In every area known to us, physical or abstract, we make use
of a scale ranging from zero to whatever is the maximum.
Between "a rainy day" and a "not rainy day," there is a vast
range of in-between levels which are gauged most precisely by
the barometer and the millimeters of rainfall. The range
between hot and cold is similarly measured off in degrees and
partial degrees to a fine precision. Earth tremors are also
measured on the Richter scale that ranges between one and
ten. But in areas which we cannot measure objectively and
absolutely through numbers, there are, nevertheless, semantic
definitions that express relationship up or down, like:
"better," "more impressive," "not quite convincing" and so
on.
If we were required to present something of two states,
something that can be described in a yes/no manner without
any intermediate steps, we would be hard put to find such an
example aside from, perhaps, an electric on/off switch. For
even if we take the concepts "dead" and "alive," we can break
them down to semi-alive, like sinners, who are considered
dead in their lifetimes, or conversely, tzadikim,
whose teachings keep their memory alive and their lips moving
in the grave, so to speak.
Actually, we live in a wide zone of values, whose polar range
includes a vast gray area: some, approximately, similar and
so on.
However, when we refer to Truth, we are talking about a value
that has no twin look-alike and no first or second cousins.
Anything that is not truth is non-truth, or sheker.
There are white lies and black ones and some really pitch-
devil black. But truth is only one, and anything that merely
resembles it or approximates it, or is truth "under certain
circumstances" -- all of these are not truths but shades of
falsehood.
We know that there exist situations when it is permissible to
bend the truth, that is, to say something that is not quite
true, but this is not to say that it transforms whatever is
not true to what is. On the contrary, those who understand
the workings of the soul advise us to keep as far away as
possible from the use of this "license" lest we "teach our
tongues to become accustomed to lying."
The habit of lying, even when it is permissible, can lead a
person to become too familiar with falsehood and be inclined
to it even when it is not permissible. It is oft told of
great Jewish figures that they devised all kinds of ways to
circumvent saying something that was not absolutely true,
even when it was permissible.
Hashem is Truth and His name is Truth. He abhors falsehood.
Hashem created reality; He created the present and sustains
the world every moment and every living creature through His
limitless omnipotence.
Falsehood is the antithesis of reality. It deceives a person
by presenting him with invalid information. Every untrue
statement defies and negates reality; it opposes Hashem Whose
very seal and hallmark is Truth.
The greatest of delusions, the biggest lie, referred to by
the novi as vapor and deception, is idolatry, which
denies Hashem's omnipotence. Every false statement has a
degree of certification of idolatry and a denial of Him as
the all-powerful Creator. Hashem created man straight, but
one who wields a false tongue is distorting the natural
foundations of his soul. No wonder that Hashem despises him.
"The speaker of lies shall not stand upright before My eyes,"
says Hashem in Tehillim. And since the eyes of Hashem
roam throughout the world, where can that liar possibly
hide?
A person who is not careful with what he utters will make all
kinds of allowances for himself before-the-act, and
justifications after it. "It was only a little white lie,"
says one of these rationalizations. "It didn't harm anyone.
So I was not altogether accurate. So what?"
According to this approach, the criterion that determines
what is falsehood is only the financial damage that it
causes. By this rule, we can say that if a lie did not result
in a court case, the liar is not guilty, which is to say:
innocent. Is this true?
In reality, every single word that leaves a person's mouth
should correspond exactly to the truth, just like the
halochoh relates to a person's utterances regarding
vows and pledges. But Hashem took pity on His creations who
live in a world of falsehood, says the Chida, and established
for their sake, in His infinite mercy, the rule that the
highest level of responsibility for every word to be
precisely true, that obligates and binds him in the most
stringent manner, shall be only in the area of vows and
oaths. In these carefully defined boundaries, we are warned
not to make our words profane. "Heed the utterance of your
lips."
We must not think that beyond the category of oaths and vows
the value of truth is more lax and we are at liberty to say
whatever we like. The boundaries of truth that restrict us
are the foundations of our very soul; they include and
encompass every word that leaves a person's lips, and it
behoove those words to tally with the physical reality and
with the spiritual reality within us. This is demanded of
every person! It should be interesting to examine how close
we actually are to this definition and level of truth.
A man who wishes to impress his listeners will always
exaggerate in his descriptions. Here is a passing example:
"We returned home from the outing on our last legs." G-d
forbid! All they really meant to express was how tired they
were.
"There must have been a hundred people at that sale!" -- when
it couldn't have been more than three or four dozen at the
most, crowding into the tiny shop. "I came home dead tired."
Don't worry -- he's still alive. "The tea is boiling."
Technically, it is in a kli sheini, so it is not
really boiling.
Many people have become so accustomed to this manner of
description that they are at a loss to describe something as
it really is. Every blow is a deathblow. "This headache is
killing me." Every hunger is starvation. "I'm dying of
hunger." Every concentration of thought -- "I'm breaking my
head over this." Every description of frustration: "I'm angry
enough to plotz."
People who talk in this manner don't see themselves as liars.
They have "taught their tongues" to speak this way and it
seems altogether normal. They require a strong will and
concentrated linguistic exercise to choose the correct
phrases that describe events in their real context. So long
as they don't do this, they are training their tongues to
speak lies, and doubtlessly, this will backfire in their
souls.
And what about their environment? What about their audience?
Just as there are those who "train their lips to speak lies,"
so are there people who "train their ears to hear lies."
They will argue that we have become so used to this manner of
talking that we automatically reduce 95 percent of the
exaggerations. When people talk about 400,000 demonstrators,
we immediately adjust the figure to some 8,000 at the most.
And the figure which remains in our minds is more or less
accurate. But this solution only works with technical data of
net information. It can be, however, that the habit of
falsehood clings to the listener who automatically hears lies
and to some degree even enjoys the hypocrisy of stories
embellished with lies.
They enter a situation which the novi calls "Your
sitting in the midst of deceit." When a person rubs shoulders
with deceit and wallows in it, it is liable to filter down to
areas where truth is more decisive and fateful for him. "With
deceit did they refuse to know me, says Hashem." And this,
after all, is the lie of all lies, which tops the whole list.
And for this does he cry out, "Would that I were in the
wilderness, in the lodging place of wayfarers."
We have touched upon lips of lies and tongues of deceit, etc.
But the subject of truth and its borderlines is far broader.
We did not touch upon body language that expresses falsehood.
A person can stand in shul, his eyes squeezed shut and
his body swaying rhythmically, testifying to extreme
concentration. But only the One Who plumbs hearts knows his
true thoughts, knows that his motions are a mere act, a
facade intended to impress his mother-in-law in the women's
gallery or the mashgiach in the yeshiva. Meanwhile, he
is whipping up thoughts that are a far cry from the text in
front of him.
Would that Hashem assist us in adhering to the truth in this
world of lies so that we be not shamed or embarrassed in that
world that is all-truth.
