About the Author


Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir, Business Ethics Center of Jerusalem

Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir is Research Director at the Business Ethics Center of Jerusalem (www.besr.org). He studied at Harvard, received a PhD in Economics from MIT, and rabbinic ordination from the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. Prior to moving to Israel, he worked at the Council of Economic Advisers in the Reagan administration. Rabbi Dr. Meir is also a Senior Lecturer in Economics at the Jerusalem College of Technology and has published several articles on business, economics and Jewish law. He is the author of the two-volume, "Meaning in Mitzvot (Feldheim), and his Aish.com columns form the basis of the "Jewish Ethicist" book (ktav.com).


The Jewish Ethicist: Foreign Aid

Should hospitals treat indigent foreigners free?

The Jewish Ethicist: No-Shop Day(s)

Shabbat serves as a weekly reminder that we don't live to work, we work to live.

The Jewish Ethicist: Shill Game

Can I use fake bids to raise prices in an auction?

The Jewish Ethicist: Piggyback or Just Piggy?

Can I tap in to a neighbor's wireless internet service?

The Jewish Ethicist: Money and Marriage

Is it ethical to raise a family without an income?

The Jewish Ethicist: Vaccination Vacillation

Should I leave limited flu vaccine for needier people?

The Jewish Ethicist: Fair Pay

Can my employer underpay me?

The Jewish Ethicist: Reconciling the Books

Turning loans into charity.

The Jewish Ethicist: Bankruptcy

Does Jewish tradition favor income equality?

The Jewish Ethicist: Equality Quandary

Does Jewish tradition favor income equality?

The Jewish Ethicist: Neighborly Loan

Getting back the money you lent your neighbor.

The Jewish Ethicist: Getting Recognition

A vocal co-worker is overshadowing my achievements!

The Jewish Ethicist: Facing Poker

Can we raise funds through a poker tournament?

The Jewish Ethicist: School Sell-Out

Can my school accept money to secretly promote a business?

The Jewish Ethicist: Dependent Donee

Is it ever a mitzvah not to give charity?

The Jewish Ethicist: Cake Calumny

How can I protect the reputation of my baked goods?

The Jewish Ethicist: Showing Racism the Door

Should I fire a racist worker?

The Jewish Ethicist: The Corporation and the Community, Part 3

Ethics of corporate philanthropy.

The Jewish Ethicist: Corporate Menschkeit

When do we cross the line from good corporate citizenship to irresponsible management?

The Jewish Ethicist: The Corporation and the Community, Part 1 Corporate Philanthropy

Corporate obligations to the community.

The Jewish Ethicist: Sharing Selling Secrets

Do I have to cooperate with co-workers if we're in competition for benefits?

The Jewish Ethicist: Let's Shake On It

When is a handshake a binding commitment?

The Jewish Ethicist: 360-Degree Feedback

The pitfalls of work evaluations from colleagues and subordinates.

The Jewish Ethicist: Beggars' Letters

Relying on letters of recommendations to determine who is truly needy.

The Jewish Ethicist: Monitoring Workers

How intrusive may employers be in monitoring workers?

The Jewish Ethicist: Ethical Work

Judaism does not view work as the center of life or as its primary source of meaning.

The Jewish Ethicist: Charitable Return

Can a gift to charity ever substitute for paying what we owe?

The Jewish Ethicist: Leading by Example

Does favoring local labor discriminate against the truly needy?

The Jewish Ethicist: Fishy Fine Print

What can a merchant hide in the fine print of ads?

The Jewish Ethicist: Blame Game

Can I defend myself against workplace blame-shifting?

The Jewish Ethicist: Rebate Racket

Can I offer customers a fake rebate?

The Jewish Ethicist: White Lie Redux

Can I reassure a business colleague with a white lie?

The Jewish Ethicist: Sweatshops

Is it ethical to buy from low-wage suppliers?

The Jewish Ethicist: Undercharge Undercurrent

Do I need to report an undercharge if it will indict the cashier?

The Jewish Ethicist: Finders Keepers?

A primer on the laws related to lost objects.

The Jewish Ethicist: Resume Redux

Can I hide the fact that I'm overqualified for a job?

The Deeper Meaning of Hamentaschen

Rising above evil on Purim.

The Jewish Ethicist: Blind Stealing

Do I need to tell a storeowner that his assistant is stealing?

The Jewish Ethicist: Asceticism

When exactly is deprivation praiseworthy?

The Jewish Ethicist: Arms and the Businessman

Is it ethical to be involved in the weapons industry?

The Jewish Ethicist: Debtor's Prison

Is it ethical to jail people for debts?

The Jewish Ethicist: Confidential Ex-Con II

Should I tell a business owner that a job applicant has a criminal record?

The Jewish Ethicist: Confidential Ex-Con, Part 1

Should I tell a business owner that a job applicant has a criminal record?

Defect Disclosure

When do I have to let customers know about defects?

The Jewish Ethicist: Spam Jam

Can I advertise my product through mass mailing?

The Jewish Ethicist: Revoloving Door

Should public servants go to work for the very businesses they policed?

The Jewish Ethicist: A Room With a View

Does the landlord have to make sure an apartment is livable?

The Jewish Ethicist: Salad-Bar Scandal

Should I tell a clerk about a petty shoplifter?

The Jewish Ethicist: Fresh or Free

Can I scheme to take advantage of a free offer?

The Jewish Ethicist: Malicious Merchant

Should I withhold my business from an unsavory merchant?

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