Do you ever wonder like me, how...

... we are supposed to emulate Hashem, if we aren't allowed to judge people like Hashem does?

If Hashem can reward or punish us, why are we not allowed to do this with regard to another person’s behaviour? *

Why do the Sages specifically mention that we should judge favourably (dan lechaf zechut [1]), when in reality, people often do really bad things which affect not only themselves but also others?

How can we judge someone favourably if we are so sure that their behaviour is causing harm?

Many times, I have learned that there are two sides to Hashem's Judgement:

1. Din דין is strict, rational Justice.

Nature is ruled by Din:

If you eat sugar, you get fat; if you stick your hand in a fire, you burn; etc.

2. Rachamim רחמים is Mercy.

Spirituality is ruled by Rachamim:

If you make mistakes, you get another chance, etc.

Not only that, I have also learned in the past that we should
a) emulate His ways (see here)
b) only judge a person with Rachamim (mercy), but not with Din (justice)

To me, that made very little sense until today. How come we are supposed to emulate Hashem’s ways, but then actually we’re told not to after all, “Just do the mercy part, not the justice part”. To me that has always seemed a bit like “half the package deal”, which in turn put the entire package in question...

But, fear not! The wonderful JLE provided me with an insightful class on this topic with Reb Ziskind, who mentioned the following:

The Sfat Emet [2] mentions that the world was created through Hashem’s Din (justice). Only through this purely rational, logical (scientific?) power could nature come into being. However, it was not possible for human beings to live in a pure “Din world”. Every small step would cause an immediate din effect (e.g. you kill someone – you yourself die instantly; you hurt someone – you get punished immediately; etc.).

Therefore, in order to give us a chance to survive in Hashem’s world, Rachamim (mercy) also needed to be created.

The Sfat Emet asks, how could Din and Rachamim coexist? Do they not contradict each other? He answers the following:

Din became restricted to THOUGHT

Rachamim became restricted to ACTION

This was my fascinating insight. On Rosh Hashana, we stand in front of Hashem, and we are judged with DIN. What exactly does Hashem judge with Din (justice)? Our THOUGHTS. No thoughts from the past year count – all that counts, are the thoughts on the day.

Have I thought about my mistakes?

Am I prepared to work on myself?

What are my aspirations, what is my agenda for the coming year?

Would I like to try to develop my relationship with Hashem?

Do I have the correct intentions when I am standing in front of Hashem doing Teshuva and pleading my case?

What are my priorities, what is the purpose of my life?

Have I given Hashem enough reasons to judge me favourably?

On Yom Kippur, Hashem judges with RACHAMIM. What does He judge with Rachamim (mercy)? Our ACTIONS.

Have I made an effort during the 10 days of repentance to correct my behaviour?

Have I decided to take a step towards Hashem and do an extra good deed?

Will I put my thoughts from Rosh Hashana into action?

To me, this explained to me how we are told by the Sages to emulate Hashem’s Rachamim, but not His Din. We are in no position to judge another person’s actions, as people do things for all different reasons, and only Hashem knows the whole picture.

We are in a position however, to judge a person’s thoughts and intentions, and to affect them. If we see a person with low self-esteem, with hateful thoughts towards a different person, or with a negative attitude, we should make all efforts to make them rethink, and judge themselves and others favourably.

Notes

* Obviously a society requires a Justice System which judges people – without it society would run havoc. My thoughts on this blog are meant to reflect our personal daily lives, not legal or illegal situations.

[1] Ethics of the Fathers 1:6

[2] Rebbe Yehudah Leib Alter (1847-1905) was the 2^nd Rebbe of the Gerer Chassidim