Ahead of Rosh Hashanah: The Secret to a Favorable Judgment

The joy in the city of Vilna was visible on every face. A son had been born to the city’s revered rabbi, the great Rabbi Leib Shapira zt”l. A large group of friends and distinguished guests had been invited to the brit. But the rabbi’s close friend, the great Mussar master Rabbi Israel Salanter, had not been invited to the celebration.

Rabbi Israel debated what to do. Should he go even though he had not been invited?

On the one hand, a close friend’s celebration certainly called for his presence. But on the other hand, if he had not been invited, perhaps they did not want him there.

“The truth is,” Rabbi Israel reflected, “there is also a question of halacha here. If my presence is unwanted, I would be sitting in a place that is not mine, which raises the prohibition of ‘borrowing without permission.’”

But as he continued thinking, he remembered that according to halacha, the home of the city’s rabbi belongs to all the city’s residents who come there.

In the end, he decided to go despite not having received an invitation.

When he arrived, he was stunned to discover that the entire crowd was waiting only for him. They had delayed the brit until he arrived. Later, he learned that the rabbi had sent a special messenger to invite him and honor him with a special role at the brit, but for some reason, the messenger had never delivered the invitation.

Rabbi Israel was happy and thanked Hashem for putting it into his mind to come, preventing the discomfort and conflict that could easily have developed between his own circle and that of the city’s rabbi.

Before Assuming the Worst, Judge Favorably

Situations like this happen quite often, especially today. Families are growing and expanding. There are more relatives and more celebrations, large and small. Sometimes, amid all the stress and preparations, our name is the one that slips off the list. Or perhaps the invitation simply does not reach its destination.

If we cannot judge others favorably, we will make life miserable for ourselves and for those around us. We need to gather the courage to show up at the celebration even if an invitation never arrived. In the overwhelming majority of cases, we will discover that the hosts were truly waiting for us.

Beyond the easier life enjoyed by someone who judges others favorably, there is another enormous benefit.

As the Shlah HaKadosh writes, it is well known that every action a person takes in this world awakens a corresponding measure Above in Heaven. Someone who develops the trait of judging every person favorably awakens the same response toward himself in Heaven. He, too, will be judged favorably. Even if sins he committed are recorded against him, advocates and defenders will come forward and judge him and his actions favorably, until the accusers have no power to accuse him.

Based on this, the Kedushat Levi explains the verse in this week’s parashah: “Judges and officers shall you appoint for yourself.”

This hints that a person can appoint and choose judges and officers for himself who will rule in his favor.

“In all your gates that Hashem, your God, gives you.” Hashem gave you a special gate through which you can choose the path you want in judgment.

What is that gate, and how do we use it?

“They shall judge the people with righteous judgment.”

If you judge the people, your friends and family members, with righteous judgment, meaning favorably, then you, too, will be judged favorably.

You Can Influence How You Are Judged

You have the ability to influence the ruling of the judges who will judge you. Through your good deeds, you can open gates of kindness and compassion. You do this by finding merit in every Jew. That is how you will emerge vindicated in judgment, because the measure a person uses is the measure used for him.

That is why we read Parashat Shoftim specifically during the month of Elul, the month of mercy and forgiveness: to convey the important message hinted at here and to give us the key to emerging vindicated in the coming Days of Judgment, in peace.

In Pirkei Avot (1:6), our sages teach us: “Judge every person favorably.”

The word “judge” seemingly does not belong here. After all, this is not talking about a judge presiding over a beit din. It might have seemed more fitting to say, “Think positively about every person,” or something similar.

The Chozeh of Lublin zt”l explains that this is precisely the point.

When a person sees another’s actions, he becomes something like a judge. If he judges his friend favorably, Heaven will also take that favorable interpretation into account and rule positively regarding that person, because the matter depends on what people say in this world.

Furthermore, the Chozeh adds, the person who finds merit in others also gains from it himself. Since he found merit in others, even if he sins, Heaven forbid, Hashem will arrange for others to find merit in him as well. In this way, he too will be judged favorably and emerge vindicated before the Heavenly court.

The Judgment You Give May Become Your Own

The books of Hasidut explain that this is no coincidence, but intentional. When Heaven comes to judge a person for a sin he committed, he is shown that same act in a different form, performed by someone else.

If he is shocked and thinks to himself, “Look at how he behaves. He deserves a severe punishment,” he has thereby determined his own judgment. What he thought should be done to his friend will be done to him.

This offers another explanation of the phrase “Judge every person.” You become your own judge. You are shown an improper act by your friend so that you will judge him, and the judgment you issue about him becomes your own judgment.

Let us use our eyes as Rabbi Bunim of Peshischa zt”l taught us. He would often say, “Why was a person created with two eyes? So that with one eye he sees the virtues of others, and with the other, he sees his own shortcomings.”

The problem is that people generally see it backward.

With one eye, they see their own virtues, and with the other, their friend’s shortcomings.