The Talmudic Law of the Moser

Not unlike the Mafioso code of Omerta!

Citizen of the United States of America Stephen M. St. John notes that the Talmudic Law of the Moser, or the Law of the Jewish Informer, is essentially a covenant prohibiting a Jew from informing on another Jew to a non-Jew, which is diametrically opposed to the adversarial process of our own legal system and therefore conducive toward obstruction of justice.

Furthermore, among employees at all levels in our intelligence and law enforcement communities, the Talmudic Law of the Moser, or Law of the Jewish Informer, constitutes an impediment to frank and uninhibited exchanges of information in the discharge of their duties and therefore poses a serious threat to our national security.

Citizen St. John cannot overemphasize the great importance of this very real issue of the Talmudic Law of the Moser, or Law of the Jewish Informer, the history of which one may read in the Jewish Encyclopedia.

In Citizen St. John's complaint of judicial misconduct docketed under Micellaneous Number 01-0030 on 1 June 2001 by the Clerk of the United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, he cites a contemporaneously published article promulgating the Talmudic Law of the Moser, or Law of the Jewish Informer, which was written by Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and published by The Jewish Press located in Brooklyn, New York, and is reproduced below.

Again, Citizen St. John points out that the Talmudic Law of the Moser, or Law of the Jewish Informer, is a very real issue, not unlike the Mafioso code of Omerta. The Warren Commission was oblivious to it. So was the 9/11 Commission. We continue to ignore this issue at our national peril.

Let us address in a forthright manner this issue of the Talmudic Law of the Moser or Law of the Jewish Informer and its legal, national security and foreign policy implications. For an overview of the Talmud itself, and the dangers it poses to our society and the world community, visit the very excellent website www.come-and-hear.com.

For the convenience of interested readers, the above referenced article, "A Jewish Informer," by Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen, is reproduced below in a verbatim transcript. (The original article may be found on microfiche at the Judaica Collection of the main branch of the New York Public Library, located in New York City at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street in Manhattan. Also, Citizen St. John will provide gratis a photocopy of Rabbi Cohen's article by mail or by fax to any reader who provides a fax number (USA & Canada only) or stamped, self-addressed envelope sufficient for one page. Just click "Contact" in the navigation bar at bottom left and scroll down to find contact information.)

A verbatim transcript of Rabbi Simcha Cohen's article "A Jewish Informer" here follows. (Please note that whereas the Jewish Encyclopedia uses the accepted spelling "moser," Rabbi Cohen goes with an alternate spelling of this Hebrew word for informer, "mosser."

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HALACHIC QUESTIONS

Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen

Melbourne, Victoria, Australiaewish Informer

(In commemoration of the yahrzeit of HaGaon HaRav Yitzhak Hutner, z"l, 20th Kislev -- December 19.)

Question: Jewish law considers the crime of informing upon a fellow Jew a most vile and odious sin. Why? What is the nature of the sin of the informer (the mosser) that galvanizes such a negative reaction?

Response: The Rambam rules that an informer is not to be deemed part of Klal Yisrael (Hilchot Mamrim 2:2). In another section, the Rambam notes that an informer is not to receive a share in the World to Come (Hilchot Teshuva 3:12). The rationale of the Rambam, says Hagaon Rav Hutner, z"l, is based upon the following theory: One who separates himself from the ways of the community (ha'poresh mi'darchei tzibbur) "even though he does not sin... has no share in the World to Come" (ibid. 3:11). Thus, separation from communal standards is tantamount to exclusion from the Jewish people. This, moreover, does not have to relate to any specific sin. Informing on Jews, contends Hagaon Rav Hutner, is an action that goes against the essence of Jewish communal standards. It is a behavioral pattern that is simply not Jewish. This is not what Jews do. As such, the informer (mosser) is excluded from Klal Yisrael because of his refusal to conform to the moral character of the Jewish people (Pachad Yitzhak, Pesach, Ma'amar 63:5).

Rabbi Cohen is the Rav of the Mizrachi Kehilla in Merbourne and the author of several halachic works, the latest being "How Does Jewish Law Work?" (Jason Aronson)

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Rabbi J. Simcha Cohen's article, "A Jewish Informer," appeared on page 49 of the 19 December 1997 issue of The Jewish Press, 338 Third Avenue, Brooklyn, New York 11215-1897

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