Should we judge everyone favourably? - Parashat Pinchas - Rabbi Alon Anava

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Rabbi Alon Anava’s own words — taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

We are in the parashat Pinhas. And some congregations have the custom during the summer to read from Ethics of the Fathers, what is called Masechet Avot, the Mishna of Avot. And in the Mishna of Avot, in Mishna in chapter 1, Mishna Vav, there is a famous Mishna, a quote that is very famous. I use it many, many times and it's something that many need to acquire and use on a daily base. And the Mishna says Yehoshua ben Perahya, a rabbi, a tanna, a great sage, say, always judge a person favorably. Okay, on the surface seems very noble. You have to judge every person favorably. And if you look a little bit deeper into it, then you would you would want to be judged favorably most of the times when you act, you are not judged favorably. And I'm talking about by other people, not by God. But that's the reality that most people don't judge others favorably. The judgment comes very harsh. So the same way that you would want to be judged favorably, then this tanna, this sage, tells you you have to judge every person favorably. And we're going to talk a lot about that because throughout the last 2-3 years, we've been learning a lot about the concept that is called tikkun hamiddot, the refinement of character, which really is one of the main goals that we are we need to focus on here in this world in our life. It's to refine myself. I know many, many people that they learn a lot of Torah, they do a lot of mitzvot, but there's no refinement and the complete opposite. Rude, disgusting, judgmental, vulgar, loud, etc. Full of anger, full of hate. But they have a lot of Torah and mitzvot. So really one can question what what's the value of all these mitzvot if you are

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1. 0:16We are in the parashat Pinhas. And some congregations have the custom during the summer to…
2. 6:36you expect me now to judge every everybody favorably? Okay, so there's a story in the…
3. 12:52I have a child who's very lazy cuz I'm very wealthy. He doesn't want to do…
4. 19:15prohibited for me to be with her?" So of course Moshe Rabbeinu says, "Of course you…
5. 25:29you can't deal with him, nobody can marry him or his kids. He can't do business…
6. 31:43suspect that something's going on here. That maybe because Pinchas, the son of Eleazar, who's the…
7. 38:02that it's not even you? Do you have the divine spirit, the Torah coming and saying,…
8. 44:29only one. I also have. It's a gift. It's runs in my family all the way…
9. 50:59of people are judging him favorably by saying he's under a lot of pressure, there was…
10. 57:21bill on my table, it's gone. You took it. I didn't take it. It wasn't here,…

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