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May 22, 2013

John Thorne: They launched the 'Arab Spring' but now yearn for the good old days of a strongman

John Rosemond: 'Disciplinary math' adds up to parental successl

Warren Richey: Are prayers before public meetings OK? Supreme Court to decide
Rick Montgomery: Use of ADHD drugs as study aid raises concern on campuses

Brierley Wright, M.S., R.D.: 6 convincing reasons you should keep carbs in your diet

Eoin O'Carroll: Scientists examine nothing, find something

The Kosher Gourmet by Carole Kotkin: This soup is made from one of the great pleasures of spring: A wonderful pairing of rosy color and earthy tang

May 20, 2013

Richard A. Serrano: Is Meir Kahane's assassin now a changed man?

Hannan Adely: Town raises Palestinian flag at City Hall

Melissa Healy: Genetic copies of living people from embryos no longer science fiction
Morgan Housel: When smart investors do stupid things

Sharon Saloman, M.S., R.D.: Hunger games: Eat more, weigh less, without starving

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jews Inducted into Rock Hall of Fame; Anton Yelchin co-stars in New "Trek" film; Kutcher (but not Kunis) visits Israel; Jewish TV Star Praises Jewish Rap Star

The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: WARNING: This WALNUT CAKE WITH PRALINE FROSTING, perfect for afternoon coffee, is addicting

May 13, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Why the giving of the document that would permanently change the world could only be done in desolation

David G. Savage: Church-state, literally? Supreme Court weighing public school graduation in a church

Emily Alpert: Recession dragged down birth rates for less-educated women
Morgan Housel: The deep downside of home ownership

Peter Teffer: Will Dutch police soon be stalking cybercriminals on your computer?

Heidi McIndoo, M.S., R.D.: Meatless 'meat' can have its own set of problems

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Celebrate! This must-try appetizer is delicate yet has depth of flavor: Corn-Leek Cakes with Caviar, Smoked Salmon and Creme Fraiche

May 10, 2013

Rabbi Berel Wein: Be all that you should be

Caroline B. Glick: The dirty little secret about Israel's Arabs

Mona Charen: Hawking's Moral Calculus: The man and the movement he embraces
Morgan Housel: The biggest retirement myth ever told

Sandi Doughton: Eyes may provide new insight into brain problems

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : The Great Gatsby's Jewish Ties; Jews in the "Time 100 list" List; People's Most Beautiful Women

The Kosher Gourmet by Linda Gassenheimer: A sweet-hot meal: Pear salsa spices up salmon

May 8, 2013

Peter Ford: Why China is welcoming both Israel's Netanyahu and Palestinians' Abbas

Warren Richey: Obama administration quietly backs out of appeal over new contraceptive mandate

Fred Weir: At Kerry-Putin meeting, US-Russia relations thaw --- a tad
Amanda Paulson: Study reveals sad truths about community colleges

Harvard Health Letters: Evidence weak that zinc, echinacea are beneficial

The Kosher Gourmet by Leela Cyd Ross : Almost too pretty to eat, this colorful salad with Sicilian inspiration will tickle the taste buds and delight your visual sensibility

May 6, 2013

Edmund Sanders and Patrick J. McDonnell: Think Israel's objective in Syria is to weaken Assad or embolden the rebels? Think again

Brian Bennett: Israeli airstrikes may show weakness in Syrian defense

Michael Ollove: Millions of ex-felons, parolees and those on probation are about to be entitled to tax-payer paid health coverage
Karen Kaplan: Most men can skip PSA test for prostate cancer, urologists say

Kimberly Lankford: How to track down a lost life insurance policy

Dream of Mars exploration achievable, experts say

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan M. Selasky: EGGPLANT WRAPS are an easy, sumptuous and scrumptious meal

May 3, 2013

Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo: Human Courage and the Unavoidable, Disturbing Text

Steven Emerson: Attorney General Fights CAIR in Court, Lauds it in Public

Mediterranean diet helps beat dementia: study
Harvard Health Letters: When to be screened for a hearing problem

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Iron Man's Jewish Connections; Marc Maron's New TV Show; Martin Landau Grows Up with Israel; Shalom, Allan Arbus

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: A sweet surprise for Mother's Day dessert

May 1, 2013

Jonathan Rosenblum: An Improbable Journey to Orthodoxy

Jonathan Tobin: Blame Obama, Not Israel for Syria Push

Kids, kittens the Same? With employee perks at struggling Internet pioneer Yahoo! it's hard to tell
Halena M. Gazelka, M.D.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: What you need to know about implanted pain relief devices

Sandy Kleffman: Artificial kidney offers hope to patients tethered to a dialysis machine

Jessica Shugart: When it comes to math, MRIs may be better than IQs

The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: The celebrated chef on how high-maintenance ASPARAGUS RISOTTO need not be

April 29, 2013

Roy Gutman: Poland's new Jewish museum celebrates life, doesn't revisit Holocaust

Mark Clayton: Terrorism in America: Is US missing a chance to learn from failed plots?

Kim Murphy: Boston Bomber's 'Svengali' Revealed
Morgan Housel: He's rich, smart and old: Listen to him

Thomas Salinas, D.D.S.: Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: The safety of amalgam fillings

Harvard Health Letters: Tomatoes and stroke protection

Pete Spotts: Tiny satellites + cellphones = cheaper 'eyes in the sky' for NASA

The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Swing into spring with lemon cream pie

April 26, 2013

Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski: The world is a mirror

Caroline B. Glick: Time to confront Obama

Clifford D. May: Defense in the Age of Jihadist Terrorism
Kimberly Lankford: New strategies ease pain of paying for long-term care insurance

Howard LeWine, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Too much ibuprofen?

