NUM380 If a person suffered a loss of income and he does not know who caused it, then it is forbidden for him to suspect any Jew, for we may not freely label people reshaim. This halachah would apply, for example, to one who loses the contract he previously had with a government official, and does not know if someone informed on him to his boss; or if his boss decided of his own accord to fire him; or if something else happened. Regarding cases like these, the pasuk says בְּצֶ֖דֶק תִּשְׁפֹּ֥ט עֲמִיתֶֽךָ׃, “Judge your fellow favorably” (Vayikra 19:15). (However, if there is clear evidence that proves that a particular person was responsible for what happened--and the evidence meets the criteria below that delineate what constitutes clear evidence--then he is permitted to believe in his heart that this person was in fact responsible. Nevertheless, it is forbidden for him to harm that person based on this evidence, as we will explain later.) Even if he heard that a particular individual was responsible for causing him the damage, he may only consider the possibility that the information is true, and may not definitively believe it to be the truth. Furthermore, even if people confronted the individual and told him that he was rumored to have committed a terrible offence by causing harm to a fellow Jew, and the person was silent in the face of their accusation, one still cannot assume that his silence proves that the accusation is true. Although it is, in fact, a mitzvah for one to clear himself of suspicion and explain to the person who suspects him why he is innocent--as the pasuk says: וִהְיִיתֶ֧ם נְקִיִּ֛ים מֵיְהוָ֖ה וּמִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֑ל “And you shall be clean [of suspicion] before Hashem and Yisrael” (Bamidbar 32:22)--it is nevertheless possible that he felt that in this case it was better to keep quiet. Perhaps he realized that these people have so firmly believed the lashon hara and decisively concluded that he is indeed the responsible party, that they will not accept any answer he gives. He therefore decided that it is better for him to remain silent and be among those “who are insulted but do not insult, who listened to their disgrace and do not respond.” [apparently referencing Yoma 23a—AJL].

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NUM381 One who enters the Temple treasury to make a donation should wear neither: a folded garment, a shoe, a sandal, tefillin, or an amulet -- lest he grow up poor and people say: because of the sin of [stealing from] the treasury [and concealing the theft in the afore-mentioned articles], he has become impoverished; or, lest he grow rich and people say: from the proceeds of the treasury he has become wealthy. For one must be blameless in the sight of man as he must be in the sight of the Lord, as it is written: "and you shall be clean of the Lord and of Israel" (Shekalim 3:2)

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NUM384 Like an advertiser of any product who is worried that his or her product be perceived properly and not seen in a bad light, Judaism is careful that its product, that is, Judaism itself, is understood properly and not seen in a bad light.  Therefore, when a Jewish action is correct but the perception is negative, Judaism says the action should not be done, even though it is not wrong.  The classic example of this is the concept of marit ayin, in which a Jew may not do anything that is perceived as improper even though it is perfectly permissible (Shabbat 146b). Thus, an observant Jew should not enter a nonkosher restaurant merely to make a phone call because it may be perceived by others that this observant Jew is eating in this nonkosher establishment.  This very idea saved the entire Jewish people from destruction.  After the Jews made the Golden Calf, God wanted to destroy the Jewish people for their sin.  In order to save them, Moses argued that if the Jews were to be destroyed, the Egyptians would say that God destroyed the Jews because He was too weak to bring them in to the Promised Land, not because they had sinned.  Even though God was certainly strong enough and the Egyptian argument was factually false, God still did not destroy the Jews to avoid this possible misconception.  In a similar sense, a Jew must act in a manner that will be perceived as proper not only in the eyes of God but also in the eyes of his or her fellow Jew. The entire concepts of Kiddush Hashem and Chillul Hashem, sanctifying and desecrating God's name, are based on this idea of how people will perceive God.  If God’s perception is diminished because of a Jew’s actions, it is a sin.  If the perception of God is enhanced because of a Jew’s actions, it is a big mitzvah [Maimonides, Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah 5:1-2]

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NUM387 When considering the proper path in life, says the Mishna, it is not enough that we choose deeds that will bring honor only to God. They must also bring honor to other human beings (Mishna, Avot 2:1). Therefore, every time a person decides upon any behavior, he or she must be very conscious that not only is it the right thing to do in that individual's eyes and even in God's eyes, but it must likewise be behavior that others will interpret as ethical as well. This concept--acting ethically in both God's eyes and in the eyes of others--is derived from the Torah's story of the two and one-half tribes who wished to remain on the east side of the Jordan River. Even though they displayed the right motives, they had to demonstrate that their actions were ethical to God and also to their fellow Jews. (For this reason, the men left their homes and families to fight alongside the other tribes for fourteen years.) [Continued at [[NUM141]] Numbers 14:16 powerless AMJV 315]

