EXOD679 In short, when we are dealing with those who are weak, and of whom we can take advantage without fear of retribution, we should remind ourselves that God identifies with the weak, and turns against those who hurt them. The Bible issues a particularly strong warning against anyone who takes advantage of orphans and widows [preceding and this verse]. While there is no evidence that God actually, and on a routine basis, exacts such punishment in this world, the verse's passionate language should be sufficient to frighten all God-fearers from taking advantage of the weak.

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EXOD763 Even those of us who acknowledge speaking lashon hara believe that we never spread malicious lies. And yet, if we pass on rumors, we inevitably end up disseminating lies as well. That is because rumors, in general, are not positive ("Hey, did you hear that so-and so is a wonderful person?"). Many, perhaps most, rumors are negative. If they also turn out to be false, then we have helped to pass on a damaging lie. "But I didn't know it wasn't true," we will say. This, however, is not a valid defense. Someone who drinks alcohol before driving does not intend to go out and kill anyone with their car. Yet, if a person routinely drinks and drives, he will, sooner or later, get into an accident and cause an innocent person grave injury. If we don't resist passing on rumors, then sooner or later-probably sooner-some of these rumors will be both negative and untrue. That we did not inflict the harm intentionally is as much of a consolation to the victim as is the claim of the drunk driver that he did not mean to maim his victim. Transmitting a false rumor also puts us in violation of a specific biblical command: "You shall not carry false reports" [this verse].

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EXOD777 Because the biblical ideals of charity, love of neighbor, and the sanctity of human life have for so long pervaded the Western world influencing people such as Bertrand Russell ... [thus, Russell, a lifelong political dissident, used to recall the words written on the flyleaf of his parents' family Bible [this verse)], people often don't realize that these notions came into the world through the doctrine of ethical monotheism introduced by the Hebrew Bible more than 3,000 years ago. But take away the divine foundations for teachings such as "Love your neighbor as yourself" (the basis for the Golden Rule), and they make no sense. As John Locke wrote in 1690: "Should that most unshaken rule of morality and foundation of all social virtue, 'That one should do as he would be done unto,' be proposed to one who has never heard of it before… may he not without any absurdity ask the reason why?" (Essay Concerning Human Understanding).

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EXOD805 What often intensifies animosity between people is the sense that the person we dislike dislikes us even more than we dislike him. This perception often causes us to feel justified in our own hatred ("It's not my fault. Look how much he hates me."). Therefore, the Torah commands that we try to break the pattern by doing our enemy a favor.

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EXOD834 Avoid not only outright lies, but also exaggerations that listeners might think are literally true. (This is implied by the wording of [this verse]. People often violate this command and try to prove a point through exaggeration. For example, I heard a talk show host making the case for the superiority of the two-parent family. To bolster his argument, he said that 99% of teenage violent crime is committed by young males raised without a father at home. But this is not accurate; the percentage is substantially less. The host feared, as many of us do, that the truth alone would not convince others; it needed to be "helped along." Such hyperbole is not only wrong, it also undercuts the speaker's credibility among those who are aware of the inaccuracy.

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EXOD843 Jewish law imposes obligations upon consumers as well. Thus, we may not ask a storekeeper the price of an item if we have no intention of buying it (Mishnah Bava Mezia 4:10). While comparison shopping is, of course, permitted, raising a storekeeper's hopes with questions about the price is a form of "oppressing with words" (ona'at d'varim), and is forbidden. For example, if you intend to buy a product over the Internet, but want to see the item first, you may not go into a store and pretend to be a potential purchaser so that the storekeeper will demonstrate the product for you. Such deceptions involve a person in one or more lies, and constitute a violation of the biblical prohibition "Keep far away from falsehood."

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EXOD844 Lawyers demean opposing witnesses and cast doubt on the veracity of their testimony, even when they have reason to believe it is true. Such behavior is also a violation of the biblical command to "stay far away from falsehood."

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EXOD847 The law "You shall rebuke, yes rebuke, your fellow" [Leviticus 19:17] applies to all instances in which you become aware of a wrong and have reason to believe that your words can make an impact. Thus a teacher should admonish a student who was acting inappropriately, and a student should rebuke a teacher in similar circumstances: "How do we know that a disciple sitting before his Master (who is judging a case and) who sees that the poor man is right, and the wealthy man wrong, should not remain silent (if his teacher is wrongly favoring the wealthy litigant)? Because it is said, 'Keep far away from falsehood'" [this verse, see Shevuot 31a].

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EXOD850 There are many acts prohibited in the Torah … but falsehood is the only sin that the Torah commands people to avoid actively.

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EXOD980 … we should try to pacify someone if that person is beginning to act precipitously out of anger. The Torah depicts Moses employing such a strategy vis-à-vis God Himself. In Exodus 32, while Moses is on Mount Sinai communing with God, the Children of Israel start to worship a golden calf. Outraged, God says to Moses: "Now leave Me be that My anger may blaze forth against them and that I may destroy them, and make of you a great nation" (32:10). Moses appeases God, "Let not your anger blaze forth against your people… Turn from Your blazing anger and renounce the plan to punish Your people" (32: 11 – 12). Moses also employs other strategies to assuage the Lord's wrath. He asks God to remember Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and "how You swore to them by Your Self and said to them, 'I will make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, and I will give to your offspring the whole land of which I spoke, to possess forever.'" This plea proves successful: "and the Lord renounced the punishment He had planned to bring upon His people" (32:14). We should learn from Moses' encounter with God that when someone who is angry is about to shift from venting to engaging in destructive behavior, we should do whatever we can to stop him.

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