Sharon Palmer, R.D.: How to feel your best -- with plenty of energy, a healthy weight and optimal mental and physical function -- without driving yourself batty

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Jewish Major Leaguers, 2013; New Movies and Comedy Show; Shalom, 'Lumpy' (Leave it to Beaver)

The Kosher Gourmet by Emily Ho : A bright and cheerful salad to herald the warmer months ahead

April 24, 2013

Steven Emerson: Boston Bomber Exposes Islamist Secret

Morgan Housel Admit it: No one has any idea what's going on
Harvard Health Letters: Can you get headaches from headache medication?

Kerri-Ann Jennings, M.S., R.D.: How to easily get more Omega-3s in your diet

Melissa Healy: Pot in a pill: All the pain relief without the smoke

The Kosher Gourmet by Susan Russo: Chipotle Chili Butternut Squash Soup is bold, zesty, hot

April 22, 2013

Ken Dilanian: Counterterrorism's future is unclear

US man departing country arrested on terror charges
Barbara Williams: An unorthodox but growing treatment in a 9-year-old's battle against cancer

P.J. Skerrett, M.D.: How to recognize a good whole grain product

Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Teen actor Jonah Bobo in New Flick: Hunky James Wolk on Mad Men; Erich Segal's Daughter Writes Prize-Winning Jewish Novel


Jewish World Review April 14, 2008 / 9 Nissan 5768

The Snitching Supervisor

By Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Q: As a supervisor in my workplace, I often have to discuss workers' performance with other managers. If I discuss their shortcomings, am I guilty of slander?


A: Jewish tradition places a particular emphasis on careful speech and avoiding harming others or hurting their feelings through malicious or even careless speech. The prohibition of harmful speech has its source in the following verse (Leviticus 19:16): "Don't go about as a talebearer among your people; don't stand idly be the blood of your neighbor."


What is the connection between the two halves of the verse — "don't go about as a talebearer" and "don't stand idly by the blood of your brother"? We find two complementary approaches in the commentators.


Maimonides writes that "This is a grave transgression and causes the deaths of many souls of Israel; therefore it is adjacent to 'don't stand idly by the blood of your brother'". (1) According to this explanation, the two halves of the verse reinforce each other; I avoid "the blood of my neighbor" precisely by refraining from spreading gossip, which leads ultimately to enmity and bloodshed.


The Medieval commentary on the commandments, Sefer HaChinuch, takes a different approach. He writes that a person shouldn't say damaging things about others — unless the intention is to prevent damage or quiet a dispute. (2) The two halves contrast and balance — we shouldn't relate idle gossip, but we shouldn't refrain from speaking when silence would be culpable negligence toward a potential victim.


This approach was given precise boundaries by one of the great rabbinical authorities of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan of Radin, Poland. Rabbi Kagan was a renowned legal authority as well as revered for his saintly conduct; he decided that he would compose a strictly reasoned legal work defining the boundaries of this prohibition and providing binding rulings. He concluded that it is permissible to relate a damaging statement when the following conditions are fulfilled:


1. The main condition is that the statement is intended to achieve some concrete benefit. Making damaging statements is permissible only when it is needed and intended to protect someone.

2. In addition, disclosure must be necessary to attain the benefit. If the same benefit can be obtained without disclosure, for example by a talk with the wrongdoer, then there is no justification for disclosing the information.

3. You are certain of the truth of the information you relay. Stating hearsay is the essence of gossip. The information must also be related accurately, without judgment or exaggeration.

4. You must also be convinced of the negative implications. We have a general obligation to judge others favorably, we shouldn't be in a rush to spread negative information to others if we ourselves aren't convinced that it implies any potential harm to the listener.

5. There must be no undeserved damage to the subject. We will discuss this in detail in upcoming lessons, but for example a person may have misbehaved at work and deserve a report but not dismissal; a person may have acted improperly towards a neighbor and deserve a fine but not arrest. If reporting will cause undeserved damage it is impermissible. (3)


These rules apply equally to a supervisor or a co-worker, but their application is quite different. If you notice some minor deficiency in the performance of a co-worker, it will be generally be the exception that reporting it will lead to some concrete benefit. Will management really listen to you? Do they have regard for your objectivity and judgment? Is this really new information that supervisors are not aware of? So for the average observer, reporting is the exception, reserve the rule.


But if you are a supervisor, it is the essence of your job to evaluate and report on workers' performance. It is most likely that your reports are needed for some concrete benefit; otherwise you wouldn't be getting a salary to make them. For the supervisor, reporting is the rule, reserve the exception.


When despite this should even supervisors keep quiet? If management wants you to report on matters that are not really of relevance to job performance (for example, political opinions) or to report in an inequitable way (for example, to actively seek "dirt" on a particular employee), it is appropriate for you to seek clarification of the policy and the justification for it. If you are convinced the policy is unjustified and counterproductive you may have to occasionally ignore it.


Worker oversight is certainly necessary and appropriate; the Talmud tells us that someone who has inherited a lot of money and wants to lose it fast should hire workers and not supervise them. (4) However, this doesn't justify transmitting unfairly damaging information about them. In most cases, the kind of information supervisors have to pass on is necessary for a constructive purpose, but supervisors should keep alert for exceptional cases where the information is improperly used, and request a clarification of inappropriate policies.

SOURCES: (1) Maimonides Code, laws of opinions 7:1 (2) Sefer haChinuch 236 (3) Chafetz Chaim chapters I:10, II:9 (4) Babylonian Talmud, Bava Metzia 29b..

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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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