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NUM382 [Biblical ethics conveniently fall into three categories. These are: the Ethics of Love, the Ethics of Justice and the Ethics of universal humanitarianism.] … No division ultimately exists between the ethics of Love and those of Justice -- the second of our three groups. They are both correlated, being based on the Brotherhood of Man, itself a corollary of the Fatherhood of God. The distinction between them is slight, though subtle. Whereas the ethics of Love deal expressly with acts of kindness, the ethics of Justice concern themselves with acts of human rights. The ethics of Love express the loftiness in man's nature; the ethics of Justice aim at protecting the rights of others. Justice is a prerequisite to love. When man's feelings go unchecked, his nobility and generosity have a clear road to self-expression. The purpose of justice is to curb wronGodoing. That is why many of the commands in the Torah are couched in the negative form. What man should do is the province of the first group of ethics. Within the domains of Justice it is to warn man what not to do that he may be innocent in the eyes of God and man [this verse]. Since God "judges the world with righteousness" and has "established the foundations of the earth on justice", [Ps. xcvi. 13), man, in his pursuit of holiness and perfection, must do likewise.

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NUM383 [Continued from [[EXOD330]] Exodus 19:6 holy LEHRMAN 32-33] The perfect Jew must be kind in thought and deed, must observe all his holy days, sanctify his life by daily prayer, etherialize his home by piety and ceremony. His home by piety and ceremony. He must honour his parents and respect the aged and the learned; he must be considerate to the needs of the poor and not withhold payment from the labourer when his task has been done. The ethically-minded Jew must have an unsullied record for clean living and moral thinking and be the possessor of an untarnished reputation for straightforwardness and integrity in business and in social relationship [this verse].

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NUM385 See [[EXOD1052]] Exodus 34:28 eat LEHRMAN 279-80

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NUM386 The Reubenites and Gadites made it clear that they were willing to be in the front line of the troops and would not return to the far side of the Jordan until the land had been fully conquered. Moses accepted the proposal, saying that if they kept their word, they would be "clear [veheyitem nekiyim] before the Lord and before Israel" [this verse]. This phrase entered Jewish law as the principle that "one must acquit oneself before one's fellow human beings as well as before God" (Mishna Shekalim 3:2). It is not enough to do right. We must be seen to do right, especially when there is room for rumor and suspicion.

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NUM388 The mishnah (Shekalim 3b) states: "A person must pass the judgment of people in the same manner as he must pass Hashem's judgment, as the verse says, 'And the land of Canaan will be subdued before Hashem; then afterwards you (the tribes of Reuven and Gad) will return and be guiltless before Hashem and before Israel, and this land will be your possession before Hashem' [this verse]. Another verse says, 'Put away from you a dissembling mouth, and perverse lips put far from you'" (Mishlei 4:24). This teaches that a person must avoid acting in a manner that will cause others to suspect him of inappropriate conduct, whether it be in his financial dealings or in his performance of mitzvos. As the Talmud (Chullin 44b) says, "Distance yourself from unpleasantness and the like." One must avoid acting in a haughty manner under all circumstances. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim, ch. 60) discusses the obligation of a chasan to recite Shema on the night of his wedding so that he should not seem pretentious by implying that he always concentrates while reciting Shema. Thus we see that the rule to avoid haughty behavior is even applicable when performing a mitzvah (Mishnah Berurah 70:14). Certain Rabbinical decrees were instituted with this idea in mind. For example, the Sages prohibit hanging clothes to dry during Shabbos--they were concerned that people would come to suspect a person of having laundered the clothes on Shabbos. This is also the reason it was prohibited for the person who collected the coins from the lishkah (office) of the Beis HaMikdash to wear long garments or long hair -- people would suspect him of hiding coins in his garments or hair. He was also required to speak continuously while he gathered the coins -- in this manner, people would not suspect him of hiding coins in his mouth (Shekalim 3:2). These laws give us a better understanding of how careful one must be in order that people should not suspect him of improper conduct. There are three essential reasons one must avoid suspicion: 1) it is prohibited to suspect an innocent person of having committed a sin. Therefore, a person who causes others to question his integrity and suspect him is guilty of placing a stumbling block in their way. 2) A person who does not care how others perceive him is considered arrogant and shameless. The Sages said, "A person who feels shame will not soon come to sin" (Nedarim 2a). The converse is also true--if he does not care how others perceive him, he will eventually succumb to sin. 3) People are easily influenced by one another. If people suspect that a person is guilty of transgressing a precept, this will weaken their own resolve to refrain from sin (Rashi, Devarim 25:18). It is told that the Chafetz Chaim himself was negatively affected by his surroundings: The first time he saw a Jew desecrate Shabbos in public, he suffered acute anguish and pain. The following Shabbos, his pain was less severe than it had been the previous week. A talmid chacham must take special care to distance himself from situations that might influence people to become lax in observance of the mitzvos. Sifsei Kohen writes that this rule applies to any person who is held in high esteem by his community (Yoreh De'ah 152:1). Yad Malachi writes that a talmid chacham must refrain from performing any act that people might consider to be a transgression, even if the act is permissible by law. As the Talmud Yerushalmi says, "[People] learn from wrongdoings, and they do not learn from virtuous deeds" (Moed Katan 2:5).

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