I’m 15. When I’m not in school, I work in a Judaica store and I have been confronted with some pretty difficult ethical choices there.
One day, for example, I was the only employee in the store and business was slow. A close friend from high school came in. We chatted, and then he brought over to the register a book he wanted and asked for a discount.
I hesitated. He was a good friend and I had seen other employees give discounts, so I took 10% off the price. After he left I wondered if I were guilty of stealing from the owner of the store.
I’m a good employee. The owner trusts me and leaves the store in my care. Perhaps he would accept my using my own judgment to give a discount. On the other hand, I wasn’t sure, and I was embarrassed to ask. If I asked and he said "no," I’d have to pay the difference myself and I needed the money. I was also afraid he wouldn’t trust me anymore. Did I do the right thing?
On another occasion I was again alone in the store, this time on Friday afternoon shortly before Shabbat. There were no customers and I decided to close early and get home. (Even this was a decision I wondered about. I didn’t really have permission to close early.)
At the last moment a woman rushed in looking for a gift to bring to her Shabbat host, and asked for our "cheapest candlesticks." The computer said the cheapest set we had in stock was $40. She seemed upset that it was so expensive, but she paid and left. I locked the door and turned off the light, but as I was leaving I saw we had cheaper candlesticks than the ones I had just sold.
I thought about chasing after my customer and trading the candlesticks for the cheaper pair. But the hour was late, I was tired, and I wanted to go home for Shabbat, so I didn’t bother. I didn’t feel great, but I hadn’t intentionally sold her something more expensive than what she wanted. And she had known the price and decided to pay.
This week a man walked in looking for a Bat Mitzvah gift. He picked up a ceramic jewelry box, and examined it carefully. Then he brought it to me to gift-wrap. As I wrapped it I noticed it was cracked. The scratch wasn’t hard to see, and I knew he had looked at it carefully. Perhaps he didn’t care. I wrapped it, charged him, and he paid.
Should I have pointed out the scratch? Should I have offered him a discount? Was I permitted to offer him a discount? I felt guilty when he left, but thinking it over, I wasn’t sure whether I should have behaved differently.
My mother told me to ask a rabbi. After much thought, I decided to go to the closest one -- my father.
I told my mother these stories and asked her whether she thought I’d done the right thing. She told me to ask a rabbi. Now where I live, there are a lot of rabbis, so I wasn’t sure which one to ask. But after much thought, I decided to go to the closest one -- my father.
My father told me he didn’t think there was any issue with the woman who bought the candlesticks. When I said the cheapest candlesticks in the store were $40, I was giving her the best information I had. There was no intent to deceive on my part, and the price the woman paid was the correct price for what she bought.
On the other hand, he told me, I’d find the case of the questionable discount in Maimonides' codification of Jewish Law, under the section "Laws of Agents," and the cracked jewelry box case discussed in the "Laws of Sales." So I went and looked them up.
Maimonides says that agents cannot give discounts without permission from their employer. Otherwise they violate the terms of their employment -- which means they’re effectively not working as an employee at that time. So I was wrong on that one. (I subsequently asked the owner of the store and he told me in the future I could give discounts at my discretion.)
Maimonides discusses my cracked jewelry box case in a section on "false sales." When people buy things, he says, they assume the article they’re buying is whole and unbroken. This assumption holds even if it seems that they have examined the article and have seen its faults, unless they verbally state that they have seen the blemish and are accepting it anyway. Otherwise, it’s a sale made under false pretenses.
So I was one for three. Sort of a C. Math is hard, and science is difficult, but I think running even a small store in an ethical manner may be hardest of all.
If your father isn't a rabbi, you can get answers to your ethical dilemmas at aish.com's Jewish Ethicist.
(15) Laszlo Bencze, April 4, 2004 12:00 AM
Maimonides sound
Maimonides analysis is on the mark. If possible, you should find the person to whom you sold the damaged jewelry box and offer a full refund. Certainly, if they bring it back, a full refund should be offered no questions asked.
