• Posted by
    Aryeh


    Category

    Priceless Integrity - Council

    0

    INTEGRITY

    Council


    The Almighty said, "Let us make adam (man) in our image and our likeness." (Bereshith 1:26)

    G-d said, "Let us make man" while consulting with His Heavenly Court.1 In fact, every Divine decision follows the same protocol. G-d will not declare a decision to be "emeth" until it has first been discussed with His Heavenly Court.2

    G-d's omniscience renders any advice useless. What can He be told that He does not already know? Yet G-d has decided not to finalize any judgment without first consulting with His creatures. The lesson for us is clear: people can not expect to arrive at correct decisions without consulting with others beforehand.

    Share this post!

    Bookmark and Share
    Read more »

  • Posted by
    Aryeh


    Category

    Priceless Integrity - Accepting the Blame

    0

    INTEGRITY

    Accepting the Blame


    G-d asked, "Who told you that you are naked? Did you eat from the tree which I commanded you not to eat?" Adam replied, "The woman that you gave to be with me - she gave me what I ate from the tree." (Bereshith 3:11, 12)

    Share this post!

    Bookmark and Share
    Read more »

  • Posted by
    Aryeh


    Category

    Priceless Integrity - Insider Trading

    0

    INTEGRITY

    Insider Trading


    "Remove every lamb that is spotted or streaked, and every sheep that has dark markings. Also remove every goat that is streaked or spotted, and they will serve as my pay." ...Yaakov took wands of fresh poplar, almond, and plane. He peeled white stripes in them by uncovering the white layer under the wands' bark...The animals mated in the presence of the wands and the young they bore were ringed, spotted and streaked. (Bereshith 30:32, 37, 39)

    Why did Yaakov deal with Lavan in a way that appeared to be deceptive, rather than just letting Providence deal with Lavan? In truth, Yaakov acted completely honestly, for God had showed Yaakov via Divine inspiration that the animals would be born with those particular markings. 1 However, the extremely righteous frown upon benefiting from miraculous circumstances, for they feel that partaking of such compensation in this world could detract from their reward in the World to Come. Therefore Yaakov only made use of natural means so that he would not rely on a miracle.2

    Share this post!

    Bookmark and Share
    Read more »

  • Posted by
    Aryeh


    Category

    Priceless Integrity - Petty Larceny

    0

    INTEGRITY

    Petty Larceny


    G-d said to Noach, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; the world is filled with crime because of them. I am going to destroy them with the earth." (Bereshith 6:13)

    The Great Flood destroyed almost all life on earth because of theft. The items people stole were worth less than the value of a prutah - a very small sum of money indeed. They were items of such little value that a beith din would not even deal with their theft. 1 Why did such "petty larceny" warrant the destruction of so many living creatures?

    Share this post!

    Bookmark and Share
    Read more »

  • Posted by
    Aryeh


    Category

    Priceless Integrity - Wasting Time

    0

    INTEGRITY

    Wasting Time


    Please go ahead of me, my lord. I will lead my group slowly... (Bereshith 33:14)

    Yaakov said this as a sign of respect to show that he was concerned that he should not waste Esav's time because of his family's slow pace. 1 One must be extremely careful not to waste other people's time, a precious and irreplaceable commodity. There are occasions when it is theft to waste someone else's time, such as an employee whose time belongs to his boss. In other settings it is not considered stealing to infringe on someone else's time, however it is included under the Torah injunction, "You shall not cheat your friend."2

    A prevalent example of this is "butting" ahead of someone else in line. The halachah recognizes the right of someone to maintain his position in line, and by going in front of him or asking someone else on line to take care of something for you, you are infringing on that right. If however, the person has some extenuating circumstance, e.g. he is an ill or elderly person, or he will incur a large loss of money because of the wait, it is proper to let him go to the front of the line, although one is not obligated to do so.3

    Share this post!

    Bookmark and Share
    Read more »

  • Posted by
    Aryeh


    Category

    Priceless Integrity - Petty Larceny

    0

    INTEGRITY

    Petty Larceny


    G-d said to Noach, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; the world is filled with crime because of them. I am going to destroy them with the earth." (Bereshith 6:13)

    The Great Flood destroyed almost all life on earth because of theft. The items people stole were worth less than the value of a prutah - a very small sum of money indeed. They were items of such little value that a beith din would not even deal with their theft. 1 Why did such "petty larceny" warrant the destruction of so many living creatures?

    Share this post!

    Bookmark and Share
    Read more »

  • Posted by
    Aryeh


    Category

    Priceless Integrity - Wasting Time

    0

    INTEGRITY

    Wasting Time


    Please go ahead of me, my lord. I will lead my group slowly... (Bereshith 33:14)

    Yaakov said this as a sign of respect to show that he was concerned that he should not waste Esav's time because of his family's slow pace. 1 One must be extremely careful not to waste other people's time, a precious and irreplaceable commodity. There are occasions when it is theft to waste someone else's time, such as an employee whose time belongs to his boss. In other settings it is not considered stealing to infringe on someone else's time, however it is included under the Torah injunction, "You shall not cheat your friend."2

    Share this post!

    Bookmark and Share
    Read more »