As this article is being written, Vice President Gore and his supporters just suffered two devastating setbacks: one in Florida and the other in Washington D.C. And while debate swirls in every corner of the country about dimpled chads and un-postmarked military ballots, butterfly ballots and questionable access to voting machines, I would like to analyze another angle of this national spectacle from a Torah perspective.

As we listen to both sides express their respective views and positions, the thinking person has to be filled with disappointment. When we hear the Gore camp spouting with righteous indignation that "every American vote must count," I don't know about you, but my reaction is: Is that what you're really concerned about? Why not offer us a little refreshing honesty and make a statement like "I'm trying to win"?

But what about Governor Bush and his supporters demanding that, for the good of the country, the Vice President should concede and not take the unheard-of step of bringing an election to the courts? And then the Bush camp turns around and goes to the Supreme Court in Washington D.C.

All of this just reinforces the general malaise that the American public experiences with regard to our elected officials. How often people are disenchanted with public officials who say what we want to hear, oft-times spouting contradictory views to different types of audiences.

It is in this area that the Torah demands a wholly different standard from the Jewish people. As the posuk tells us, "Titein emes l'Yaakov"; one of the identifying features of Judaism is a penchant for the truth. We are also taught "Chosamo shel Hakadosh Baruch Hu Emes - The signature of G-d is truth." Now, what is the meaning of this statement of Chazal? What is the significance of a signature? As we know, the signature validates the identity of the writer. In a similar vein, if we want to know if something is G-dly, then a sure sign is whether or not it is permeated with truth. That which is infused with falsehood cannot be Heavenly in nature.

Megillas Rus, which we read on Shavuos, was written by the great prophet Shmuel. As we know, the Megillah tells the story of the great heroine Rus, who would become the ancestress of Dovid HaMelech. Surprisingly, even after Rus converted, Shmuel still refers to her as Rus HaMoaviah, Ruth the Moabite. This seems to be contrary to the solid rule that one is not allowed to mention a convert's past. And yet Shmuel repeatedly mentions Rus's Moabite roots.

(As an aside, I stumbled upon a fascinating gematria. The Hebrew word for convert is "ger," spelled gimel-reish. In the obscure gematria known as A"t-B"ash [where aleph equals taf, beis equals shin, gimel equals reish, and so forth], the word "ger" is amazingly "ger." The gimel and the reish just interchange. I believe this is to emphasize that the ger's past, as symbolized by the reverse reading, is also to be viewed as a ger - and we do not look at his former life.)

The Medrash explains that, when Naomi asked Rus to report on her conversation with Boaz, Rus changed the order of Boaz's conversation. Although the content was accurately reported, the order was switched. Therefore Shmuel calls her Rus HaMoaviah, to emphasize that that some of the Moabite manner was still clinging to her, for a Jew from birth would never stray from the truth.

Imagine! The ancient Jew would not even tell a story in the wrong order! How far have we strayed from our Holy roots! How many times do we add and invent details in stories that we tell and retell, in order to embroider them, to magnify our roles or to make them more exciting for our audience.

Now, as we see how nauseating are those who speak without integrity, it should be an incentive to us to return to the ways of our heritage. The Torah does not tell us simply "Thou shalt not lie," but goes one step further and insists "M'dvar sheker tirchak," that we should distance ourselves from falsehood. How easy it is to lie, to sidestep our embarrassments and our aggravations. How convenient it is to bend the truth in order to make life easier on ourselves.

But let's remember that in our Havdolah prayer we say, "Hamavdil ... bein ohr l'choshech, bein Yisroel l'amim - He who differentiated ... between day and night, between the Jews and other nations." This liturgy is teaching us that the contrast between Jews and other nations should be as recognizable as the difference between day and night. And loyalty to the truth should be one such stark difference.

In his very short chapter on educating our youth, the Kitzur Shulchan Oruch says - unequivocally - that parents should sternly discipline children who lie. He mentions very few items that call for severe discipline, but he singles out the insistence upon truth. This is another sharp indication of how important truth is to the very identity and success of a Jew.

To round out this discussion, let me give you an example of a question that was asked to a rabbinic leader in Eretz Yisroel concerning the quest to tell the truth. As recorded in the Rivevos Ephraim, that amazing set of contemporary Responsa written by Rabbi Ephraim Greenblatt, shlit"a, a question was asked by a Jew in Eretz Yisroel who wanted to ship matzos to America. He inquired whether it was allowed to write "Fragile - Glass" on the package, since "Fragile - Matzah" might not be meaningful to the American mailman, or was writing this mistruth forbidden because it wasn't true?

Now let's pause and reflect. Would we have even thought to ask such a question, or are we so desensitized from the pursuit of truth that we wouldn't even consider such a question?

May Hashem help us to improve the integrity of our mouths, and in that merit, may we be blessed with health, happiness and everything wonderful.