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Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (1 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 30, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Secret to Immortality
Caroline B. Glick Silencing dissent in America
Oct. 29, 2009
Lini S. Kadaba: Do tactics avert flu or reduce humanity?
JWisdom.com We Must Revamp our Religious Vocabulary With Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 28, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Atheists in Bubbleland
JWisdom.com Why what we wear impacts who we are With Rabbis Mordechai Becher, Menachem Golberger and Aliza Bulow ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 27, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The United Nations Is Outraged Again, Or: Department of Mideast Static
JWisdom.com The Science of Love With Rabbi Jonathan Rietti ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 26, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Damaging disclosures with a twist
JWisdom.com Wisdom and Wonks With Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 23, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Are you ready for the ultimate pleasure?
JWisdom.com Watermark and oneness with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick Stop using limited powers in a way that expands our enemies' advantages over us
Oct. 22, 2009
Steven Emerson: Terror Cases Share Desire to Kill Americans
JWisdom.com No More More Family Fights --- Really? By Sarah Chana Radcliffe ( 5 minutes)
Oct. 21, 2009
Tonya Alanez: Holocaust denier sues survivor, calling Auschwitz memoir 'vicious lies'
JWisdom.com Meditating Jewishly: A Panacea for Success by Sarah Yoheved Rigler ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 20, 2009
Dennis Prager: Obama and Dalai Lama: Why Israel Worries about U.S. President
JWisdom.com Abraham was not religious By Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer ( 6 minutes)
Oct. 19, 2009
JWisdom.comWhy Good People Do Bad Things By Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 16, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Perfect Number
JWisdom.com Hearing Voices By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick How Turkey was lost
Oct. 15, 2009
Jeff Jacoby: Peace vs. the 'peace process'
JWisdom.com: Former MTV producer and stand-up comedian Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff: Taming a Control Freak (A VERY fast 15 minutes)
Oct. 14, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer : Add pesto to bean soup and get ready for yum --- in minutes!
JWisdom.com: Former MTV producer and stand-up comedian Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff: How To Recognize A Control Freak, Part II (A VERY fast 14 minutes)
Oct. 13, 2009
Jonathan Rosenblum: Why Palestinian Incitement Matters So Much
JWisdom.com: Former MTV producer and stand-up comedian Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff: How To Recognize A Control Freak (A VERY fast 15 minutes)
Oct. 12, 2009
Rabbi Hillel Goldberg: Shimmering paradoxes
JWisdom.com: One Small Spark … One Great Fire By Gavriel Aryeh Sanders (7 minutes)
Oct. 9, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Illusion of Influence
JWisdom.com: Take the Sage of St. Louis' Challenge by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: The newest round of war
Oct. 8, 2009
Joseph Aaron: What the Chicago Olympics failure must teach Jewry
JWisdom.com: Rehabbing The Thief Within by Sara Yoheved Rigler (9 minutes)
Oct. 7, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet by Ethel G. Hofman : Sumptuous supper in the sukkah
JWisdom.com: Know an 'invincible' teen? By Sarah Chana Radcliffe (6 minutes)
Oct. 6, 2009
Alan H. Luxenberg: The Twilight Zone's Jewish soul
JWisdom.com: A Sage for Our Age --- and Only 238 Years old! by Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz(10 minutes)
Oct. 5, 2009
JWisdom.com: Harvesting Happiness By Rabbi Eytan Feiner (7 minutes)
Oct. 2, 2009
Rabbi Yitzhak Adlerstein: Happiness is a Warm Sukkah
JWisdom.com:Getting out of the rut and into the hut by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Oct. 1, 2009
Barry Horn: A spiritual force: Cowboys' Igor Olshansky takes a fierce pride in his Jewish faith
JWisdom.com:Defeating Your Inner Saboteur By Sara Yoheved Rigler (6 minutes)
Sept. 30, 2009
Yaffa Ganz: The Other 'Evil Eye'
JWisdom.com: Strong Willed Children make the best leaders: How to get them to that point by Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Richard Z. Chesnoff: Killing Kasztner, the Jew who bargained with Eichmann
Sept. 29, 2009
Mona Charen: Who Needs Religion?
JWisdom.com: Sukkos: Journey to Joy by Rabbi Harvey Belovski (5 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review August 21, 2006 / 27 Menachem-Av, 5766

Forwarding email

By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir


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The ethics of forwarding email


http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Q: Do I need permission to forward an email?


A. Forwarding an email without the permission of the sender can involve a number of ethical problems related to revealing information transmitted in confidence.


