hey guys Its rabbi Jack with parables of the talmud and this time to share one of the greatest tools needed to maintain a healthy mind and loving the people around us and that is giving benefit of the doubt.
So I was coming home and I noticed a shirt hanging on the window. I was annoyed, why do we need to display a shirt to the entire public? There’s no where else to hang it?
So I asked my daughters who put the shirt on the window? My oldest tells me daddy I put it there because mummy was sleeping and there was no where else within my reach to hang it.
Slam | Here I am, thinking I need to teach my kids about social conduct, only to learn myself that it was done with the sweetest intentions.
we are taught vehevei Dan lekol Adam le caf zechut which means judge everybody favouribly.
The question everyone asks is, Would it not be better to say don’t judge at all?
I think It’s trying to teach us how to give benefit of the doubt,
and that is to to actively judge the things that people do as good, and by doing so, we train our minds to have a positive attitude towards the people around us.
And you know what, it’s true,
most people are out there to do good.
Look this does’t mean I’m going to sacrifice my own safety trusting every person I meet with everything I own. I’m certainly not going to give benefit of the doubt to those that are obviously evil.
But we need to know that an integral part of living a healthy lifestyle is learning to love the people around us and it starts by judging them favouribly.
You know with covid 19 we are living in a time of absolute confusion. Some are wearing masks some are not. Some are shopping with kids, some are traveling, some are concerned, some are not, whatever it is, let’s use this time to to practice giving benefit of the doubt so that we can strengthen our “love for people” muscle, by actively judging them positively
Thank you for listening