07 Nov PUBLISHING WITHOUT PERMISSION

A few weeks ago,
we discussed the
debate between Rav
Shaul Yisraeli and
Rav Shlomo Goren
regarding the siege of
Beirut. As mentioned,
on August 6th, 1982,
then Chief Rabbi of Israel Rav Shlomo
Goren published an article in the
newspaper Hatzofeh in which he argued
that, according to Jewish law, the siege
must allow terrorists to escape the city.
Understandably, this caused a bit of a
furor and Rav Shaul Yisraeli wrote a
letter in response. Rav Goren responded
in turn and the exchange was published
in Hatzofeh on Sep. 17th. The next year,
Rav Yisraeli published an article on the
subject in the journal Techumin (vol. 4).
One issue that Rav Yisraeli addressed
is that his letter was intended to be a
private note to his friend, Rav Goren. He
never intended for it to be published for
the broader public. However, Rav Goren
wrote a response and forwarded both the
letter and the response to the newspaper
for publication. Rav Yisraeli objected

to the publication of his private letter.
Rav Goren later said that he had asked
the newspaper to obtain permission
from Rav Yisraeli before publishing his
letter, but that never happened and Rav
Yisraeli was upset. In other words, it
was the editor’s failure that caused the
problem. Rav Goren then wrote a public
letter apologizing but arguing that even
though he would ask for permission to
publish someone else’s Torah insights,
he believes that it was not necessarily
halachically required. Rav Yisraeli then
published that letter (presumably with
permission) along with a response in
the journal Techumin, vol. 4 pp. 354-
360. Here are some of the sources and
arguments.
Rav Goren begins with two texts that
seems to contradict each other:
1. The Gemara in Yoma (4b) learns
that you may not repeat something
that you hear because it says (Lev.
1:1), “Now the Lord called to
Moses, and spoke to him from the
tabernacle of meeting, saying.”
The last word — “saying” (leimor)

— seems redundant
because the next verse
begins with “speak”
(dabeir). The Gemara
explains that “leimor”
teaches us that you
have to receive explicit
permission in order
to repeat something
you are told. This is
quoted in the Magen
Avraham (156:2).
Presumably, one
would therefore not be
allowed to publish a letter without
permission. You may not reveal
someone else’s words without their
explicit permission.
2. However, the Tosefta (Bava
Kamma ch. 7) states that someone
who “steals” (overhears) someone
else’s teachings may go and
repeat the teachings. There is no
problem with stealing someone
else’s Torah, although it might
constitute misleading someone if
you take credit for Torah insights
that you did not develop. However,
if you do not take credit for it,
then there should be no problem..
The Shach (Yoreh De’ah 292:35)
rules, based on this, that you may
copy Torah insights from someone
else’s book even if he doesn’t want
you to do so. Therefore, it would
seem that one would be allowed
to publish a letter of Torah insights
without permission.
Which is it? Are you allowed to
steal someone else’s Torah insights
and repeat them without permission?
Or are you forbidden from repeating
someone’s words without explicit
permission?
To explain the contradiction between
the above two sources, Rav Goren
posits that the Gemara in Yoma
was referring to non-Torah related
material while the Tosefta deals with
Torah. You need permission to tell
someone general information you
hear. However, Torah belongs to the
entire Jewish people. It is something
for which we all have a mitzvah to
learn and teach. You do not need
permission to repeat a Torah insight
that you hear from someone else – in
fact, doing so is a mitzvah. Therefore,
technically you are allowed to publish
a letter of Torah insights without

permission. However, as a matter of
politeness, it is always best to obtain
explicit permission.
Rav Yisraeli disagrees with this analysis.
He responds that the contradiction can be
explained based on the rule that one must
review one’s Torah thoughts multiple
times before teaching them in public,
to ensure that they are properly thought
out and appropriately worded. While
Rav Yisraeli does not quote this saying,
it is appropriate: “Not everything that is
thought should be said; not everything
that is said should be written; and not
everything written should be published.”
According to this understanding, if you
tell someone privately a Torah insight
he may not repeat it without permission
because it might not be sufficiently well
thought out for public consumption.
Hence, the Gemara in Yoma which
forbids revealing what is told without
permission. However, an individual
may intentionally overhear (“steal”) a
Torah insight that is not ready for the
public, if he himself will also not reveal
it to the public. Either way, a letter that
was written for an individual should not
be shared with the public because the
thoughts might be insufficiently worked
out or not worded optimally.