Is it against Jewish law for a Jew to sell a car to a non-Jew?

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Clarification of Question by josg2003-ga on 20 Feb 2005 09:34 PST

If its not against Jewish law, can you provide a link to some source of your answer?

I am afraid its not that simple. Its not an opion i need its evidence.
I am not the one selling i am buying. There is a car i really want and
the sekker really wants to sell it. But, the seller is jewish, and
when he asked for permission from his synagogue they said he could not
sell it becuase i was not a Jew. I have talked to a few Jews, and they
have confirmed that this is not true, but the prombelm is i need fact
and a source to referance to. That way perhaps i can produce this
evidence to him and he may change his mined.

It is sometimes difficult, if not impossible, to prove that something
is *not* forbidden. It's not as if there is Scripture that says "Thou
canst sell thy chariot to Gentiles."

Actually, Pinkfreud, this is exactly the kind of question that rabbis
are asked for opinions about (usually called 'responsa') all the time.
Classic texts like the Shulchan Aruch (the 'Set Table') lay out with
some detail what is permitted, what is not permitted, what is a good
deed (mitzvah), what is a sin, and so on. Different Jewish rabbinic
groups offer different responsa, and the huge quantity of responsa
available can lead to some seeming contradictions (the resolution of
which is the result of still more responsa).

The Central Conference of American Rabbis (a Reform organization) has
a good index of responsa online:
http://www.ccarnet.org/resp/tindex.html. A somewhat more orthodox
site, torah.org, has a great compendium of Jewish Law available,
including an entire section on business ethics (called 'halacha,'
literally 'the way of walking') at
http://www.torah.org/advanced/business-halacha/ .

I haven't been able to find anything that directly addresses the
question of whether or not one can sell a car to a non-Jew, though,
frankly, as selling in general to non-Jews is permitted (as long as
it's done honestly and so on), I don't see why there would be a
special problem about a car. But you could always click on 'Ask the
Rabbi' on any of the torah.org pages and go from there. I'm sure
they'd be happy to help. You could also ask for the seller's reasoning
behind his refusal to sell (or his congregation's), and follow the
chain of reasoning from there. (If you do follow this, I'd be very
interested if you posted it for us all to see, as it might teach me
something new about Halacha.)

This is probably a better way to go than to look at the simply
incorrect and deeply antisemitic site offered by eliteskills-ga. Yes,
it is absolutely a sin before God (as well as a crime before the law)
for Jews to kill non-Jews, whether accidentally or on purpose. And it
is also scandalously false (as the page eliteskills-ga links to
claims) that Jews claim the "right to deceive the non-Jews ? in
politics business, and personal relations."  See the question of
'Geneivas Da'as' -- misleading others:

from http://www.torah.org/advanced/business-halacha/5757/vol2no30.html :

Question:
What practices are included in the prohibition of Geneivas Da'as
(literally - stealing someone's knowledge), the prohibition against
misleading others in business and other interpersonal matters?

Answer:
A. It is forbidden by the Torah to mislead any fellow human being.
This includes non-Jewish people. This applies to all interpersonal
matters, whether business related or otherwise.

Included in this prohibition is misleading a buyer to think that
certain merchandise is of better quality than it actually is, even if
the amount that he is paying is the correct amount for the item being
sold. Also, saying or doing something that will lead others to think
that you have honored them or done them a favor when this is not so,
is included in the prohibition of Geneivas Da'as. (1)

Frankly, if you want to know about Jewish law, it's much better to
look for Jewish sources than anti-Jewish ones.

Hope this helps,
Roger

Hi rogerwilco,

Can you explain your last commment:

"Frankly, if you want to know about Jewish law, it's much better to
look for Jewish sources than anti-Jewish ones."

I'm not sure what you mean by this?

BB

Hi Bill, 

Well, I can try.. see how long this lasts ...
This question probably looks odd because it has been censored. Someone
by the name of eliteskills-ga commented a few times on this question,
explaining how Jews claim the right to lie, cheat, steal, and kill
non-Jews all they want by reference to some antisemitic sites that
simply spewed lies (which I'd rather not offer links to, though I'm
sure you can find if you have a mind to). These are the 'anti-Jewish'
sources I was referring to -- just that if you want to know about
Jewish law, it's best to ask experts in Jewish law, not people who
hate it. (Similarly, I wouldn't refer someone looking for astronomical
info to a Flat Earth Society site.)

Eliteskills-ga was roundly criticized by a number of commenters for
his hateful rhetoric, and there was a good drubbing going back and
forth in this comment section. I think that was enough -- hateful
speech in a forum like this is usually best dealt with by a vigorous
response in the same forum -- but apparently the editors disagreed.
They erased all of eliteskills's comments, as well as those that
simply responded to them (including some gems from Pinkfreud.) Even
josg2003's first comment doesn't make much sense now, as it was
referring to eliteskills's first one (an explanation which was too
"simple".) When I added a comment myself asking about the missing
comments, it too was gone in a few hours.

See how long this one lasts.... 

For free speech on open forums like this one on the Internet,
Roger

Items with religious significance may be prohibited for sale, but a
car certainly isn't one of them - unless somehow it was used for
religious purposes!

Having said that, I think it's unlikely you will be able to change the
mind of your seller. If he already sought an opinion and received one,
you will not be able to convince him otherwise.

If this car is one that you simply must have, you might suggest some
kind of intermediary, where he sells to some third party, who then
sells to you.