“The Gemara records a related incident. Members of the house of Rav Yosef bar Ḥama would, with his approval, seize the slaves of people who owed him good morning I came money, and they would work them against the will of the owners. Rabba, son of Rav Yosef bar Ḥama, said to him: What is the reason that the Master does this, i.e., seizes and uses these slaves? Rav Yosef bar Ḥama said to him: As Rav Naḥman says: A slave is not worth even the bread in his stomach. When the slaves work for me and eat in my home, I am not causing the owners any monetary loss. Rav Yosef bar Ḥama’s son said to him: I will say that Rav Naḥman said this with regard to specific slaves, such as his slave Daru, who only dances among the wine barrels [kuvei] and does not perform any labor. All other slaves perform labor, and their labor is worth more than their board.
“Rav Yosef
bar Ḥama said to him: I hold in accordance with the opinion of Rav
Daniel, as Rav Daniel bar Rav Ketina says that Rav says: One who seizes
another’s slave and performs labor with him is exempt from paying the
master for the labor of the slave. Apparently, it is satisfactory for
the master that the work habits of his slave not be undone.
“(The
Torah forbids charging interest on a loan as it is written “You shall not
deduct interest from loans to your fellow Israelites, whether in money or food
or anything else that can be deducted as interest;” Deuteronomy 23:20. -gg) Rabba
said to him: This statement of Rav Daniel applies when the one
who seizes the slave is not owed money by the owner of the slave. But since
the Master is owed money by the owner of the slave, this has the appearance
of interest (rebeet-רִבִּית),
as Rav Yosef bar Minyumi says that Rav Naḥman says: Although
the Sages said that one who resides in another’s courtyard without
his knowledge does not need to pay him rent, if one lent money to
another, and then resided in the courtyard of another, i.e., that
of his creditor, he needs to pay him rent, to avoid the appearance of
interest. Rav Yosef bar Ḥama said to him: I retract my opinion, and will
no longer seize the slaves of my debtors.” (Sefaria.org
translation)
Usually we speak negatively about people who create a
false impression because a person pretends to be virtuous in order to achieve
his goals by illegal or immoral means. We come across these types of people in
the business world and in politics.
“‘All that glitters is not
gold’, is a popular adage, which implies that not everything looks valuable or
true, turns out to be like that. This applies to people, places, or things that
claim to be more worthy than they actually are. William Shakespeare used this
expression in his famous play, “The merchant of Venice”. Thus one must not form
opinions about things or people based on their superficial appearance only.
There is a need to ascertain their real nature and intrinsic value rather than
being swayed by the glittering facade.
“Appearances are often deceptive. Many
things may superficially appear very attractive but when they are examined very
closely, they prove to be disappointing. One cannot judge the quality of a
thing by seeing its exterior side only. Every shinning metal is not gold. We
often form our opinion about objects on the basis of impersonation. One should
always find out the true nature of things. We should try to find out the
reality hidden behind their glory.
“Good and beautiful objects have always
swayed human nature. Nevertheless, people fall prey to the temptation of
external beauty, for only wise people learn from the experience of others. A
person may put up a false show of kindness, charity, love, respect, and other
kinds of virtues. That artful pretense of such people showing their true colors
even sways them.
“A person may pretend to be virtuous,
hiding his flaws. One cannot judge a person from his smiling face or cheerful
appearance. Most of the time, false masks, faces and appearances cover them. In
fact, it has been proved many times that people have hidden their true selves
in order to reach the highest ladder of success. People often make use of
tricks, cunningness, hypocrisy, and flattery in order to achieve their dreams.
They hide their inner reality of vanity and hollowness by amazing and blinding
shows of grave morality.
“It is in fact very easy to fool and
misguide people by putting on a garb of goodness by means of fine dresses and
speeches. The human mind is so gullible and naive that good manners and good
appearances of such people often sway them. Celebrities from the entertainment
industry and leaders from the world of politics are notable examples. From the
outside, the show business looks attractive and enticing to figure in. The
glamorous world of entertainment depends on the outer beauty of the actors.
People are often influenced by glamour, following these actors without knowing
what they really are from inside and how they struggle to achieve a position.
“Similarly, the politicians place on a
mask of goodness and kindness to induce votes from the public during the
elections. They provide influential speeches on how they might work for the
development of the community and win the confidence of the public to urge
votes, which they have an inclination to forget after winning the elections.
“This is further accentuated by the spread
of consumerism, which has caught the burgeoning middle and socio-economic class
of the society, in a very vice-like grip. They fall easy prey to the consumer
goods advertised in print and the electronic media. Being unable to procure the
good brands, they are tricked into buying fake and imitated products of
inferior quality, which pose serious peril. Thus cheap cosmetics and health
care products attractively packaged are sold in the market, to extend the
business of unscrupulous manufacturers.
“The above adage is a vital lesson that
one must imbibe early in life. One should be smart enough to be logical and
reasonable before jumping to any kind of conclusion. Simple living with high
thinking is the mantra for a good living.” (https://www.vedantu.com/english/all-that-glitters-is-not-gold-essay)
Rabba warns
his father that a false impression could also have the opposite effect. People
might misinterpret or not understand that his father has not violated the law
of rebeet and consider him a sinner. His
reputation would suffer the eyes the public. One should strive in all of
his/her interactions not only to do what’s right and think about how his
actions are perceived so that nobody would ever draw the wrong conclusions.
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