DEUT1265 If a slave ran away, it was forbidden to return him to his master [this verse]; in the [American] South, it was a crime not to return him, and in the infamous Dred Scott decision of 1857, the Supreme Court ruled--in direct contravention of the Bible--that a runaway slave who had achieved freedom in the North could be forcibly returned to the South and to slavery.

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DEUT1300 As Maimonides explains, "By this injunction, we are commanded to fulfill every obligation that we have taken upon ourselves by word of mouth" (Book of the Commandments, Positive Commandment #94). Although this verse seems to be speaking of someone who has made a formal vow to do something, subsequent Jewish law regards it as obligatory to fulfill whatever you have said you were going to do. Therefore, keep your word, particularly if someone is relying on it, and evening when it is inconvenient to do so. Not infrequently, we offer to do someone a favor. At the time we commit ourselves, we really intend to do it. Later, however, we realize that the favor is more inconvenient or time-consuming than we originally thought, and we are tempted not to follow through. Nonetheless, we remain obligated to carry out our word (see Rabbi Jonah Gerondi, The Gates of Repentance 3:183). Rabbi Avrohom Ehrman notes that the responsibility to keep our word increases in proportion to the degree upon which it is relied. Thus he rules that if we tell someone, "I will take you to the airport" (a long drive), and a difficulty arises, "The speaker may back down from his word. However, if the passenger says, for example, 'I'm relying on you,' and the speaker responds, 'Yes, you can rely on me,' that is considered a promise, because the passenger [fully] expects the speaker to keep his word." (Ehrman, Journey to Virtue, 93). One advantage of this is that you will be more cautious before promising to do something. Some people casually offer to do favors in order to be well thought of, but don't follow through, and incur far greater animosity than they would have done if they had not made the offer in the first place. Rabbi Aaron Levine summarizes this aspect of the Jewish tradition on truthtelling: "One should never make a commitment unless one fully intends to carry it out." (Levine, Case Studies in Jewish Business Ethics, 27).

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DEUT1321 "Lashon hara for a purpose" is permitted when someone is doing something very wrong, and there is reason to believe that publicizing this fact will pressure the person to change his behavior. For example, Jewish law, basing itself on [this verse], invests the right to initiate divorce in the hands of the husband; therefore it is the man who must grant his wife a get, a Jewish divorce. If a man refuses to do so, the woman remains an agunah, "a chained woman," and is forbidden to all other men [since the Tenth Century, Jewish law has ruled that a woman must accept the get willingly. If she refuses to do so, then the husband is likewise forbidden to marry another.] In instances in which a man refuses to give a get, and a rabbinical court has made clear it that he should do so, it is permitted to publicize this fact, and to exert a variety of pressures on the man, including publicizing his behavior in newspapers (particularly Jewish newspapers), picketing his residence and/or place of business, and walking out of a synagogue service in which he is accorded any honor (such as being called to the Torah for an aliyah). Even in such a case, however, we should abide by the rules of lashon hara and reveal only that information which the public needs to know about the case (thus, it does not seem right to reveal embarrassing information about the person that is extraneous to the issue of the divorce).

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DEUT1348 See [[NUM106]] Numbers 12:2 us TELVOL1 336

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DEUT1380 See [[LEV358]] Leviticus 19:13 morning TELVOL1 510

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DEUT1392 See [[EXOD1040]] Exodus 34:7 parents TELVOL 1 87

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DEUT1456 We must guard ourselves against our weaknesses. The Rabbis advise us to "make a fence around the Torah" (The Ethics of the Fathers 1:1). A fence protects a garden from being violated. This admonition is often applied to matters of Jewish ritual law. Thus, because the Torah forbids lighting a fire on the Sabbath, later Jewish law also forbids even holding a match on Shabbat, since doing so increases the chance that we will use it and violate the holy day of rest. Once we have identified our weaknesses, we should refrain not only from the forbidden activity itself, but also from any behavior that may cause us to engage in it. For example, a married man attracted to a woman other than his wife should not allow himself to be alone in a closed room with her. [According to traditional Jewish law, halacha, a man should not be alone in a closed room with a woman with whom he is forbidden to have relations (unless it is an immediate relative)]. Had this advice been followed some years ago by an American president who had a proclivity for inappropriate extramarital behavior, it would have saved him from behavior that humiliated him and his family, and almost cost him the presidency. Regarding the temptation to deceive, the Torah not only prohibits using false weights and measures, but outlaws having them in our possession. The assumption is that their presence will tempt us to use them (just as having a marked deck of cards can tempt a gambler). Therefore we must destroy them "so that they do not become a snare" (Sefer Charedim, number 97; this and previous verse]. What fences do you need to erect?

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DEUT1459 See [[EXOD413]] Exodus 20:12 honor TELVOL1 13

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DEUT1502 The Torah curses those who take advantage of another's naïveté or lack of knowledge [this verse]. Since each of us has areas of "blindness"--as well as areas of expertise that enable us to take advantage of others--we may understand this curse as being directed against all those who mislead and deceive others, who engage in acts of g'neivat da'at, "stealing another's mind."

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DEUT1505 Bible commentators understand [this verse] as referring not only to someone who strikes his unsuspecting neighbor physically, but also to someone who injures another by speaking lashon hara, an activity that takes place behind the victim's back. The Psalmist promises God's vengeance on such gossips: "He who slanders his friends in secret, I will destroy" (Psalms 101:5).. One of the great evils of lashon hara is that because it does not happen in the victim's presence, he is unable to defend himself.

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