[Avodah] "Segula": Empty Promises

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Yitzchok Levine reposted from elsewhere:

> From http://mesora.org/segulas.htm
>
> Recently a Jewish newspaper ran an ad selling the promise of
> Divine intervention, commonly called "segulas". For $40 an
> organization called Chasidei Yerushalayim advertised it would
> read Tehillim and Shir HaShirim, promising these recitations to
> afford a "proven segula" or "guaranteed positive change" in
> one's life. Although I know that a wise person well versed in
> Torah texts will immediately dismiss such absurd claims, I was
> bothered by the ad's gross misrepresentation of Torah truths,
> and false hopes sold to ignorant Jews.

I used to be similarly bothered by ads.

But then again, by I've long been bothered by all sorts of advertisements. For example, I just now opened this past Sunday's Newark Star-Ledger, and almost the first ad I see says, in part, "WE BUY GOLD! ... We pay more than anybody!" (Page 30 of the Union County edition)

More than anybody??? Really? How can they possibly know that? Lies! It's all lies! Does the government really let them get away with that?

Yes, indeed, the gov't DOES let them get away with it. The logic is in a concept called "puffery". In short, although advertisers are not allowed to lie, customers *expect* certain sorts of exaggerations from the advertiser, and thus raising the threshold of which lies are impermissible.

My understanding is that Halacha accepts this concept, allowing puffery when most customers will not take the advertisement literally. My source is pages 23-29 of Vol 2 of the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary Society, in an article by Rabbi Aaron Levine. (Available on line at download.yutorah.org/1981/1053/735658.pdf) He writes there:

"Notwithstanding the deceptive potential of hyperbole in the performance realm, such statements do not mislead when they are not taken literally. Provided the public deflates the puffery in the advertising message to such an extent so as not to interpret the advertiser's claim as ascribing qualities to the product beyond its objective properties, the message would be free of any element of deception."

And so, as I wrote above, I *USED* to be bothered by these sorts of ads. But that is not a problem in the *ads*, because most people understand how to put such ridiculous claims in the proper context. Rather, the problem was in *me*, for being too much of a literalist, and not realizing that most people have more brains than I give them credit for.

I will conclude this rant by noting that in this area of halacha, like in so many others, we worry only about the average person. If the average person realizes that these "guarantees" are not truly guaranteed, then what's going on is not deceptive advertising, but merely standard salesmanship.

> I've heard of people baking challas with keys inside, or praying
> for 40 days at a precise location, believing this will somehow
> locate their mate, or make them fertile. But I also know God's
> words, "In every place you mention My name, I will come to you
> and bless you." (Exod. 20:21) Thus, God states that location is
> inconsequential.

Is this author serious???? The location of one's prayer is inconsequential????? Do I need to dignify this absurdity by responding with citations?

(Just to clarify, I do believe that the location where one prays can be significant. But that does not guarantee a positive answer to that prayer.)

Akiva Miller

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