Q&A: Lying Without Hurting Anyone
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Lying Without Hurting Anyone
Question
Hello Rabbi,
There’s a thing in the IDF where some soldiers make a small scratch on their scalp so they can show the doctor that they have a scar and get an exemption for hair length restrictions.
Is there a moral problem with this? After all, no one is really harmed by it, but still it feels a bit crooked…
Answer
It is a lie, and lying is problematic. On the other hand, the army’s demand for this or that haircut seems to me fairly capricious, so I do not see any prohibition in it. The power is in the army’s hands, and what you can do to defend yourself is only to lie. Of course, all this applies only to matters that do not harm military functioning, your fellow soldiers, or anyone else.