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Nov. 19, 2009
Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: Please Listen to this Godcast (5 minutes)
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JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
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JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : When borrowing is stealing
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity
Nov. 12, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet By Marialisa Calta : A sweet sweet potato treat
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Nov. 11, 2009
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JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Nov. 9, 2009
Mark Steyn: Shooter exposes hole in U.S. terror strategy
JWisdom.com It's never too late to have a happy childhood with Sarah Chana Radcliffe (5 minutes)
Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 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. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Dec. 12, 2005 / 11 Kislev, 5766

My paycheck is late!

By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir


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Paying workers on time


http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Q. I did a job for someone months ago, but they keep on pushing off writing me a check. What can I do?


A. The most common reader question to the Jewish Ethicist is how to deal with people who just don't pay debts, particularly debts to outside workers (consultants, professionals, etc.) Even so, I never dealt with the question since there is no real ethical dilemma — everyone knows they are obliged to pay debts. Yet the question comes so many times that I decided I should explain the importance of this obligation.

Putting off paying debts when the ability exists is certainly a serious ethical lacuna. The book of Proverbs (3:28) tells us, "Don't say to your fellow, 'Go away, and come back later; I'll give you tomorrow' if you have with you [the means]." But this verse also applies to any kind of debt. (In fact, the commentators explain that anytime you have the ability to do someone a favor, it's demeaning to put them off needlessly.)

But debts to workers are particularly serious, and the Torah warns us about them in a number of places. "Don't oppress your fellow and don't steal; don't delay the wages of a worker until the morning" (Leviticus 19:13). "Don't withhold the wages of the poor and needy of your brethren or the sojourner in your land in your gates. On his day give his wage, and let not the sun set on it; for he is poor, and he sets his soul on it. Lest he call on you to G-d and it will be to you a sin" (Deuteronomy 24:14-15).

We see that the Torah (Bible) even gives the reason for the special status of wages: "For he is poor, and he sets his soul on it." What is the meaning of "setting his soul" on his wages?

The Talmud's first explanation explains that this refers to the fact that many jobs taken by poor people are dangerous, and the workman is literally risking his life. (This reminds me of the scene in Cinderella Man where the promoter warns Braddock that fighting Max Baer is truly dangerous. Braddock points out that the average working stiff also risks his life, on the building scaffold and so on.)

The second explanation is: "Anyone who withholds the wages of a worker, it's as if he takes his soul". (1) Here is one way of understanding this: When a worker provides services in return for agreed-upon recompense there is a free exchange among equals. But when no payment is forthcoming, it as if he has been enslaved. From this point of view, withholding wages is more serious than holding off on other debts just as enslaving someone is a more serious offense than robbing them.

Virtually everyone has been in a position where others owe him money, just as virtually everyone has been in a position where he hasn't managed to pay back all his debts on time. But the Torah views debts for workers' wages as especially serious, and we should give these debts special priority.


SOURCES: (1) Babylonian Talmud, Bava Metzia 112a.


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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:

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