Rav Hutt
(הוי דן את כל האדם לכף זכות (אבות א, ו
Innocent
until proven guilty. This
fundamental precept rings so loudly in the courtrooms of the Western world,
that it echoes in our hearts as well. Albeit
similar, there is a Jewish code of conduct which conveys an extra degree of
nuance – beyond the assumed absence of guilt. The creed to 'judge your neighbor
favorably' encourages us to attempt to perceive the presence of positive behavior. The primary objective is to foster a
mentality of searching for favorable explanations of
another's actions. Ironically,
the judgment itself is of secondary concern. The same way that we desire to see
ourselves positively, imagine a world, a county, or a culture where everyone wanted to see the good in his fellow. We all know that we tend to see what
we want to see. If we want to
see people in a favorable light, it will naturally follow to see them that
way. This is not just a
code of conduct – in fact, it's our code of life.
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