AboutRabbi Ari Shishler Expertise As a campus rabbi, who teaches both religious and non-religious Jewish teens every day, I'm ready and waiting for your questions.
Experience I spent six years as the head of the Chabad House Young Adults' Division in Johannesburg, South Africa, before moving to learning director.
I am the campus rabbi at the Witwatersrand University and University of Johannesburg and was the campus rabbi at Boston City Campus in Johannesburg for six years.
I have worked closely with the South African Union of Jewish students since 1997.
For the past eight years, I have been a guest lecturer at the Johannesburg "Encounter" program for King David High Schools. I have also spent two years as guest rabbi at the "Encounter" program in Cape Town.
King David High Schools, Yeshivah College and Crawford High Schools invite me regularly to speak to various classes.
Since 1996, I have been teaching Talmud at a local religious high school.
Organizations Chabad-Lubavitch
South African Rabbinical Association
Publications Jewish Tradition, South Africa. Jewish Report, weekly newspaper, South Africa SAUJS annual Holiday guide.
Education/Credentials After completing high scool, I spent six years studying in Rabbinical seminaries in South Africa, Israel and New York.
Expert: Rabbi Ari Shishler Date: 1/11/2007 Subject: Cheating and loshon hora
Question Can you clarify the halacha regarding witnessing cheating in school? If I see another student cheating on a test, am I obligated to inform the teacher? Or if I know that a paper was plagiarized or purchased, must I inform the teacher?
Answer Hi Zach!
I hope your question is purely theoretical :) The truth is that they say 7 out of 10 high school students admit to cheating once a year!
First let's clarify what is halachically wrong with cheating- after all nothing is stolen and nobody gets hurt.
Fraud, of any kind, is geneiva/ stealing. Even if a person "acquires" academic standards through cheating, it's called geneiva.
Plus, cheating is clearly deceit- which the Torah forbids.
If someone assists another person to cheat, he/she transgresses the Torah law against "placing a stumbling block in front of the blind".
What's very relevant to your question is that some Halachic authorities say that if you see someone cheat, and do nothing to stop them, you break the Rabbinic law against "assisting a wrongdoer".
Every Jew has a responsibility to stop another Jew from sinning.
Loshon Horah doesn't apply when you will be preventing someone from sinning.
So, I think you do need to tell the teacher.
When you're in school, you learn all sorts of life skills. One lesson that a person needs to learn at that stage is that fraud is wrong. If you tell the teacher, you may cause the person hassle now, but you may save them from serious trouble in the future.
Just be careful. Make sure that you don't report another student because you have something personal against him/ her.
Also, don't let them find out it was you. There's no mitzvah to make enemies in the process. If you know about a purchased paper- for example- you could tell the teacher that you know "someone" has a purchased paper. Then leave it to the teacher to investigate. That way, you haven't spoken Loshon Horah- and you've helped the person learn his/ her lesson. (You've also made the teacher aware that he/ she should be more vigilant in the future).
Hope this helps- and I hope you don't have the opportunity to apply it ;)
