Lesson #42: Gentiles
Many yeshivot have loyal, hard-working, non-Jewish staff members who, with time, become part of the “family” of the yeshiva. It is told that a certain yeshiva had a non-Jewish employee who was in charge of the lunch program, a job which entailed, among other things, running the kitchen and setting up lunch. One day, as the boys began coming in for lunch, the employee needed to get something, leaving the dining room and kitchen unattended for a few minutes. A number of boys decided that this was a great opportunity to help themselves to some extra food. They ran into the kitchen and grabbed for themselves some products which were being kept for a different time. As the gentile worker began making his way back, the boys quickly darted from the kitchen and ran away. The worker then realized that some food was stolen.
Another boy saw everything that happened, and was – rightfully – very disturbed. He felt this was a Hilul Hashem (defamation of G-d’s Name), as this gentile saw yeshiva students take food which they were not allowed to take. And, of course, these boys were in effect stealing from the yeshiva, causing the institution a financial loss. Is this boy allowed to approach the worker and tell him which boys stole from the kitchen? Perhaps, this would be permissible, in light of the Hilul Hashem that was created, and for the sake of ensuring that such incidents do not repeat themselves.
Speaking Lashon Ha’ra about a fellow Jew to a gentile is far worse than any other type of Lashon Ha’ra. Such a sin is considered “too great to bear” – casting an unimaginably heavy burden of guilty upon the speaker. In fact, Halacha regards such a person as an “Apikoros” (“heretic”), who is severely punished in the next world, even far worse than the standard punishment of Gehinam.
Even in a situation such as the one described above, where there is a clear constructive purpose in informing the gentile about what happened, this is not permitted. Instead, the boy in this story should have gone to the Rosh Yeshiva and respectfully and discreetly explain to him what happened, emphasizing that he is conveying this information for the constructive purpose of preventing such incidents from occurring in the future.
Especially when speaking with non-Jews, we must refrain from speaking negatively about our fellow Jews, and instead make a point of speaking kindly and positively about our brothers and sisters.