142 Torah Book & Portion, Book of Numbers, Shelach (Numbers 13:1–15:41), Source Book Keys, DORFFLOV NUMBERS | 15:32 man — NUM168 (Continued from [[LEV471]] Leviticus 19:16... NUM168 (Continued from [[LEV471]] Leviticus 19:16 idly DORFFLOV 65). Thus, even though the Torah says cryptically that Zelophehad had "died for his own sin" (Numbers 27:3) without identifying it, Rabbi Akiva asserted that Zelophehad was the unnamed man in Numbers 15:32–36 who chopped wood on the Sabbath and suffered the death penalty for desecrating the Sabbath. Rabbi Judah ben Betaira then said to Rabbi Akiva: "Akiva, one way or another, you will have to answer for what you said: if you are right [that Zelophehad is the one who desecrated the Sabbath], the Torah shielded him [by not spelling out his name] while you divulged that; and if not, you have maligned a righteous person." (B. Shabbat 96b). Even if Zelophehad had desecrated the Sabbath, by Rabbi Akiva's time Zelophehad had long been dead, and so there was no practical reason that anyone had to know that. Without such a pragmatic justification for divulging the sin, Rabbi Akiva was at fault for violating the strictures against "speaking of the bad" (lashon ha-ra). Thus, if I am interpreting Jewish law to allow professionals to keep confidences that reflect badly on the client and may even cause harm to third parties, I would surely insist that professionals keep their clients' confidences when nobody else has a practical reason to know those facts. Share Print Source KeyDORFFLOVVerse15:32Keyword(s)manSource Page(s)65 Switch article NUMBERS | 15:31 transgression — NUM167 This teaches us that if he repents before ... Previous Article NUMBERS | 15:34 specified — NUM169 See [[DEUT934]] Deuteronomy 18:22 prophet ... Next Article