How To Judge Your Fellow What do you think of when you hear the word holiness? Some would think about spirituality, prayer, perhaps fasting on Yom Kippur. Interestingly, the portion of the Torah called Kedoshim, holy, discusses the proper conduct between people. The Torah believes that the test of holiness is how one treats one’s fellow human being. Amongst the many commandments in the portion of Kedoshim, we read a verse about the judicial system, the judges must treat all people who come before them equally: You shall commit no injustice in judgment; you shall not favor a poor person or respect a great man; you shall judge your fellow with righteousness. (Leviticus 19:15) Rashi addresses the final clause of the verse “you shall judge your fellow with righteousness”, and explains that the verse is referring to the judges sitting in judgment. But there is another meaning as well. For in one sense, each of us is a judge. We each sit in judgment and decided how to evaluate other people. Rashi, therefore, offers a second interpretation: “another explanation is: judge your fellow favorably.” What does it mean to judge others favorably? The conventional interpretation is to give others the benefit of the doubt. I must hold off on judging the person before I know all the facts. Even if I do know all the facts, I must take into consideration that I do not know the extent of another person’s challenges and struggles. When someone fails, when someone does something wrong, I can not judge them, because I have no idea of the magnitude of their inner struggle. Rashi’s words however include a deeper meaning as well. Translated literally they read: “judge your fellow meritoriously”. Not only should I not judge the other person negatively, but I must see them as if they have great merit. At first glance this seems strange. Perhaps we can overlook the negative behavior because we understand that there may be extenuating circumstances, but why would I consider the person meritorious? The verse states “G-d has made one corresponding to the other”, this means that there is a balance between the positive forces and the negative forces in the world and the human soul. This indicates that if someone has a great challenge, he was also gifted with the strength, energy and skills necessary to overcome the challenge. When I see someone doing something wrong, I have a choice to make. I can choose to focus on the negative action and deem the person to be inferior. Or, I can judge the person meritoriously. I can choose to see not the negativity, which is an expression of the person’s great internal struggle, but rather I can see the great potential gifted to this person. For if someone is more challenged than me, it also means that he has greater spiritual potential then I do. It is up to me to judge the people around me favorably. They must feel that instead of their shortcomings I see their merit, and define them by the reservoir of positivity within them. If I will judge my fellow meritoriously then he too will begin to believe in his merit, and seek to express his innate positivity. (Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe, Lekutei Sichos Emor vol. 27 Sicha 1)
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