blogs/rabbi-huberman

Parashat: Balak

Emails - Are They Private?

I have a question about the personal emails you write every day.

Do you regard them as confidential letters or open postcards?

It’s an ethical question that revolves around the Jewish understanding of privacy—and its genesis dates back more than 1,000 years ago to the time of the great Sage, Rabbeinu Gershom (960-1040).

Rabbeinu Gershom was once asked, “If someone hands you a letter to deliver during your travels to a foreign city or country, is it okay to open and read its contents?”

Often, these sealed letters contained sensitive business information or even romantic correspondence that could be very harmful or compromising if read by an outsider. To safeguard against this, Rabbeinu Gershom penned landmark legislation against the reading other people's mail.

And what helped inspire him to reach this conclusion?—this week’s Torah portion.

The parashah begins as Moses and the Israelites approach Moab on their way to the Promised Land. They ask permission to pass through.

Balak, the nation’s ruler, has heard about the Israelites and their powerful God, and refuses them passage. Balak then attempts to subcontract a non-Jewish priest, Balaam, to curse the Israelites, in order to gain protection for himself and his people.

At first Balaam refuses, but eventually—likely lured by Balak’s offer of gold and silver—Balaam agrees to travel to the Israelite camp.

As he and his aids approach their destination, an angel, visible only to his donkey, stands in the way. The donkey veers into a field to avoid hitting the angel. Balaam beats the donkey back on course.

The donkey again swerves off path, pinning Balaam’s leg against a wall. Balaam again punishes the animal.

Finally, the donkey sits down in order to avoid the angel. Balaam beats the donkey again.

But this time, the donkey turns back to her owner and miraculously speaks: “What have I done to you that you have beaten me three times?”

Eventually, Balaam’s “eyes are opened.” He sees the angel and realizes what an ass he’s been. He continues along the journey but now with God’s guidance.

And when Balaam arrives, rather than cursing the Israelites, he offers a blessing that, to this day, is recited as part of Jewish morning prayers.

 ”How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings O Israel.”

So, what does this have to do with sealed letters, emails and texts?

Many years later, as our Sages analyzed this rather unique blessing, they concluded that what inspired Balaam to bless rather than curse the Israelites was the arrangement of their tents in the desert.

The Talmud quotes our oral tradition, noting that the doors and windows of each tent were lined up in a way that prevented anyone from peering into a neighbor’s home and violating their privacy.

This ancient Talmudic teaching has inspired Jewish tradition to help ensure that no one can look into the business of another.

By extension, that means sealed letters should remain private. It means that—however tempting it may have been in its day—listening in on a telephone party line was forbidden, and it even means that when someone sends you a private email or text, it is meant for your eyes only—a closed letter rather than an open postcard.

The issue of email confidentiality was posed to the 20^th Century Sage, Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, who concluded there is no distinction between regular mail and email. Unless otherwise stated, each of us has an obligation to respect the confidentiality and the feelings communicated by the sender.

He added, “Concerning postcards, there is a doubt whether or not Rabbeinu Gershom's decree applies, since the sender seems unconcerned if others read it.

“But on the other hand (in the case of an email, it is...) just as when you send a letter you expect that no one will open and read it.”

It is projected that during 2024, about 362 billion emails will be sent worldwide.

Often, we are required to share emails as we work on a joint work project. It is commonplace, if not encouraged, to share an interesting article or a good joke. Police can solve crimes by recovering old emails.

But when it comes to respecting people’s feelings and confidentiality, this week’s biblical story regarding an angel, a donkey and a priest continues to inspire us.

Each us knows how it feels to be victimized by gossip—ever more reason to follow the teaching of great Sage Hillel, who wrote, “That which is hateful to you, do not do unto your fellow.”

Admittedly, we live in a postcard world, and much of that cannot be avoided. But in addition, we are the sacred carriers of each other’s confidentiality.

And that teaching traces back to this week’s Torah portion named after Balak.

Rabbi Dr. Michael Rosensweig of Yeshiva University argues that in Jewish Law, privacy is not simply a matter of personal preference. ”It is rather a formal legal category…that peering into another’s private space is considered an act of damage.”

The Talmudic principle is known as ”hezek r'iyah” or “damage caused by looking.”   

Therefore, let us all be respectful of the Jewish principle of privacy, and never use the privilege of confidentiality to embarrass or degrade.

For the principles of respecting each other’s privacy and treasuring each other’s trust remain timeless.

From the entries of our tents to the gateways of the Internet, let us all therefore be worthy of Balaam’s blessing:

“How fair are your tents, O Jacob, Your dwellings O Israel.”

Shabbat shalom, v’kol tuv.

Rabbi Irwin Huberman