NUM104 Some students claim that since they are prepared for the exam and merely let others copy from them, they are doing nothing wrong. They claim that this kind of cheating, called passive cheating, is not wrong since the cheating students would get their information elsewhere anyway. Why lose friendships by covering up one's paper? Is this argument valid? The situation can be analogous to gossiping, or the sin called, in Hebrew, lashon hara. If people want to speak evil of others, but no one wants to listen, this sin could not be committed. In cheating, as well, if all who studied refused to passively cheat by letting students copy, no one would be able to cheat in this manner and they would have to develop more dubious, less reliable methods or not cheat at all. And if one just sits passively and lets others copy, Judaism does hold that person responsible. In the classic sin in the Torah about speaking evil about another person, Miriam spoke evil to Aaron about their brother, Moses. Although she did the speaking, as the verb is in the singular, the Torah [this verse] records that both Miriam and Aaron spoke, in order to teach that one who listens passively is just as guilty as the one who speaks. The Talmud (Arachin 15) states that this one act kills three individuals: the speaker, the listener, and the person being spoken about. Using this analogy, it can clearly be seen that a person who cheats passively is no less guilty than the active cheater, even though the passive cheater does not benefit. In fact, Judaism demands even more. Not only may a person not passively cheat by letting others copy, Judaism also expects a Jew to stop the cheating of the other people. If someone sits by and sees a sin being committed and could have stopped it, that person is also guilty (Shabbat 54b). Therefore, the honest student must try to prevent the cheating. Of course, the possible recriminations from other students may make it psychologically very difficult to openly tell the teacher who cheated, but there are other options. The threat to tell the teacher before the act is committed often can act as a deterrent. If a group of students can ban together in the effort, it becomes far easier. And when finally telling the teacher, it could easily be done anonymously, thus easing the pressure a bit from the person informing.