Honesty in Business: What King Solomon Taught Us - Rabbi Zamir Cohen

Sometimes in business, there's a feeling that if I pull off a trick that I know isn't entirely honest, but I could make a lot of money, to do it or not to do it, and a person struggles with themselves. How does one withstand these temptations? King Solomon begins chapter 11 with the words, "Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but a perfect weight is his delight." First of all, he says, "You should know that dishonest scales, that is, in business, you can deceive the customer." In their time, it was very easy to deceive customers. There weren't electronic scales like we have today, and when you wanted to weigh a kilo of flour on the balance scales, you could put a weight on the other side and tell the customer it's a kilo, but you know the truth, it's 900 g. It says a kilo on it, but you scrape some off the bottom, or over the years it wore down. The customer is sure he received a kilo, and you feel, "I made a profit of 100 g that he paid for without receiving, so why not profit even more? By the end of the month, I have high earnings." These scales are called by the name deceptive scales, because they cheat people. Deceptive scales are an abomination to God. The Holy One, blessed be He, abhors this kind of conduct when a person is not honest. On the other hand, a perfect weight is His will. When the stone, the weight, is whole and accurate, that is God's will that you conduct yourself honestly and properly.