Stay far from a false word. (Shemos 23:7)
Here we are commanded to stay far from sheker. Why is it a mitzvah to stay far away? Why doesn’t the Torah just tell us that lying is forbidden, and leave it at that?
We may compare it to parah adumah. There was a certain leniency in regard to parah adumah: its ashes were prepared by a tevul yom, by someone who was not absolutely pure but rather had a minimal level of impurity. (This was done in order to go against the view of the Tzedukim.) Chazal therefore enacted all sorts of stringencies for parah adumah, so we won’t treat its purity lightly in other ways as well.
It is the same with speaking falsehood. There are cases in which we can and should change the truth a little bit (in order to keep the peace, or for other reasons specifically mentioned by Chazal). Therefore, to provide proper balance, the Torah commands us to be extra stringent about sheker and stay far from it.
Let’s talk a little about truth and falsehood and what are our obligations regarding it.
There are those who think it is only forbidden to lie if it causes damage or loss to someone, but there is nothing wrong with telling an “innocent” lie, such as saying, “My name is Beryl,” when in fact my name is Shmeryl. Because what does it matter? No one gains or loses anything if I say my name is Beryl. And since I don’t want people to know my name, why not say I am Beryl?
This is how many people look at it. But it is mistaken. Even if no one in the world cares what my name is, when I spoke a word of falsehood, I did a very destructive thing.
Falsehood by its very nature is counter to the world’s existence and could very well be a Biblical prohibition as well. (It says in the introduction of Sefer Chafetz Chaim to Hilchos Lashon Hara that someone who speaks lashon hara and tells a lie is transgressing the prohibition of מדבר שקר תרחק, “Stay far from a false word.”)
To just tell an “innocent” lie, to say something that isn’t correct, is the wrong thing to do. Speakers sometimes change the facts of a story in order to make it sound more impressive, and this isn’t right.
Gedolei Yisrael considered it very important to speak only the truth. There are wondrous stories about how very careful they were regarding truthfulness.
The Chafetz Chaim was known to be very exacting when it came to speaking the truth. If someone would ask his friend, “What time is it?” and his friend would start to tell him, “I think it’s five o’clock,” the Chafetz Chaim would get upset. How can you say, “I think it’s...?” If you know what time it is, say clearly, “It is five o’clock.” And if you don’t know what time it is, don’t answer. Or simply say, “I don’t know.”
In Yiddish there is an expression “Ich mein,” I think.... The Chafetz Chaim could not tolerate this expression. How can you say, “Ich mein?” Either you know, or you don’t know. Even if it is such a small thing as, “I think it’s five o’clock,” it is still considered speaking falsely. It is sheker. The Chafetz Chaim was very unhappy with the whole attitude of, “Oh, come on, is the time of day my responsibility? What does it even matter whether it is five o’clock or five after five? The approximate time is good enough for you!”
The world’s existence depends on truthfulness and justice. When Hakadosh Baruch Hu sits to judge the world, this means He determines the position of each star and the location of all the celestial bodies, that so-and-so must die and that another person will live a long life. If there is sheker, if the star assumes a different position and the heavenly bodies move from their proper location, and so forth, everything falls apart. The world simply cannot exist that way.
This is because mishpat, “justice,” is straightness. It means not being bent out of shape. This is essential to the existence of the world, to all of Hashem’s creation.
