{"id":58693,"date":"2017-11-09T10:07:32","date_gmt":"2017-11-09T15:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=58693"},"modified":"2017-11-14T07:08:01","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T12:08:01","slug":"youre-going-wrong-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/inspiration\/youre-going-wrong-way\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cYou\u2019re Going the Wrong Way!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

The <\/span>Time<\/span><\/i> magazine headline made me chuckle: \u201cRunner Wins Marathon After Competitors Totally Ran the Wrong Way.\u201d I had visions of silly marathoners paying the just price for their own foolishness but upon reading the article it turned out that such was not the case.<\/span><\/p>\n

Italian runner Eyob Faniel, took first place in the Venice Marathon because the actual front-runners – Abdulahl Dawud, Gilbert Kipleting Chumba, Kipkemei Mutai and David Kiprono Metto – were led astray by a motorcycle guide. The \u201cseveral hundred meters\u201d they ran in the wrong direction before doubling back to the proper course gave Faniel enough of an advantage that he acquired an insurmountable lead. The error occurred at mile 16 of a 26.2-mile run. Of those led astray, Chumba came in fourth and Metto, fifth.<\/span><\/p>\n

You will note that the misled runners were not credited with extra time to compensate for the error. The race was not paused until they could resume their rightful places. The event was not canceled in order to hold a \u201cdo-over.\u201d While the error was no fault of Dawud, Chumba, Mutai and Metto, they get to live with the consequences of having been led astray.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such is life. Sometimes people are misled and \u2013 you know what? \u2013 they have to live with the consequences. Chava was misled by the snake and was cursed for it. Adam was misled by Chava and was cursed for it. Korach misled a large group of followers, who were destroyed because of it. King Ahab was even misled by a false spirit, leading to his demise. (To better understand how a spirit could be permitted to mislead Ahab, see <\/span>The God Papers<\/strong><\/a>.) <\/span>As much as we like to think otherwise, being fed bad advice or misinformation is not a \u201cget out of trouble free\u201d card.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, there is a Torah commandment not to mislead others. Leviticus 19:14 tells us, \u201cDo not place a stumbling block before a blind person.\u201d While we certainly may not do this in a literal sense, Rashi explains that the meaning of this verse is metaphorical. Specifically, it\u2019s a prohibition against giving bad advice to someone who is \u201cblind\u201d in a certain manner. For example, it is prohibited for me to tell you to sell your dangerous, dangerous motorcycle and to buy a nice, safe sedan when my real intention is to acquire your motorcycle. Similarly, one may not mislead others in religious matters, such as by serving them non-kosher food.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a similar vein, Deuteronomy 13:7-12 commands us not to entice others to idolatry. We are told regarding such an enticer (called a <\/span>meisis<\/span><\/i>) that we are not permitted to love him, to hear his side of the story or to assist him \u2013 even if his life is in danger! Not only that, a <\/span>meisis<\/span><\/i> is not afforded the advantages that other defendants enjoy in capital cases under Torah law. Leading others astray is seen as a terrible crime.<\/span><\/p>\n

But as bad as being misled is, one is not exempt from repercussions if another person should lead him astray. Also in Deuteronomy 13 (verses 2-6) is the law of the false prophet (<\/span>navi sheker<\/span><\/i>). While it\u2019s certainly prohibited to be a false prophet, the particular focus here is on not being misled:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou shall not heed the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams because Hashem your God is testing you, to prove whether you really love Hashem your God with all your heart and with all your soul\u201d (13:4).<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, the (real) prophets constantly warned against being taken in by false prophets because being misled is not consequence-free. (This is true even today. One should choose his or her religious role models carefully because there are individuals \u2013 both on the left and on the right of the religious spectrum \u2013 who misrepresent Torah values for personal gain or to further partisan causes.)<\/span><\/p>\n

We are even warned not to lead ourselves astray! In fact, we repeat this warning constantly as part of the Shema:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026remember all the commandments of Hashem in order to perform them and do not wander after your hearts and after your eyes, after which one tends to go astray\u201d (Numbers 15:39).<\/span><\/p>\n

Yes, we have a concept of \u201c<\/span>tinok shenishba<\/span><\/i>,\u201d a person who doesn\u2019t know any better, and doing the wrong thing because one was misled is certainly better than doing it with malice aforethought but that\u2019s not carte blanche. It\u2019s still better to do the right thing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consequences of being led astray can come in many varieties. Let\u2019s say I sell you a steak dinner. If I trick you into eating spoiled meat, the consequence can be physical. If I talk you into overpaying for your meal, the consequence is financial. If I serve you non-kosher food, the consequence is spiritual. None of these is your fault but they\u2019re all consequences.<\/span><\/p>\n

Acting improperly because one was misled in religious matters may not be a \u201csin\u201d per se, but it\u2019s still a consequence we should guard against, just as we do against physical and financial consequences. Even if it\u2019s not our fault, being led astray can still cause us to lose the race.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Time magazine headline made me chuckle: \u201cRunner Wins Marathon After Competitors Totally Ran the Wrong Way.\u201d I had visions of silly marathoners paying the just price for their own foolishness but upon reading the article it turned out that such was not the case. Italian runner Eyob Faniel, took first place in the Venice<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":384,"featured_media":58696,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\n\u201cYou\u2019re Going the Wrong Way!\u201d - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When marathon runners are led off course, they don't get a "do over." That's life. 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