will and trust. Those who use false words and deceitful language to blind the eyes of the gullible will assuredly face judgment, as it is written: "No creature is hidden from God, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account" (Heb. 4:13). Lying to others is desecration, profanity, and ultimately a form of violence. Those who cause others to stumble will tragically discover that truth will be a stumbling block to them. May God help us to fear Him and to be yashar – upright in our communication with others. Therefore may each of us proclaim: "I have chosen the way of truth; I have set your judgments before me" (Psalm 119:30; also 2 Tim. 2:19).
דֶּרֶךְ־אֱמוּנָה בָחָרְתִּי
מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ שִׁוִּיתִי
de'·rekh · e·moo·nah · vah·char'·tee
meesh·pah·tey'·kha · sheev·vee'·tee
"I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set your judgments before me." (Psalm 119:30)
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