Back to Question of the Week Back to Archives Q: What does Jewish law say about a Jew whose behaviour is likely to reflect badly on the Jewish people? For example, a Jew deals dishonestly in business with a Gentile who has very limited or no contact with other Jews. Due to the Gentile's experience with this particular Jew, the Gentile may conclude that most Jews are dishonest in business. Bennett
		A: As you know, the Jewish experience with non-Jews has been very mixed. This has created an ambivalence that is quite evident in Jewish law as it relates to Gentiles. The ambivalence is evident not only in the differing attitudes of various rabbis and scholars who face different situations, but even within the decisions of a single rabbis. In fact, we can see ambivalence even within a few brief paragraphs from Maimonides' Mishneh Torah, Laws of Theft and Lost Objects, Chapter 11: 3. It is permitted to keep the lost object of a gentile, as it is said (Deuteronomy 22:3): "[You are to return ...] the lost item of your brother." [And "your brother" implies a fellow Jew.] And one who returns such an item commits a transgression, because he is strengthening the hand of the wicked of the world; But if he returned it in order to sanctify the Name [of God], in order that they [the gentiles] should praise the Jews and know that they are trustworthy/faithful people, that is to be praised, and whenever the Name might be profaned, their lost objects are forbidden [to us] and we are obliged to return them. And in any case, we secure their property against robbers just as we would the property of Jews, because of the Ways of Peace. 4. The result of a gentile's mistake is like their lost object, and is permitted to us. This is when they made the mistake themselves, but it is forbidden to try to cause them to make a mistake. 5. What does this mean? For example if the gentile makes an error in a calculation. And the Jew must say, "Look, I'm relying on your calculation, and I don't know anything, but I'll pay you what you tell me." If he says something of this sort, it is permitted [to benefit from the gentile's mistake], but if he didn't say such a thing, it is forbidden, lest the gentile decide to check, and God's Name ends up being desecrated. So while the law may start from a point of assumed enmity between Jews and non-Jews (an assumption that can certainly be justified by the history of non-Jewish treatment of Jews), and derives certain discriminatory rulings from that assumption, there are a number of principles that bring the bottom line of practical legislation to the side of scrupulous fairness in dealing with non-Jews. The first, and most negative, of these, Maimonides does not mention here, but refers to elsewhere. That is that we do things "mishum evah -- because of enmity." In other words, because we are aware that there can be a very dangerous enmity between the Jews and non-Jews, we avoid doing anything that might unnecessarily intensify that enmity. The second is that the name, i.e. the reputation, of the God of Israel is dependent on our actions. Doing deeds that give God a good reputation is considered "kiddush hashem -- sanctification of God's name." Conversely, doing things that give our God a bad rap is called "hillul hashem -- profanation of the Name." To sanctify, and not profane, God's name are extremely important commandments, and we see in the above passage, that they override other concerns for Maimonides. Finally, Maimonides mentions that we do some things "because of the Ways of Peace -- mipnei darkhei shalom." The pursuit of peace is a central principle of Judaism (notwithstanding the Name-profaning actions of certain Jews that one occasionally reads about in the paper). And certain actions, while they might not otherwise be required by a narrow reading of the law, are nonetheless required for the sake of peace. In a context somewhat related to the present one, the Talmud states (Gittin 61a): "Our sages taught: We provide sustenance for the non-Jewish poor together with the Jewish poor, and visit the sick of the non-Jews with the sick of the Jews, and bury the dead of the non-Jews with the Jewish dead, because of the Ways of Peace." And the Zohar says: "God is Peace and God's name is Peace." written by Rabbi Jeremy Schwartz
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