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Sugia Kivunim Beit-Midrash

Synopsis

Beit Hillel

Beit Hillel

You should always praise a bride
for her beauty.

you cannot offend someone
just  because of truth.

see the Talmudic debate here

1
Beit Shamai

Beit Shamai

Always?!

and what if she is ugly?
You cannot lie:!!

praise her, for what she is.

see the Talmudic debate here

1
Summary  

Seinfeld’s dilemma of truth versus compassion was compared to a Talmudic debate about how to complement an ugly bride. While both values are considered very important in the Jewish tradition , Beit Hilllel claimed that you cannot offend someone for the sake of sticking to the truth. An interesting rebuttal was made that this will lead to a phony polite society where you can never know what others are thinking of you (as illustrated in the Seinfeld ugly baby episode).

The discussion moved to  terminally ill patient dilemma.about his body a Rabbinic ruling made the point that not telling the truth will create a panic in other patients who will be burdened with insecurity about their own fate.