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July 3, 2008

Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski: A spiritual budget (TOUCHING!)

Jeff Jacoby: Israel still paying for its defeat

JWisdom:: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part IV by Rabbi David Aaron

July 2, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Appeasers Make Poor Patriots

The Kosher Gourmet By Kathleen Purvis: Slaw, y'all: For BBQs or Sabbath dinner, these southern recipes are something else!

JWisdom:: Rabbi Mordechai Becher: Jewish Rx for A Simpler Life

July 1, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q. I think it's important to leave a legacy to my children. How much should I save towards this end?

Paul Greenberg:A President who is history deficient?

JWisdom:: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Poland's Unique Antisemitism

June 30, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: Remembering the architect of Torah Judaism for the modern world

Abe Novick: Hulk: Still a Jew?

JWisdom: : Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality, Part 2: The Abandoned Child

June 26, 2008

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: Quantum leap to evil

Caroline B. Glick: Victimized families must not be allowed to dictate policy

June 25, 2008

Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Today in Biblical History: King Jeroboam of Israel prevents pilgrimage to Jerusalem

Jonathan Tobin: Real Friends and Real Enemies

JWisdom: Raping of reason By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 25, 2008

Steven Emerson: Kristof: Never Mind the Terrorists

Stratfor Intelligence Briefing: Mediterranean Flyover: Telegraphing an Israeli Punch?

JWisdom: Rabbi David Aaron: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part III

June 24, 2008

Caroline B. Glick: What were they thinking!?

Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Guilty knowledge

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Warping Innocence

June 23, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Diploma dilemma

Jeff Jacoby: A world without children

JWisdom: Rabbi Dovid Gross: Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality --- Introduction

June 20, 2008

Rabbi A. Henach Leibowitz: Man: The Crowning Glory of Creation

Caroline B. Glick: Israel's darkest week

JWisdom: We aren't worthy? by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 19, 2008

Rabbi Elazar Meisels: The saints who don't come marchin' in

Chris Christoff: Muslim woman demands an apology from Obama after camera snub

June 18, 2008

Jonathan Tobin: Still Dancing Around Jerusalem

The Kosher Gourmet by Steve Petusevsky: Chilled fruit and vegetable soups

JWisdom: Souls Need A Check Up? by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

June 17, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: Baby Einstein

Caroline B. Glick: Bush's rhetoric, Bush's policies

JWisdom: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part II by Rabbi David Aaron

June 16, 2008

Varda Branfman: Bob Dylan, won't you please come home?

Diana West: Academic dares to question the 'religion of peace'

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Positive Backfire

June 13, 2008

Rabbi Berel Wein: Trading manna for whine

Caroline B. Glick: Peace with friends

JWisdom: From the mouths of … by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 12, 2008

Michael Feldberg: Meet Paul Revere's pal, the Orthodox Jew who played a key role in laying Boston's cultural and business infrastructure

The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Manweiler: No need to be tempted by Wendy's mandarin chicken salad

JWisdom: Re-Jew-venating prayer, Part I by Rabbi David Aaron

June 11, 2008

Rabbi Avi Shafran: What would Hillel say?

Jonathan Tobin: UNRWA and NGOs: The Real U.N. 'Insult'

JWisdom: Sara Yoheved Rigler: Greatness Made Simple: How a momentary decision shifted life's course and destination

June 6, 2008

Rabbi Pinchas Stolper: Revelation: The basis of faith

Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: Mere hours after becoming Israel's new 'best friend' Obama backtracks on status of Jerusalem

Caroline B. Glick: UN choosing to protect rogue nuclear programs

JWisdom: Sameness in difference by Rabbi Sroy Levitansky

June 5, 2008

David Lightman: Now Obama wants to be Israel's newest 'best friend'

Obama's remarks to AIPAC policy conference

The Kosher Gourmet By Ethel G. Hofman: Shavous cuisine: Ruby Fruit Soup, Lokshen Kugel with Cheese, Key Lime Curd, Calsone Casserole Frittata with Wild Mushrooms, Sun-dried tomatoes and Olives, Baked Tilapia with Pepper Cheese Cream and Brown Sugar Shortbread

JWisdom: Why a Jewish Jerusalem makes so many nervous by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

June 4, 2008

Jonathan Rosenblum: A different sort of 'religious broadcaster'

Jonathan Tobin: Misgivings on the Road to Damascus

JWisdom: 44 Years Without An Argument? by Sara Yoheved Rigler

June 3, 2008

Daniel Pipes: Obama vs. McCain on the Middle East

Everything's Relative: There is a crisis growing in Orthodox synagogues worldwide, reveals Jordan "Gorf" Gorfinkel

JWisdom: White Facades; Black Secrets by Rabbi Mordechai Becher

June 2, 2008

The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Q: Lie to outsmart discriminator?

