It is written, “With righteousness shall you judge your fellow”
[Acharei/ Kedoshim 19:15]
The Sages interpret this to mean, “Judge your fellow favorably” [Shevuot
30b]. How can we apparently lie to ourselves by judging people
favorably in every case, when in certain cases we can see them doing
the very opposite of something favorable? What is the meaning of this
mitzvah in that case? The Sages have said, “Any man who is insolent
will in the end stumble into sin” [Taanith 7b]. This means that shame
serves as a barrier and an obstacle to sin. Once a person had breached
the barriers of modesty and shame, there is nothing to prevent him from
sinning, as it is written: “It is a good sign if a man is shamefaced. …
No man who experiences shame will easily sin” [Nedarim 20a].
The
same applies to a person’s influence on others. The first one who sins
completely breaches the barriers of shame. The one who follows him
does not require as much insolence to sin, and the third person needs
even less, once these barriers have been broken down. This is why the
sin of desecrating Hashem’s Name is so grave. A person who openly
sins diminishes the intensity of the fear and shame that are engraved
in man with regards to committing a sin, thereby prompting others to
sin as well.
We can now understand how the advice given to us by the Sages, to
judge others favorably, is designed to help us. It is meant to ensure that
the barriers of shame are not breached within our own hearts, for once
we are certain that everyone is righteous, how could we dare to be the
first ones to sin? However if a person tries to find fault with everyone,
he will be more likely to sin at a time of weakness.
4 comments:
The only sentence I take exception to is, “anything you hate, teaches unconditional love”. This is dangerous, because the Torah teaches us hate evil, the evil things people do, and the anti-semitic Jews who attack the Torah and Jewish Halacha and Jewish Life.
Good point Neshama, thank you.
Regarding, judging your fellow favorably, our Sages have taught us, "A person who gives his friend the benefit of the doubt will be given the benefit of the doubt by Heaven" (Shabbos 127b).
Rabbi Mordechai Gifter zt"l said the following:
"The Sages tell us (Nedarim 20a): ‘Shamefacedness (בושה) leads to fear of sin... no man who experiences shame will sin easily and he who is not shamefaced, it is certain that his ancestors were not present at Har Sinai.’ The bashfulness of a Jew signifies his inherent consciousness of imperfection before the Almighty. Ours is an age void of G-d-awareness and G-d-consciousness. It is therefore a generation which knows no shame. Thus, the inherent character barrier against crime and violence is lost. Small wonder, therefore, that ours is an age of moral decay"
- Torah Perspectives, pages 31-32
Also, when you eventually die and appear before the Heavenly Court you are shown a video of your entire life, and you have to judge yourself. But you do not know it is yourself in the video. So it is very beneficial to learn how to judge everyone favourably, because in the end the way you judge will affect yourself.
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