Thursday, August 30, 2007
yashrus
My wife sometimes runs across people who have a true sense of yashrus in their business dealings, but sadly, she more often runs across people who seem to forget there is a cheilek of shulchan aruch called "choshen mishpat". Yesterday she got an e-mail and phone call from someone who wanted to ask mechila before Rosh haShana for not attributing to her magazine a dvar torah (one I had written) which the person got off her website. I was more than a little gratified (as was she) and impressed by that person’s thoughtfulness. The same cannot be said of the person who yesterday agreed to purchase advertising and asked that they be faxed a contract but today did not return any phone calls and instead had a secretary say that she guesses he changed his mind. I guess the reneger is a notch better than the people who are months late is paying for advertising they already received and the person who out-and-out stiffed my wife for payment. Does knowing that the former episode involved a reconstructionist rabbi and the latter episodes involved "frum" people make me cynical? You bet it does! : )
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Someone asked mechila for plagiarizing a dvar Torah??? That's a first. I, in that I publish anonymously, expect- even encourage- people to steal my divrei Torah. What benefit would I have if they say they saw it on a website called Havolim? Would the keys on my keyboard move in the kever? You, too, are sort of anonymous, at least on this site.
ReplyDeleteThe Chofetz Chaim says that is assur to speak negatively about anonymous others or groups of others.
ReplyDeleteAnother pertinent aspect (unfortunately, I do not remember where I read this) is that if one goes into a store to browse, without intending to buy, one commits an averah if one does not immediately tell the salesperson/shopowner that one is not intending to purchase, since one would be thereby raising unfounded hopes and causing eventual disappointment. I'm not sure if this would apply to such things as the instance of the person who asked for the advertising contract, but it, or a similar rule might well apply.
ReplyDeleteAnd what does the Chafetz Chaim say about sweeping pronouncements attributed to him?
ReplyDeleteBlie Neder, I'll look up the exact source for you this Shabbos and post it here.
ReplyDeleteHey, Anonymous, do you put your socks on under a blanket, as the Chafetz Chaim explicitly says to do in Mishna Brura?
ReplyDeleteThe Rambam's lashon in Deyos ch 7 is 'hamesaper devarim she'gormim...l'hazik chaveiro,' etc. Since the person being written about is anonymous "no harm no foul".
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, what you suggest would completely redefine the issur of lashon hara as having nothing to do with the damage caused. That may be a nice mussar vort, but l'halacha you need a strong ra'aya as the Rambam is pretty explicit against your sevara.
I don't like to delete comments, but what does "socks under the blanket" have to do with this? Come on, be fair, and at least hear the man out and let's see if there is a source for such a din.
ReplyDeleteLet me credit you now! I made the tiramisu from levana's that I found on your wife's website and it was much enjoyed! :)
ReplyDelete