GEN1237 In the thinking of R. Isaiah ha-Levi Horowitz (Poland, 1565-1630), training in truth-telling is the centerpiece of the moral education of youngsters.   The ideal is for the father to spare no effort in emphasizing to his child the importance of truth-telling. Toward this end, a father should magnify the punishment for those who lie and glorify the reward for those who speak truthfully.  If the child is caught lying, the father should admonish him harshly instilling great trepidation in him.  This approach will guarantee that the child will always go on the straight path, even when not under the father’s supervision. Because the child will feel compelled to always tell the truth, he will always depart from evil and do good.   Further insight into the connection between truth-telling and the ability to resist the temptation of veiled misconduct can be obtained from the connection the sages make between truth-telling and belief in God: He who speaks truth harbors belief (emunah) in God. [In contract] chronic liars harbor idolatrous fancies (Midrash Pinhas).   R. Eleazer also said: Whoever dissembles his speech is as though he had engaged in idolatry: Here it is written, And I shall seem to him as a deceiver [this verse]; and elsewhere it is said, they are vanity, and the work of deceivers (Jeremiah 10:15).   The key to understanding this connection between deceptive speech and idolatry, according to R. Judah Loew b. Bezalel (Bohemia, ca. 1525-1609), is that the seal of the Almighty is truth.   He who possesses the attribute of truthfulness, therefore, clings to the Almighty.   To engage in deceptive speech, however, amounts to embracing something that has no existence at all. What idolatry and deceptive speech share is that both are vanities; that is, they have no real existence.   Hence, whoever dissembles his speech is as though he engaged in idolatry.  Judaism’s standard for truth-telling makes it a sin to lie even when the fabrication causes no harm or damage to others.  Two varieties of harmless lies are identified: the lie that brings some advantage or benefit, and the lie that brings no discernible benefit.   Both varieties are prohibited by dint of Torah law.   The latter variety is more egregious and warrants greater punishment because it reflects a love of falsehood for its own sake.  CASE 4-5