[Avodah] truth telling

[Akiva Miller]

.

R' Joel Rich asked:

> Thought experiment: As a community, assume we know that we
> could tell a particular non truth to our children and X%
> would stay frum but if we told them the truth (X – Y)% would
> stay frum. At what values of X and Y (if any) would being
> not truthful be required and/or preferred?

Please note that his precise question contrasts telling a non-truth vs
telling the truth. In the real world one also has the option of
silence, and this is a critical point.

Withholding a truth is very different than telling a non-truth.

(1) Megilla 25 lists several parshios which may be read publicly, but
only without the Targum, for various reasons. And then there's another
category of parshios that may not be read publicly at all. (2) Chagiga
2:1 ("Ain Dorshin") lists certain topics that may be taught only in
small groups, and others that may not be taught at all, even
one-on-one.

The l'maaseh application of those rules can be discussed another time.
My point for now, is that we seem to have strong precedent for the
withholding of certain truths.

In contrast, telling a non-truth could constitute Ziyuf HaTorah, a
falsification of the Torah, which I have heard to be a Y'hareg V'al
Yaavor. There are many examples of this, but the one that comes to
mind is Megilla 9a, where they were forced to translate the Torah into
Greek. The Gemara shows that they made some minor changes, but none of
them were blatant falsifications of the Torah.

So my answer to RJR would be that his thought experiment will not
occur in reality. It is not a binary choice of telling a truth or
telling a fiction. There are many approaches in the middle, such that
one can craft his speech into something positive. (If RJR disagrees,
then please give a more concrete example.)

Akiva Miller