GEN950 The Talmud Yevamot 65b says that a person may lie for the sake of peace …   What does this now mean? Is an adulterous husband now “permitted” to lie to his wife about his affair “for the sake of peace,” for example, so that his wife doesn’t divorce him? This principle can be extended to absurd limits.  What is this passage actually telling us? …   [Lengthy discussion]  while it might be technically and biblically permitted to tell half-truths in nonlegal situations, Judaism [cannot] permit this “loophole” to be used by the common person in an everyday situation. Everyone would take advantage of it and misuse it, much the same way that people lie today in American society … a Jew should always try to tell the truth, whether in a courtroom situation or a social situation, as we cannot hope to differentiate between a “permissible” lie and a “prohibited” lie.  AMEMEI 293-6