Q&A: The Prohibition of Lying
The Prohibition of Lying
Question
Do you think there is a prohibition against lying in a case where it does not harm others or deceive others, and certainly not a lie meant to make people respect you and think you’re a genius or strong, etc., but just an ordinary lie? For example, someone asks you where you were last week (you were traveling abroad), and you don’t have the energy for him to grill you about it, so you tell him you were at home?
Answer
The prohibition of lying is a very vague matter. On the face of it, there is no prohibition against lying in Jewish law (except in a religious court), and this is a moral prohibition. Admittedly, from Rabbenu Yonah’s Shaarei Teshuvah it seems that this is a halakhic prohibition, but I am very doubtful about that.
Therefore, this should be discussed in moral rather than halakhic terms. Morally speaking (that is, toward the other person), I do not see a problem with such a lie, aside from the fact that it gets me used to lying. So it is preferable to avoid it, but it is not really necessary, and one need not pay a heavy price for it.
Discussion on Answer
I get it from the simple reading. “Keep far from a false matter” is not counted in the main enumerations of the commandments. Even among those who wrote that there is a prohibition, some qualified it as applying only where the lie causes harm (and the question here was about a lie without harm).
See a brief overview here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kikar.co.il/_amp/parshas/379116
And regarding the Shulchan Arukh, I do not know what you meant. There is no such section in Yoreh De’ah, and not such a subsection in Choshen Mishpat either.
To each his own simple reading. When I read the verse, I don’t see any hint that it is specifically talking about a lie that causes harm (unless I derive it from the adjacent phrase, “and do not kill the innocent and righteous”), but rather that falsehood is something one should keep far away from.
That article is very partial; it is recommended to look at the book Niv Sefatayim, for example, for a more in-depth discussion. Even here https://www.hamichlol.org.il/%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A1%D7%95%D7%A8_%D7%A9%D7%A7%D7%A8 you can find a more comprehensive discussion.
Some of the enumerators of the commandments did count it (see there), and in any case that is not necessarily any kind of criterion.
I don’t know which edition you have; in mine it appears there. For convenience I’ll quote it: “If a person’s relative died and he was not informed, there is no obligation to tell him, even if it is his father or mother, and regarding this it is said, ‘He who spreads slander is a fool.’ And it is permitted to invite him to an engagement meal, a wedding, or any celebration, since he does not know. But if he asks about him, one should not lie and say, ‘He is alive,’ as it is said: ‘Keep far from a false matter.’”
I use the Responsa Project. For some reason it didn’t scroll me further down and stopped at subsection 1 or 2. Strange.
In any case, the source for this ‘Jewish law’ is an incident in Moed Katan 20b, and it is very far-fetched to derive Jewish law from there. Especially since the Talmud itself derives three things from there, and this is not one of them. So from the straightforward reading of the Talmud, this seems at most like a proper practice. And as is known, the Shulchan Arukh does not always make sure to distinguish between binding Jewish law and proper conduct.
It’s not clear to me where you get this "simple reading" from, but most halakhic decisors hold otherwise (not just Rabbenu Yonah at all). It is also fairly explicit in the Shulchan Arukh (Yoreh De’ah 402:12).