Direction Needed
Name@Withheld wrote:
Dear Rabbi,
I am a film director. I work in advertising. After much pressure and considerable preparatory work on my part, I reluctantly agreed to direct a TV advert. I felt very uncomfortable about my decision.
Meanwhile, although I had said "yes," no one was in a position to reciprocally confirm the job as mine – i.e. the actual client had as yet to say "yes." A weekend passed. I then said I was declining to pursue the job. I was accused of unethical conduct.
I reasoned that my doubts and discomfort about the project's outcome would seriously impair my creative performance, and that it was in the client's best interests that I withdraw, even though such a withdrawal would constitute a serious embarrassment for me, the production company and the client's ad agency. Was I wrong?
Dear Name@Withheld,
This is a tough one. And since it is a financial issue that involves others, it requires a “real live Rabbi” to hear both sides. I can just give you basic guidelines based on your side of the story. (In my answer I will assume that you were not yet legally committed by implied contract or industry standard.)
The Talmud says: "Your saying ‘Yes’ should be righteous." Meaning that a person should stand by his word.
The Shulchan Aruchrules that one who breaks a verbal agreement in a business transaction — even if the deal has not been legally concluded — is considered unfaithful and "out of favor" with the Sages.
So, for example, let's say I'm selling you my car, and we agree on a certain price. As you begin writing out the check, someone comes along and offers me more money. It would be unscrupulous for me to cancel my deal with you and to sell it to the newcomer, even if legally I am able to do so.
Now, your case appears to differ from a standard "business transaction." You aren't selling a car. Rather, you're "selling" your talent and creativity. According to your description you agreed to take on the project thinking you would be able to put your creative talents to it, but later you realized that you don't have it in you. This is perhaps more like agreeing to sell someone a car which you later realize you don't own. In such a case, backing out wouldn’t be as much a lack of faith as a mistake made in the beginning.
So, if you think you can do a good job without harming the client's interest you should reconsider in order to uphold your word. But if you can't, you can't. I'm sure you will make apologies to the appropriate parties, as well as a commitment to exercise more care in future agreements.
- Sources: Tractate Bava Metzia 49a; Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 204:7
Who Knows Etc.?
In the song at the end of the Pesach Seder we describe the significance of the numbers from one to thirteen as they relate to Jewish life and thought. "Three are the fathers, Four are the Mothers...12 are the Tribes of Israel..." What about the next 13 numbers? And after those? What significance do they have in Jewish tradition?
Here are some reader responses:
- 18 is the amount of minutes it takes to turn matzah dough into chametz (leaven).
- 19 is the number of years in a Jewish calendar cycle.