If you are not moral in small things, how will you ever be moral in the great. Cultivate virtue as a youth and it will sustain you in adulthood.
(14) m Pat Gray, March 22, 2003 12:00 AM
This is perfect. I have a 15 yr. old grandson who faces conflicts and I copied this for him.
It will be good to hear from a peer that it's not making the error but how to handle it that is so important.
(13) Aura Slovin, March 22, 2003 12:00 AM
Mi K'Amacha Yisroel
It took tremendous courage and honesty to air your thoughts about possible indescretions with the thousands of people who will read your story.
It makes me proud of you and of your wonderful parents who are doing a superb job in allowing you to "look up" the answers to your questions. It's called presenting reality on the road to adulthood. I am reaping much Yiddishe Nachas from you Yeshia, may you continue to go Me'Chayil L'Chayil.
You have inspired me to do a Chesbon Hanefesh (a daily accounting of my actions) both on the job and at home. Thank you.
(12) Janny Holster, March 21, 2003 12:00 AM
Ethical dilemmas
It is Beautifull that a young person like yourself is asking these questions. Many Young peopel in the places I come don't even ask themself this kind off question. I am very glad that you do. And know that Hashem will forgif you if you did it unintentionally. Keep it up and Hashem bless you.
(11) Anonymous, March 21, 2003 12:00 AM
Well done!
Rava said: When one is led in for judgment [after death] one is asked:
Were you honest in business? (Shabbat 31a)
It's a wonderful example to all of us that there are people like yourself you are working to figure how to answer "Yes".
(10) J Philippe Chaperon, March 20, 2003 12:00 AM
There is hope!
I was so happy to see a young person questioning the morality of business options. There is hope that things can but get better when one reads such a clearly written article by a member of the younger generation.
Congratulations to our young author and keep the good work.
(9) Anonymous, March 20, 2003 12:00 AM
Amazing
Thank you for opening up my eyes to so many mistakes I can make at my job, Thank you for being a great role model
(8) Naomi, March 20, 2003 12:00 AM
WOW
Very impressive. i really admire you. i am 16 and i wish i was that honest. while i do have a guilty conscience over small things like that too, i am way too embarrassed to ever ask a rabbi about anything like that. I think your a great role model. wow
(7) Sheila Hecker, March 18, 2003 12:00 AM
good advice
I agree with both of your very wise parents.
You probably should keep a record of all of the situations that you encounter. That is what can make your job REALLY interesting
(6) john, March 17, 2003 12:00 AM
awesome amazing really tells it with a brend
(5) John "Maze Man" Knoderer, March 17, 2003 12:00 AM
Excellent story - very informative and uplifting
Of all the stories I've read, this is the first time I've been influenced to post a comment. I found this an excellent story, and I learned a lot from it.
My best regards to the author.
John
(4) Shraga, March 17, 2003 12:00 AM
great article
but one point was missing - how did he make recompense to the cracked jewlery box guy. it's one thing to realize you;ve done something wrong, but doesn't Jewish law require restitution in monetary cases?
(3) David Scop, March 17, 2003 12:00 AM
Yoshar Koach for posting the experience
You should be commended for not only working while a teenager, but having the moral focus to question yourself, and put your decisions up to public scrutiny. While you didn't always choose the right thing; after this experience I'm sure you'll ask your employer for his advice, as well as your halachic guide.
(2) Marcy, March 17, 2003 12:00 AM
Great article
How nice it was to read such a sincere and thought-provoking article by my 15 year old cousin. Thanks!
(1) Wrashi, March 16, 2003 12:00 AM
Doubly envious
Yeshia, when I read your essay, I am doubly envious of you.
Firstly, when I went to school, 33% was not even close to a C. ;).
More seriously, when I was 15, there was no one to teach me these sorts of ethics, or point me to the sources that could. There was no one close to me I could ask. That you have the choice of numerous Rabbis, and even one in your house makes you, in my estimation, one of the most fortunate young people on the planet!
Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences. Best wishes for your future.