Cheating on the N.Y. Regents exams

Igros Moshe (CM II:30) You had heard that the yeshivos permit their students to cheat on the Regent Exams in order to falsely indicate they are ready to graduate and receive their diploma.  This is prohibited not only according to secular law but also according to Torah. It is not only deception which is also prohibited but is also actual theft.  That is because when he seeks employment in the future and the job usually requires high standards of secular education. When he shows his diploma as proof of his competence and the employer relies on it as proof of competence to hire him  – this is actual theft. Do not make the rationalization to say that since there is no reason that the job actually needs this level of education it doesn’t matter because it still is lying about your qualifications.. Even if it is not really needed the employer wants it and would fire the person who deceived him.  In general it is prohibited to lie even if it is not relevant. Furthermore if he knows you are a liar, he will not rely on you for anything. It will also cause others to suspect yeshiva students of being dishonest and possibly cause other frum Jews to lose their jobs because of suspicions of their dishonesty. In addition if he wants a high level of education – it might in fact be needed for this job so there is no justification for lying even if you think it will benefit Torah study. Because one is also prohibited to steal for the sake of learning Torah. Even if you desire to learn only Torah you should not be worried that by spending time mastering secular knowledge it will interfere with your Torah knowledge and you won’t accomplish as much as a Torah scholar. The truth is that this is not bitul Torah. Not mastering secular studies is simply laziness if you study it in a manner that you don’t master the material. That is because you still need to go to class and you are simply wasting the time.  Furthermore you are getting accustomed to not learning the material and you are developing lazy study habits. 

However it is clear that what you have heard about yeshiva students cheating on exams is false and comes from those that hate the yeshivos and wish to destroy them and they makeup baseless evil claims. It is known that yeshiva students are superior also in secular studies to public school students. Don’t pay attention to these false rumors even if they appear in a well known newspaper of those that hate Torah and Fear of G-d. You can say with confidence that these claims are lies made up by those that hate Torah and Judaism.