QUESTION: My school is holding a bake sale to raise funds for a worthy Tzedakah. I like to bake and my brother likes to eat. I am concerned that my brother will eat what I have baked – or at least some of it, regardless of any harsh warning that I will give him. Am I allowed to cover my baked treats with tin foil and lie by marking on the foil, “Cauliflower Croquets”? He hates vegetables so that should do the trick.
ANSWER: A similar question has been asked as to whether one is permitted to place a sticker on a package that contains Matzahs within it that one is shipping which says, “Glass Inside.” This is to help ensure that the postal service handles the package gently, so the Matzahs within it do not crack en route to their owner. Rav Elyashiv ZT”L says that one may not write, “Glass Inside” as that is a lie. However, one may simply write, “Glass.” In such a case, the person is not actually lying since he never said that the glass was inside the box. He is being misleading though, which is permitted in this case due to its laudable purpose – to protect the financial interests of the buyer i.e., the buyer paid lots of money for intact Matzahs and labeling the package in this way may keep them intact. The Toldos Aharon Rebbe ZT”L ruled that it is permitted to write, “Glass Inside” because people universally understand that to mean, “Please handle this as if it is was glass,” and not that it is actually glass. Rav Chaim Kanievsky ZT”L also ruled that it is permitted and based his ruling on the Talmud in Yevamos 115b. The Talmud states that we can assume that something found in a box with the word “Terumah” on it is not actually Terumah (and forbidden by a non-Kohen to eat). Rather, we assume that someone probably wrote it to keep people away from it. Dayan Fisher ZT”L disagreed with Rav Chaim Kanievsky because in the case of the Talmud, the person is merely placing it in a pre-existing box that had the word, “Terumah” on it. There is no proof from the Talmud, however, that one may actually write something false on the outer box (like, “Glass Inside” in your case).
It also bears mentioning that there is an additional factor at play here - you are trying to keep your brother away from a possible sin. Lying to prevent someone from sinning is permitted in certain circumstances.
So, may one write, “Glass Inside” on a package with Matzahs inside of it? One should speak to his or her Halachic authority for a ruling.
