Daily Halacha Podcast - Daily Halacha By Rabbi Eli J. Mansour

The Ben Ish Hai (Rabbi Yosef Haim of Baghdad, 1833-1909), in Parashat Ki-Tese (12), discusses a number of prohibitions regarding the way one speaks to others. First, he addresses the prohibition of "Genebat Da'at" (literally, "stealing one's mind"), or misleading another person. The Torah forbids misleading another person even if the misleading information will not cause a financial loss, but will leave the other person feeling indebted. The Ben Ish Hai gives the example of an extending an invitation to one's fellow knowing full well that he has already made plans to eat somewhere else. If a person knows that his friend is eating Friday night dinner with his parents, for example, it would be forbidden to extend to him an invitation so that he would feel a debt of gratitude. Similarly, the Ben Ish Hai writes, if a person knows that his friend is observing a fast, such as on Ereb Rosh Hodesh, he may not offer him food or a drink, misleading the person into thinking that he is sincerely making a genersou offer.