 G’neivas Da’as: One shudders at the potential of chas veshalom opening up a Pandora’s Box of a potential of being lax, remiss or incautious in the very strict prohibition of g’neivas
da’as. I believe that we all understand that questions in this field are subject to the laws of the Shulchan Aruch and not in concepts (with which we will be dealing). Like other halachos, one must ask a Rav. This is especially true because very often one has negius (prone to subjective reasoning). There is also the potential for chillul Hashem (disgrace, G-d forbid, of Hashem’s Name).
“I (Hashem) shall descend to rescue it (Israel) … to bring it up from that land …” ; “and you shall take My people … out of Egypt” ; “I shall bring you up from the affliction of Egypt to the land …” Yet, “…say to him Hashem … happened upon us. And now, please let us go on a three-day journey … we shall bring offerings to Hashem …” ; “Let us now go for a three-day journey …” The statements were not false – they never said they were coming back after the three-days, but why wasn’t it g’neivas da’as?
“Each woman will borrow from her neighbor … silver … golden … garments … and you shall empty out Egypt.” “Let each man borrow from his fellow and each woman from her fellow silver vessels and gold vessels” ; “…they borrowed from the Egyptians silver vessels, gold vessels and garments … and they emptied Egypt.” They weren’t planning to return. Why wasn’t this g’neivas da’as?
Measure for Measure
“With the pure You (Hashem) act purely, with the corrupt You act perversely.” The ways of Hashem are middah k’neged middah (the punishment fits the crime). Chazal (the Sages) tell us that the way the Egyptians started to enslave Israel was b’peh rach (with soft words).
“They persuaded them with words and with wages until they got them used to working hard.” “Pharaoh said to the Jews, ‘I ask of you do for me today gratis as a favor …’ immediately all of Israel went with alacrity and worked for him with all their might…” The connotation is that without this subterfuge they could not have enslaved them. Therefore, since the Egyptians used trickery and deceit, in a word g’neivas da’as, the middah k’neged middah demanded that their ultimate punishment also came about through g’neivas da’as.
The Godol’s Opinion
These were my thoughts, and I told them over, many years ago, to a godol batorah (someone big in Torah). He came out against them very strongly, almost in anger – “Chas v’shalom, that Hashem should allow g’neivas da’as.”
Rabbeinu Bechayah
The Rabeinu Bechayah expresses such an opinion almost word for word. “Chas v’shalom that Hashem should allow g’neivas da’as, that they (Yisroel) should borrow (yishalu, the word in the verse) from them silver and gold vessels and not return them. Rather ‘yishalu’ here means ‘to give’ as we find in …”
The Ran
However, it would seem that the preponderance of opinions, at least that I have seen, is not like that. See Droshos Horan who asks exactly the two questions which were asked earlier. (A) Why did they say to Pharaoh, “Let us go for three days and sacrifice” when their intention was not to return? (B) Why did they take their property as merely a loan? He goes on to explain the whole episode. However, in regard to what pertains to our question he states, “Hashem wanted to deceive Pharaoh that he should think … and one should not wonder ‘how is it in the ways of Hashem to deceive’ because we see that He deceived them even more when He commanded Israel to encamp in front of the Pi Hachiros so that they (the Egyptians) should think that their god was taking vengeance against Israel.”
Rashi
See Rashi , “G-d came to Bilam and said, ‘Who are these men with you’ in order to make him err.”
The Da’as Zekainim
The Da’as Zekainim miBaalei Tosfos in the name of Rabi Yehudah Hachosid, “From here you learn that if a rasha (someone wicked) owns a Torah scroll or another mitzvah it is permitted for a tzadik (righteous) to trick him and take it from him.
Parshas Bo
In the beginning of Parshas Bo, Moshe tells Pharaoh that if he doesn’t send out the Jewish people to serve Hashem, Hashem will bring the locusts. Moshe then leaves Pharaoh. “Pharaoh’s servants said to him, ‘how long will this be a snare for us? Send out the men that they may serve Hashem their G-d. Do you not know that Egypt is lost?” Pharaoh calls Moshe back. Pharaoh tells them to go serve Hashem, but who will be going? Moshe answers – everybody. Pharaoh answers ‘…the evil intent is opposite your faces,’ only the ‘men can go to serve Hashem for that is what you seek’ and he drove them out from Pharaoh’s presence.
Question: What happened to the argument “Don’t you know that Egypt is lost?” Answer: Pharaoh and his servants had convinced themselves that Hashem would only want the men to do the service; that the women and children should come also was Moshe’s idea in order to indeed make a mass escape – “The evil intent is opposite your faces.”
Ovos D’Rabi Nosson
“When Pharaoh and his army chased Israel towards the sea, Pharaoh rode at the head of his army. His servants told him the custom is for the king to ride in back of his army. Pharaoh answered them, ‘Am I then going to meet a king of flesh and blood? I am going to meet the king of all kings, Hashem.’ Therefore as an honor to Hashem he rode in front.”
How do we understand this rather amazing episode? He, by now, understands the greatness and power of Hashem and he’s going to fight against Him? No! Just like above, in Parshas Bo, Pharaoh thought that instead of going to serve Hashem the Jews decided to indeed escape. What a chillul Hashem – Hashem is now on his side in going to chas v’shalom punish them. This is how he is “meeting” Hashem.
The Ohr Hachayim Hakodosh
I brought from Parshas Bo and the Ovos D’Rabi Nosson to give added emphasis to the shitah (opinion) of the Ohr Hachayim Hakodosh who asks the two basic questions above – why was it necessary to use g’neivas da’as both in requesting to go for three days and in borrowing their possessions? His answers conform to what was written earlier. Mitzrayim was led to believe that Hashem only wanted them to go for three days and then return the presents. The fact that they didn’t is what caused the Egyptians to chase after them and thereby go down at their own Waterloo.
“Because Hashem punishes middah keneged middah (measure for measure). The Egyptians enslaved them at the beginning with a peh rach (a soft mouth), as mentioned earlier, which then turned perach (unbearable labor). Therefore Hashem started out also with a Peh rach – three days and only to borrow so that they should come to their ultimate punishment” for drowning the Jewish babies. He makes a point that in all this there was not a word of sheker – a lie.
The Chasam Sofer
The Chasam Sofer al haTorah asks rhetorically, “Is it then hateful for tzadikim (righteous ones) to be sharp in trickery with those who are corrupt?” and “Yaakov was allowed to be goneiv the da’as of Yitzchok because Eisav was goneiv Yitzchok’s da’as all the time. It was therefore permitted for Yaakov to be goneiv da’as to bring about the truth.”
The Gra
It is fitting to finish off this discussion with the words of the Gra from a different source altogether, which sums everything up. The Megillah tells us that at the second party that Esther made, she accused Homon of wanting to kill her and her entire nation. The king got up in anger and went out to his garden. Chazal (the Sages) tell us that when he got there he saw men (who were actually angels) cutting down the trees of his orchard. He asked them what they were doing. They answered, “Homon told us to do this!” This of course made the king more angry.
The question is, Hashem is attributing to Homon something that he never said. “Since Homon slandered the Jews with false accusations, so did Hashem do to him like He did to Pharaoh and Lovon … Hashem is yoshor (straight) … however, when people do things which are not straight … Hashem pays them back, measure for measure, also not in a straight way.
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