GEN1396 Rav said: “From here it is to be derived that a Torah scholar should not go out alone at night” Chulllin 91a  TEMIMAH-GEN 141

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GEN1398 After fighting the angel and getting injured (a battle of morality, no matter whose interpretation is followed), Jacob is instructed not to eat the sciatic nerve as a remembrance of this battle.   This Jewish law continues until today, tying the prohibition of eating part of the animal to the spiritual battle between Jacob and the angel.   Many more examples can be cited from the Torah (such as eating the Paschal lamb, eating matzah, manna, and so forth), which would show the same principle of tying food in Judaism to morality.   AMEMEI 73

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GEN1399 We are obligated to accompany people who leave our house.   The Daas Zkainim explains the reason for the prohibition against eating the thigh-vein in the following manner: The night before Yaakov’s confrontation with Aisav, Yaakov was left by himself.   He was attacked and in the ensuing struggle Yaakov was wounded in the thigh. Yaakov’s children behaved inconsiderately in leaving their father by himself; they should have remained with him.   Therefore the Almighty imposed upon Yaakov’s descendants a prohibition against eating the thigh muscle in order to insure that they would remember to accompany others.   When someone leaves our house, we are obligated to accompany him at least four amos (app. 8 feet) SMA, Choshen Mispot 427:11.   We must show the visitor the way and wan him of any pitfalls. Ahavas Chesed, part 3, ch. 2.   PLYN 107

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GEN1397 [A] part of the land animal that is forbidden [to eat] is the gid hanasheh, sinew of the thigh muscle [this verse]. This commandment links every generation of Jews to the transformative moment in Jacob’s life.   (By Mary L. Zamore, "An Overview of Ritual Kashrut") SACTAB 128

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GEN1400 Do not eat the sinew of the thigh-vein. During a fearsome nighttime struggle, Esav’s angel sought to eliminate Yaakov and his descendants, but succeeded only in wounding Yaakov (in the thigh, Ed.). The sun, however, cast its rays on Yaakov’s wound, curing him. This event is a metaphor for the Jewish People's existence in Exile. Widely scattered throughout the world, the Jewish nation will suffer many types of hardships and ordeals at the hands of the peoples amongst whom they are dispersed. Each Jew should know that even so, the Jewish nation will survive and the redemption will come. By keeping this mitzvah and internalizing its message, Jews gain reassurance. Thus strengthened, the nation is better able to retain its faith, righteousness and trust in Hashem.

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GEN1401 Fundamentally, all the ethical questions of the Internet have parallels in the ordinary “bricks and mortar” world. Yet … one characteristic emerges as the special ethical challenge of the Internet: anonymity. The highest level of human interaction is the face-to-face encounter, and when this degree of rapport is created, the sense of empathy and the ethical motivation are highest. When we look into the face of a fellow human being, we sense the common human element we share and recognize ourselves, as if looking in the mirror. “As the reflection in the water is to the face, so is the heart of man to man.” Proverbs 27:19   Empathy opens our hearts and makes them as one. As the Torah tells us, Esau was determined to take vengeance on Jacob, but he relented when the anonymous meeting of armed camps turned into a face-to-face meeting of the twin brothers; at that moment Esau ran toward his brother and hugged and kissed him [this verse]. Similarly, Joseph was unable to keep up his carefully planned act of haughty aloofness with his brothers after several face-to-face meetings; his emotions overcame him and he revealed himself to them. Genesis 45:1-2   As the individual element of communication is diminished, so is this psychic connection between individuals. This idea has entered common discourse in the expression a “bare-faced lie.” The highest level of insolence is to lie to someone to their face; when their face is hidden, our ethical scruples tend to be diminished. Once other people become depersonalized in our minds, we lose sight of our ethical obligations to them. In a face-to-face encounter, we actually see the person; if we walk from room to room, we at least hear their voice. A telephone conversation is held over a distance, but at any rate we hear the voice’s reproduction in real time; even a letter bears the sender’s personal imprint through his or her unique handwriting. In traditional communication, “the medium is the message”-the tokens of individuality are an inherent part of the encounter. But the Internet strips our communication of all personal embellishments apart from the actual words of the sender. The factors of distance and anonymity increase the opportunity as well as the temptation for deceit. This anonymity plays some role in all of the Internet [ethical] questions.   [One issue] pertain[s] to using false identities, which is much easier in the chat rooms of cyberspace than in the physical world. Another relates to sending copies of emails without obtaining the permission of their authors and primary recipients or informing them that there are now many other readers peeking into the correspondence—a further exploitation of the Internet’s potential for creating anonymity. Others pertain to the great anonymous ease with which we can copy material protected by copyright or snoop on our employees. The key is to remember that there is a real, live human being at the other end of the connection, a person with feelings and rights. We need to be sensitive to the feelings and expectations of other chat room members, of e-mail recipients, of artists, and of employees.   The ultimate face-to-face encounter is with the Creator. Judaism’s sources on ethics tell us that when we live up to the ethical challenges we face, we can, in a certain sense, “look God in the face” without being ashamed of our behavior. The prophet Isaiah tells us that at the time of the future redemption, when all our human relations will be repaired, we will see God “eye to eye.” Isaiah 52:8.  If we conduct ourselves in the anonymity of cyberspace just as we would in a personal encounter with a fellow human being, then we will be worthy of the Divine glance God’s special providence.  MEIR 211-2

