אמת ושקר

(2) 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...

(1) And the LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and set out; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have decided on one of his sons to be king.” (2) Samuel replied, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” The LORD answered, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ (3) Invite Jesse to the sacrificial feast, and then I will make known to you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I point out to you.”

When two people quarrelled Aharon went and sat down with one of them and said to him, "My son, know that your friend has said, 'I am ashamed before him because I have sinned against him.' " Aaron would sit with him until he had dispelled the ill feeling from his heart. Then Aaron would go and sit with the other one and say to him, "Know that your friend is saying, 'Woe is to me! How shall I raise my eyes and look at my friend? I am ashamed before him because I have sinned against him.' " Aharon would sit with him until he had dispelled the ill feeling from his heart. When the two friends later met, they embraced and kissed each other....

(16) 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).

(17) 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.