He writes the songs that make our souls sing:Gavriel Aryeh Sanders interviews Jewish music legend Ben Zion Shenker; includes stirring, uplifting song

JWisdom: Holocaust in the Perspective of Faith by Rabbi Nosson Scherman: Of laws and lives

March 22, 2007

J-Rhythms with Avraham Rosenblum: JWR's cutting-edge music program showcasing performers -- singers, song writers, musicians, and bands -- who learn and live the Torah lifestyle (OUR NEWEST IGODCAST !)

Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review May 14, 2008 / 9 Iyar 5768

Snitching to the IRS

By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Q: I have a neighbor who boasts that he hides much of his income from the tax authorities. Should I report him?


A: Taxes are as old as civilization; indeed, Oliver Wendell Holmes remarked that they are the price of civilization. We may assume that the first tax evasion followed closely on the first tax, followed in turn by the first effort to detect evaders. Of those tax evaders caught by the tax authorities, most are flagged by routine enforcement efforts such as audits, field officers, and so on. However, a certain fraction are located through citizen reports. For example, in the US the IRS maintains a tax fraud hotline for the average citizen to report suspected tax cheats, and if enough evidence is presented the IRS follows up reports with an investigation.

Most people are reluctant to "snitch" on others, and I think there is a good reason for this. Our democratic system is based on a delicate balance between the freedom of the citizen and the long arm of the law. If freedoms are too extensive and law enforcement hesitant there will be chaos; as the Mishna tells us, "If it were not for the fear of the sovereign, men would eat each other alive." (1) But if law enforcement is too aggressive, then we end up in a police state where freedoms are eroded. For this reason, democratic societies have many built-in safeguards to limit law-enforcement efforts. Among these:


  • "Equal protection of the law"; the authorities may not single out particular individuals or groups for selective enforcement. This principle applies also in Jewish law, which holds that sovereign power is legitimate when it is applied equitably. (2)

  • Protection against self-incrimination: In the United States and many other democracies, a person can not be compelled to testify against himself. In Jewish law, this protection is even greater; such testimony is inadmissible even if not compelled. (3)

  • Admissible evidence: evidence obtained improperly is generally inadmissible in court in free societies, to deter overly aggressive investigations.


One additional safeguard is that law enforcement is in normal circumstances left to law enforcers. Of course if there is a clear and present danger every person has a civil obligation to protect himself and his neighbors by reporting on criminal threats. But in the absence of such a threat, the natural balance is generally the best. I presume that if you have a neighbor who boasts that he speeds on deserted highways you don't rush to report him to the traffic police.

To their credit, the IRS itself does not give much emphasis to informants. The IRS site mentions that "if you suspect or know of" a tax cheat, "you may report this activity" - there is no implication of a civil obligation. Based on figures I found on the internet, informant tips lead to recovered taxes of around 100 million dollars a year - out of total tax revenues of about two trillion dollars. So tipsters bring in something like one dollar out of twenty thousand. (That's .005%.) Let us conjecture that by expanding the program they could multiply this by a factor of ten. Is an additional twentieth of a percent of tax revenue really worth the price of creating a culture of suspicion?

Another consideration is that many tax cheats eventually get caught, so there is a good chance that even without your intervention the tax authorities will eventually get their hands on this person's back taxes.

Jewish law explicitly legitimates reporting someone to the authorities for non-violent crime as a civil duty in cases where their disregard for the law constitutes a substantive danger to the community. (4) In addition, a person may be justified in reporting when he suffers directly from the wrongdoing - for example, if he is being driven out of business because a competitor is evading taxes. My view is that in the absence of either of these considerations, it is best to avoid reporting non-violent crimes like tax evasion to avoid any chilling effect on neighborly relations and communications. A few million dollars of lost tax revenue is a very small price to pay for a culture of openness.

SOURCES: (1) Mishna, Avos 3:2 (2) Babylonian Talmud, Bava Kamma 113a (3) Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 9b. (4) Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Misphat 425:1 in glosses of Rema

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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.

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