כי השחד יעור עיני חכמים ויסלף דברי צדיקים
We think that shochad, bribery, is about taking money to sway judgment. As Horav Shlomo Levenstein, Shlita, points out, it is not always about accepting money. Any favor that, when granted, makes the beneficiary /judge feel indebted is considered a bribe. Indeed, as we see from the following story (“In the Footsteps of the Maggid,” by Rabbi Paysach Krohn), one can never be too careful with regard to the far-reaching effects of taking a bribe/accepting a favor. Horav Eliyahu Meir Bloch, zl, together with his brother-in-law, Horav Chaim Mordechai Katz, zl, founded Telshe Yeshiva in America. The Rosh Yeshivah had…
