Keeping Far from Falsehood
34. It is permitted to tell a fabricated story or change the characters in order to provide financial assistance to someone who is embarrassed to accept tzedakah from others. Under ordinary circumstances, they would accept nothing and find themselves in a difficult situation. For example, one may say that one met a wealthy person who wanted to distribute money to those in need in honor of his birthday.
35. A teacher or sage who is asked out of curiosity whether he has studied a particular tractate may answer that he has not (even if he has), and this will not be considered a violation. On the contrary, such conduct is approved by the Torah, because it often saves a person from pride.
However, if, for example, a rabbi is examining his students, they may not tell an untruth.
36. It is permitted to change certain details and even tell an untruth when someone asks about things that are not usually discussed aloud.
37. You were a guest somewhere, where you were warmly welcomed and generously treated to food. If an ill-mannered person asks where you were and how you spent your time, you should not tell them how wonderful everything was, so as not to attract unwelcome guests there. However, it is forbidden to speak badly of the host and his family.
**** One night, the Chafetz Chaim unexpectedly came to his yeshiva. He was looking for Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, the rabbi of the city of Ponevezh. When they met, the Chafetz Chaim told him about his problems with debtors. People often came to him to borrow money.
He had recently sold a certain number of his books, and, learning of this, several people approached him for a loan. But he knew some of them to be dishonest people who borrowed money without repaying it, so he did not want to have dealings with them.
But he also did not want to violate the prohibition against deception, which prevented him from simply saying that he had no money. The Chafetz Chaim therefore decided to give all the money (or the right of ownership) to Rabbi Kahaneman, so that his words, “I have no money,” would be true.