Ask The Rabbi
10 June 1995 
Issue #67
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This edition contains:
1. Thou Shalt Not Read Thy Neighbors' E-Mail?
2. Answer to Last Week's Liddle Riddle
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Michael from Pittsburgh wrote:

>Dear Rabbi,
>
>Does the "Cherem d'Rabbeinu Gershom" ["social excommunication"-ed.] 
>against reading someone's mail also apply to E-Mail?  At work we all share 
>one E-Mail account, and sometimes I find it difficult to overcome my 
>curiosity.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Dear Michael,

Rabbeinu Gershom (960-1040 C.E.), "The Light of the Exile," was one of the 
earliest and greatest scholars of Ashkenazic Jewry, and led the most 
prestigious center of Talmudic learning of the day.  In his times, there 
arose a need to institute a number of new measures, called "takanot."  
These included the banning of polygamy and the requirement of mutual 
consent in divorce.

Amongst his most well known enactments is the one you mentioned -- the 
prohibition against reading people's mail.  In those times, Jewish traders 
in different countries communicated in writing.  Often their letters 
contained sensitive business information which could be very harmful if 
read by an outsider.  As a safeguard against this, Rabbeinu Gershom 
legislated against reading people's mail.

What about E-Mail?  Is reading E-Mail on a computer screen included in the 
"Cherem of Rabbeinu Gershom"?  I posed this question to Rabbi Chaim Pinchas 
Scheinberg, shlita, and he made no distinction between regular mail and E-
Mail.

You wrote, however, that you share a joint account.  Here, the question can 
be asked, "Is an E-Mail message in a joint account like a post card?"  
Concerning post cards there is a doubt whether or not Rabbeinu Gershom's 
decree applies, since the sender seems unconcerned if others read it.

On the other hand, perhaps the sender trusts that no one will push the 
button and "open" the message -- just as when you send a letter you expect 
that no one will open and read it.

I asked Rabbi Scheinberg about this as well.  Here, too, he made no 
distinction between a joint account and a private account.  People expect 
that no one read their messages, and it should not be done.

I hope this knowledge helps you overcome your curiosity.  If not, let me 
remind you of the positive commandment of "v'ahavta l'reacha ka'mocha" -- 
"Love your fellow person as yourself."  Our Sages explain this as follows:  
One must not do to somebody else what he wouldn't want the other person to 
do to him.  Would you like someone else to read your personal E-mail?

Sources:
o  Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 334:22.
o  Aruch HaShulchan 334:20.
o  Herald of Destiny, by Berel Wein, Shaar Press.
o  Leviticus 19:18, Shabbat 31a, Maharsha.

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Answer to Last Week's Riddle: (Q&A courtesy of Joel Intract)

Question:   Aside from Chanukah and Chol HaMoed, when is the Torah read 5
            days in a row?

Answer:     When the first day of Rosh Hashanah occurs on Thursday.  The
            Torah is read the first and second day of Rosh Hashanah, and
            then on Shabbos.  Sunday is "The Fast of Gedaliah," followed by
            the regular Torah reading on Monday!
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