One specific Jewish stricture "forwards" run afoul of is the famous "ban" of Rabbenu Gershom. Rabbenu Gershom, was a leading Rabbinic leader in 10th century Germany. Among the many decrees he instituted is one on reading the private letters of other people. (1) To this day many people passing notes or letters remind others of their desire for privacy by writing the Hebrew acronym "CDRG": Cherem deRabbeinu Gershom (Rabbi Gershom's ban).


Another source is the following passage from the Talmud:


Rabba stated: From where do we learn that if someone says something to his fellow, it is forbidden to reveal it until he tells him "say"? As it is written (Leviticus 1:1): "And the Lord spoke to him in the Tent of Meeting, to say." (2)


While grammarians generally interpret the Hebrew expression "to say" as the equivalent of quotation marks, introducing an exact citation, the rabbinical tradition is that this expression means that the speaker (usually G-d) is telling the listener (usually Moses) to say something: either to pass along His words or to bring Him the reply of the listeners. We can infer that without explicit authorization, one should generally refrain from passing on private communications.


As some commentators point out, this explanation is a bit cryptic in reference to this particular verse, for the very next verse states explicitly: "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them . . ." So even without the addition "to say" Moses would certainly know that he has to repeat G-d's command!


I would like to suggest the following resolution to this paradox. There are two different levels of transmission. One is to summarize and reword the message the listener received. This is a less intrusive kind of revelation, for two reasons: one reason is that less information is revealed, and the other is that the exact words aren't mentioned so that the original speaker is not so pinned down; he maintains a degree of "plausible deniability." For example, he can claim that he was misunderstood, taken out of context and so on.


When G-d tells Moses to speak to the children of Israel and transmit the commandments relating to the sacrifices, Moses can fulfill this by summarizing or paraphrasing the original prophecy. (Our tradition states that the prophecy of Moses, unlike that of the other prophets, took the form of exact words, not merely of visions then expressed in the particular speaking style of the prophet.) (3) The additional words "to say" create a mandate to transmit G-d's exact words. (This explanation harmonizes the traditional understanding of the expression "to say" and the grammatical one.)


From this we can learn that even if someone might not mind having his message transmitted to someone else "in the loop," he or she might still object to having the exact words of the original email sent ahead.


The moral of the story is that we should be very careful not to forward emails unless we are sure the sender approves. Even when it is clearly appropriate to transmit the message to others, consider if it may not be sufficient to provide a brief summary of the sender's words, rather than just forwarding the exact words. Likewise, even when forwarding someone's exact words, don't forward the whole letter if the really relevant section is brief.


SOURCES: See for example Beer HaGolah commentary on the end of Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 334. (2) Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 4b. (3) Midrash Pesikta Zutreta on Exodus verse 9:14

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JWR contributor Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir, formerly of the Council of Economic Advisers in the Reagan administration, is Research Director of the Business Ethics Center of Jerusalem, Jerusalem College of Technology. To comment or pose a question, please click here.


Previously:

Must a supplier honor a discount offered by a rogue sales representative?
Should I boycott my daughter's fashion show?
Should you respond to all those annoying email pop-up requests?
Do I have to reimburse someone who tried to do me a favor?
Seeking credit card debt settlement
Can I threaten to spread the word about someone who cheated me?
How can the terminally ill tap into their life insurance?
Is there value in an unhappy marriage?
Where does the Almighty fit into your corporation's mission statement?
Does an expert witness have to be impartial?
Should I give recognition to a modest man who did a great deed?
In representing my firm, can I tell a white lie?
Defrauding insurance to save a life
Can top level management unilaterally give away money to corporate dollars to charity?
Loans to Family Members
How much worker supervision is too much?
Should I turn in a colleague for inappropriate acts?
Priority in charitable giving
Trolls and ogres
How many hours of work is too many?
Can I promote my product by having it unobtrusively written into a story?
He's not heavy he's my brother
All's fair in war?, II
All's fair in war?
Girth vs. worth
Is it proper to tax bequests?
Ethics of Being Overweight
Penalized for working swiftly
When is it a bluff?
'Rate and switch'
My paycheck is late!
Should schools cater to an elite?
All's fair in love?
Comfort and Competition
Do I need the caller's permission to put a call on the speakerphone?
Overtime for lost time
Is it unethical to play suppliers against each other to get the lowest bid possible?
Do family members have precedence in charity allotments?
What the world of business can teach us about our annual process of repentance and renewal
Are religious leaders subject to criticism?
Vindictive Vendor: How can I punish an abusive competitor?
Blogging Ethics: Is the blogger responsible for defamatory posts?







© 2005, The Jewish Ethicist is produced by the JCT Center for Business Ethics