The Jewish Sages teach that: “The world stands on three things, on justice, on truth, and on peace.”[Talmud Avot 1:18] Jews are commanded to follow the ways of God. He is truthful, so too, we must strive to be truthful in all of our ways.[Torah Deuteronomy 28:9] It is good to practice being truthful because the Torah prohibits lying: “Keep far away from an untruth.”[Torah Exodus 23:7] Whoever lies in a court of law, violates one of the Ten Commandments, “You shall not bear false witness.”[Exodus 20:12]
However, there are times when an individual can lie. Lying is permissible if its purpose is to maintain love and harmony between a husband and his wife. We learn this from the life of Prophets Abraham and Sarah. [Torah Genesis 18:12-13]
When God tells the aging Sarah that she will have a son, she laughs, saying how unlikely it is since her husband is so old. When God tells Abraham of Sarah’s laughter, God changes the narrative saying that Sarah blamed her own old age, not her husband’s. The Jewish Sages teach that God lied to preserve “shalom” [peace] between husband and wife, to safeguard the harmony in their marriage.[Talmud Baba Metzia,........