Haredi Rabbis Rule That A Tax Cheat Can Still Write A Kosher Sefer Torah And Can Be Trusted As A Witness In A Haredi Religious Court

The rabbis ruled that a sofer (scribe) who illegally evades paying VAT or other taxes or is a known cheat in other ways is not disqualified from writing kosher Torah scrolls, tefillin, mezzuzahs and megillahs. Additionally, his halakhic trustworthiness is not compromised, the rabbis added.

 

Haredi Rabbis Rule That A Tax Cheat Can Still Write A Kosher Sefer Torah And Can Be Trusted As A Witness In A Haredi Religious Court
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com

The haredi Keter Institute headed by Rabbi Zalman Nechemia Goldberg has issued a new halakhic ruling that allows buying tefillin (phylacteries), other ritual objects or even non-ritual items from a merchant or scribe who is a known tax evader, Yeshiva World reported. The ruling is in a new book published by the institute.

The ruling covers a person who works off the books and merchants who do not pay Israel’s Value Added Tax and/or Israel’s income tax.

Regarding evasion of VAT, if a buyer and seller collaborate to sell a non-ritual item at a lower price off the books to avoid paying VAT, then the buyer might be required by halakha to pay that VAT because he participated in the fraud.

However, the buyer is not responsible for paying the VAT if the seller is fraudulently classified by the government as grossing too little to require him to pay VAT – even if the buyer knows about the fraud and buys from the merchant anyway.

What about ritual items like tefillin?

Keter’s rabbis rule that a sofer (scribe) who illegally evades paying VAT or other taxes or is a known cheat in other ways is not disqualified from writing kosher Torah scrolls, tefillin, mezzuzahs and megillahs. Additionally, his halakhic trustworthiness is not compromised, the Keter rabbis added.

But what if a buyer tells a sofer that he would like to buy tefillin or another ritual object off the books at a discount?

The Keter rabbis rule that in a case like that, where the buyer and seller are both actively involved in the fraud, the actual buyer may not make a blessing on the use of those ritual objects. The Keter rabbis rule that buying those ritual objects off the books is forbidden because of that.

However, after the fact the buyer can fulfill mitzvahs with ritual purchased off the books because, the Keter rabbis rule, those tefillin or other ritual objects purchased that way as are covered by the prohibition of not doing a mitzvah that come trough a sin (מצווה הבא בעבירה).

And, Keter’s rabbis add, if the buyer is not sure if the sofer really evaded taxes or just gave him a friendly legal discount, the buyer can make a blessing and fulfill mitzvahs with the ritual object(s) l‘chatchila (a priori).

Comments

[David]

In what other religion would its religious ministers discuss in such intricate detail when it is and isn't permissible to cheat and whether the person who does so can be trusted?

These clowns have way too much time on tbeir hands.

And again, it makes us all a laughing stock (and worse) before the world.

[Gevezener Chusid]

How many people seriously think that cheating on one's taxes is morally repugnant? Of those, how many would refuse the opportunity to do so if they knew they wouldn't get caught. How many people purchase stuff online and then meticulously pay every cent of state sales tax which they are required to pay. (At least in NY, sales tax has to be paid on out of state online purchases even if the seller does not collect it.) Puh-leeze - this is less than nothing about nothing.

[S M L]

G Chusid: You miss the point which is the absurdity and repugnance of jews debating how much cheating is too much cheating to allow one to scribe holy documents. Leave it at don't-ask-don't- tell and all would be well but no, these fools have to codify it.

[jancsibacsi]

SML---"Leave it at don't-ask-don't- tell and all would be well but no, these fools have to codify it"
Hahahaha thats exactly what i was thinking,how stupid can you get unbeleivable.

[Alter Kocker]

Because in "Jew-land" welching on your taxes is merely taking away from the goyim. They're animals anyway, so who cares if we keep a little bit more for ourselves. We make it up in tzedakah anyways. Let him scribe a torah, he has to make a living.

Morality means nothing in Haredi Judaism. As long as you are in the "club" you can lie, cheat, rape and steal. You are exempt from man's laws as Hashem will forgive you.

R. Goldberg, may you and the son of a bitch you obviously represent be rolled up in the torah he writes and set ablaze. You know that anti-semitism that you despise and fear? You are the cause of it.

[David]

So it's OK to read from Sifrei Torah written by cheats. What about those written by child molesters?

[Yosef ben Matitya]

sure, otherwise, all their beis deen is no beit deen as it would be disqualified, their mara d'asro that is also a crook would also be posul le-eidus etc... who needs all this headache? scribes? vy should they vory about taxes ?

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

As long as your esrog isn't a stolen one.

[sifter]

This doesn't smell right at all. Is there some material or context missing here?

[Jeff]

If Mickee were here, he'd tell us they qualify as Jews because they believe in the Torah, even though they disobey it (or not, depending upon whether or not one's Rav thinks it's wrong to cheat or steal from goyim). So are pedophiles. We, on the other hand, are lower than any of them.

The priorities in that world can only be describes as insane.

[Jeff]

One of the comments at YWN (to be fair, most of them are not like this):

"If your in israel and your a frum guy your for sure don’t need to pay any tax or vat the chardi Pay all taxes but don’t get it back at all from the government in the form of services that every other Israeli who is not frum get."

How can someone be so utterly f*cking stupid and get through life? I can't understand how people like this manage to dress or feed themselves. It's mind-boggling.