Q&A: Deceiving an Antisemite
Deceiving an Antisemite
Question
Hello Rabbi,
This is a bit of a strange story, and I’m focusing mainly on the specific point and not all the surrounding details.
I have an opportunity to work with a certain supervisor from an institution abroad for about half a year.
He’s very well suited to what I’m trying to achieve.
The problem is that there are strong indications that he is antisemitic and an extreme vegan.
(Based on content from an anonymous Twitter account that in all likelihood he was running, until he slipped up and exposed himself and then deleted the account. Besides the extreme views he expressed there, he also described how he indirectly made sure to trip up Jews and make life harder for meat-eaters. He is Christian and generally a rather strange person outside the professional scientific field that he researches, in which he is considered quite reasonable.)
I am Jewish, and I also eat meat.
I have the option of hiding the fact that I am Jewish and that I eat meat.
Is there any Jewish law problem with that, as though I’m sort of stealing from him?
After all, he is not behaving properly with this discrimination, which of course is not official at all… obviously if anyone asked him, he would say he is purely professional. Also, he works at a public institution, so this is absolutely forbidden for him, and he is obligated to act only on relevant professional considerations.
Answer
There is no prohibition in this at all. It is none of his business whether you are Jewish or eat meat.
True, there is a prohibition against concealing that you are Jewish. But in my opinion, in a situation like this there is no prohibition. See a survey here: http://shaalvim.co.il/torah/maayan-article.asp?id=455
Discussion on Answer
Apparently you need a subscription to enter the link.
Yoreh De’ah, section 157, paragraph 2.
Trying again: http://shaalvim.co.il/torah/maayan-article.asp?id=455
Actually, from there it sounds like one may conceal it; it is only forbidden to say explicitly that you are an idolater:
“It is forbidden for a person to say that he is an idol worshipper so that they will not kill him, but if, so that they will not recognize that he is Jewish, he changes his clothing at a time of persecution, it is permitted, since he is not saying that he is an idol worshipper.”
That is exactly what I said.
Something is wrong with the link. What prohibition is there against concealing one’s Judaism? What is its source?