By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5TJT.com

“A buncha Ganoovim!” was the cry of a family friend whenever he encountered dishonesty.  And now, the Houston Astros.

For years, members of various Major League baseball teams had suspected the Houston Astros of stealing signs. But it was only this past November that it was actually exposed, when journalists Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich wrote about it in the November 2019 edition of The Athletic. Pitcher Mike Fiers, who played for the Astros in 2017, told these reporters that the team used a video camera in center field to film the opposing catchers’ signs to the pitchers.

Astros players and/or team staffers behind the dugout would watch the feed and then signal to the Astro’s batter as to the particular type of pitch that was coming. An investigation into the allegations began and last month, it confirmed that the Astros had, in fact, illegally used a camera system to steal signs during the 2017 regular season and postseason, during which they won the World Series, as well as in part of the 2018 season. Investigators found no evidence of illicit sign stealing in the 2019 season, in which the Astros advanced to and lost the World Series.

As a result, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and field manager A. J. Hinch were both suspended for the entire 2020 season.  The team then fired them.  The Astros were fined $5 million and forfeited their first- and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts. The players were not punished because they had been given immunity in exchange for their cooperation.

Wow!

Although all this is quite disconcerting, our question, however, is what is the halacha here?  Is it a halachic violation for a team to cheat?  What are the prohibitions involved in cheating?

RAV FEINSTEIN ZT”L’S VIEW

In a letter dated in the summer of 1980 to Rabbi Tzvi Hirsh Lefrak, Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l (the letter is found in Igros Moshe Choshain Mishpat Vol. II #30) writes that the issue of cheating actually goes into the realm of out and out theft.  He begins by saying that cheating is actually a violation of Dina D’Malchusa – a violation of the law of the land.  It is also a violation of Torah law.  It is also not just gneivas daas – misleading others – which in and of itself is forbidden as Shmuel has stated in Chullin 94a.  It is a violation of lying and is not listed among the three things upon which one may alter the truth (See Bava Metzia 23b).  Cheating also causes a general distrust in the world – where the individual who cheats causes others not to be trusted as well.  It also breeds laziness within oneself – where people learn to take the easy way out.

RAV YITZCHOK ZILBERSTEIN’S VIEW

The general issues of academic cheating were posed recently to Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein shlita and he responded with four underlying halachic concepts (See Vavei HaAmudim Volume 69 #9) which would also apply to sport teams.

Firstly, there is the matter of theft from a future employer.  When a person falsifies their record – the employer assumes that the employee had earned their education and in our case their sports record – honestly.

Secondly, the future employer does not wish to hire a dishonest person or a liar, pr in our case – a disjpmest player.  He or she wishes to employ someone who is and was honest and a person of integrity.  Rav Zilberstein writes that if a person cheated on tests – he or she must inform their future employer of it.  The same should apply in baseball.  Any Astros player wgo engaged in it should tell their current employer.

A third point that Rav Zilberstein cites is from his father-in-law, Rav Elyashiv zt”l.  Rav Elyashiv ruled that cheating on a state exam is not just stealing from the government – it is stealing from each and every tax-payer.  It undermines the system put in place by the state and is thus considered theft from the people.  By the same token, the Astros players and owners stole from their fans – who paid for more tickets on account of the illegally gotten higher hits.

A fourth point is that nothing good ever comes from such behavior and that it desensitizes a person to cheating and to the abuse of all that is good and moral.  The grandfather will have cheated and will undermine the moral fiber of his own future home.  The son will end up rationalizing behaviors where one will steal from the government and or cheat on taxes.  Finally, the grandson will end up actually stealing from other people with Ponzi schemes and other cases of fraudulently obtaining the hard-earned savings of others.

People do not realize that when they cheat – they are cheating themselves by chipping at the foundations of their own morality – which will end up with a child or grandchild in jail.

The Talmud tells us that honesty is G-d’s signet ring, so to speak.  The team owners should also offer the fans compensation for the damages they caused them and should apologize for fostering an environment where dishonesty is prevalent.

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