Sunday, September 23, 2018

halacha - Is there a penalty or measure of restitution for geneivas daas?


With the crime of stealing (geneiva), the Torah is very specific about how the theif must pay as a penalty for his crime (e.g. depending on the circumstances, the thief could be liable for double the value of the stolen object, or as much as four or five times its value -- see Ex. 21:33-22:14). Based on the concept expressed in the commandment קדֹשים תהיּּו (Lev. 19:2) -- that we should seek to be holy -- our sages understood the sin of theft to include גניבת דעת -- literally “stealing of the mind,” which includes various forms of misrepresenting oneself and misleading others. Chullin 94a. The concept of גניבת דעת has been applied to such relatively simple concepts as holding a "closing sale" when you have no intent of closing, or cheating on the Regents exam (Igros Moshe (HM 11:30). In theory, it could apply to under-reporting income on your tax returns, or election fraud, however I can't find authorities who speak to either topic specifically. Some authorities consider גניבת דעת a Torah prohibition (see, e.g., the Ritva (Chullin 94a) and the Semag (154)) while others see it as Rabbinic when not involving commerce (e.g. the Shulchan Arukh Ha-Rav). My question is that since what is stolen in this case is a person's trust, is there a way to measure restitution or penalty, and would the measure of restitution/penalty be similar to other types of theft?




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