This week, we continue with translating the Chofetz Chaim’s Sefer entitled, “Sefas Tamim.” Sefas Tamim, from which our foundation takes its name, focuses on the importance of honesty in word and in deed. We now continue with our translation of Chapter 2, which discusses the great punishment that awaits those that are deceitful.
“The sin of ‘deceit’ is the cause of the lowering of the world’s standards and the cause of the cycle of poverty returning to the world. It is very unusual to find nowadays a rich man who will retain his wealth throughout his life. Rather, his wealth only lasts for a half or a third of his life, or on occasion, for only several years. This is something that has not happened before - that a man's wealth would only last a few years or months. All this is because of this reason (i.e. lies and deceit) which was the cause of this poverty, since it is well known that all Jews are guarantors and responsible for each other.
If it is apparent that a particular man is committing these crimes (lying and deceiving) yet his wealth remains intact, then it is with absolute certainty, that his wealth is only being preserved to his detriment as the verse states (Devarim 7:10) ‘And he pays back to his enemies right to their face to destroy them,’ and in his end, he would be despicable in the World to Come. He will gnash his teeth and his children will beg for food, because when money is illegally acquired and intermixed with money legitimately obtained, one destroys the other, as was described above, and as this idea has been expressed by the daughter of Nakdimon ben Gurion, cited in Gemara Kesubos (66b).”