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GEN1402 R. Shimon b. Lakish expounded: “It is permitted to flatter the wicked in this world, as it is written: ‘For I have, therefore, seen your face as one sees the face of God’” Sotah 41b TEMIMAH-GEN 143

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GEN1403 What is the intent of “as one sees the face of God”? R. Levi said: “This is analogous to the situation of a man who was invited to   the home of his friend, and who perceived that the latter sought to kill him – whereupon he said to him: ‘This dish tastes like the one I ate in the king’s place.’  The latter, upon hearing this said to himself: ‘He is acquainted with the king,’ and, fearing him, did not kill him” Sotah 41b TEMIMAH-GEN 143

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GEN1404 See [[LEV22]] Leviticus 2:1 offering CHINUCH 81-2

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GEN1405 … realism… demands that we occasionally kowtow to important people. Certainly in a day when rulers held the power of life and death over their subjects, flattery was regarded as permissible, even reasonable. Consider the classic case recounted in the Mishnah. Agrippa, whom the Romans appointed king of Judea in the first century C.E., was the grandson of Herod the Idumean (a nation forcibly converted to Judaism) and his Jewish wife, Marianme.  Once during Sukkot, Agrippa read from the Torah to the people assembled in the Temple courtyard. “When he reached the words: ‘As King, you must appoint one of your Jewish kin,’ Agrippa’s eyes overflowed with tears. The people then shouted to him, “Fear not, Agrippa, you are our brother, you are our brother.’ But because of this flattery, certain Talmudic sages said, Jerusalem was later destroyed” Sotah 41a.  The Bible recounts another story about accepting flattery: the patriarch Jacob’s return to Canaan. After working for his father-in-law Laban for more than 20 years, Jacob finally is coming home. As he comes near to where he was raised, his scouts tell him that his brother Esau approaches with a retinue of 400 men. Jacob has not seen Esau since robbing him of his proper blessing.   He so fears this reunion that he worries for his children’s lives, taking elaborate measures to safeguard them. Yet when the brothers finally meet, Jacob unblushingly tells Esau, “To see your face is like seeing the face of God” [Genesis 32:8 – 9, this verse] in other words, if we perceive a situation to be life-threatening, then flattery—like almost everything else prohibited by Jewish law—is momentarily permitted. Over the centuries, various halakhists have posed more scenarios that permit flattery, including threats to one’s body or one’s assets. At the same time, they have suggested strategies to avoid lying: For instance, if you perceive a wrongdoing but decide not to protest, then try to say nothing at all. Or if you must speak up, limit yourself to the truth, even if that involves some exaggeration. Furthermore, if it is customary in your society to honor powerful people, follow the usual rights of homage, such as inquiring solicitously about their well-being. One authority go so far as to say that necessary flattery is permitted in this world, since the Bible states only that is eliminated in the world to come Entziklopediyah Talmudit, s.v. “Hanufah.”   Thus with regard to flattery, even Jewish law doesn’t try to give us ironclad, inflexible rules. The rabbis who formed our legal tradition knew that some areas must be left to personal discretion. Today, our congregational rabbi is available to give us counsel. So, too, is a literature of guidance created by our musarists. And we can also look to oral folk wisdom, like the Ladino adage that warns us: “Everyone’s friend is no one’s friend.” BOROJMV 207-8

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