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Part I.You\u2019re a JudgeTHE WEALTHY MAN AND THE PAUPERIn this week\u2019sparshathere\u2019s amitzvahof \u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05e6\u05b6\u05d3\u05b6\u05e7 \u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05e4\u05b9\u05bc\u05d8 \u05e2\u05b2\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05ea\u05b6\u05da\u05b8 \u2013 \u201cYou should judge your fellowman withtzedek, with righteousness\u201d (Kedoshim 19:15). Now, in its most simplepshatwhat that means is that if you\u2019re a judge, if you\u2019re adayanin thebeis din, so you must always be on guard that your first inclination, your emotions, shouldn\u2019t be the reason for your decision. Don\u2019t allow any superficial thoughts to lead you to conclusions; instead you must be careful to follow thedinof the Torah in all its details.Let\u2019s say you\u2019re a judge and now there\u2019s a poor man standing before you; he\u2019s one of the two litigants who came to thebeis din. Now, you\u2019re a compassionate man after all \u2013 so you might say, \u201cThis poor fellow has a tough life \u2013 and I should go now and make him guilty and make it even worse?! Let me give him a break!\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d says Hashem, \u201cDon\u2019t do that\u201d: \u05dc\u05b9\u05d0 \u05ea\u05b4\u05e9\u05b8\u05bc\u05c2\u05d0 \u05e4\u05b0\u05e0\u05b5\u05d9 \u05d3\u05b8\u05dc \u2013 \u201cDon\u2019t follow your superficial emotions in the courtroom and try to give an edge to the poor man\u201d (ibid.).On the other hand, sometimes it might be a wealthy man, somebody important, and so your inclination might be to judgehimmore favorably. After all, he\u2019s much more impressive, this well-heeled fellow, and just seeing him in his four hundred dollar suit makes his arguments seem stronger. \u201cNothing doing!\u201d says Hashem: \u05d5\u05b0\u05dc\u05b9\u05d0 \u05ea\u05b6\u05d4\u05b0\u05d3\u05b7\u05bc\u05e8 \u05e4\u05b0\u05bc\u05e0\u05b5\u05d9 \u05d2\u05b8\u05d3\u05d5\u05b9\u05dc \u2013 \u201cDon\u2019t show any preferable honor to an important person\u201d (ibid.) If you\u2019re a judge, it has to beb\u2019tzedek. You have to follow the strict letter of the law; whatever Hakadosh Baruch Hu prescribes in the Torah. That\u2019s the job of adayan\u2013 he has to subjugate his feelings, his emotions, to what Hashem expects him to think, and topasken b\u2019tzedek.AN ADDITIONAL LAYERNow all of this appears to be irrelevant to us here. It\u2019s an admonition todayanimwho sit in a court, but for us ordinary people, it doesn\u2019t seem to apply at all. Where does thismitzvahofb\u2019tzedek tishpot amisechacome into our lives? It could be that one or two of you will one day study the intricate details ofChoshen Mishpat, all thedinei mamonos, and you\u2019ll get a certainsemicha, \u2018yadin yadin\u2019.And once you receive that permission to judgedinei mamonosso besides for all thedinimyou\u2019ll have to know, you\u2019ll also have to always remember these words of the Torah: \u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05e6\u05b6\u05d3\u05b6\u05e7 \u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05e4\u05b9\u05bc\u05d8 \u05e2\u05b2\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05ea\u05b6\u05da\u05b8 \u2013 \u201cDon\u2019t let your emotions get the best of you when you\u2019re sitting in judgement in thebeis din.\u201d But for most of us it\u2019s not applicable at all.However, that\u2019s not the full meaning of thepossuk. There\u2019s an additional layer of meaning in those words that we\u2019re going to study tonight, and it\u2019s amitzvahthat applies to all of us,all the time.InMesichta Shevuos(30a) the sages tell us that \u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05e6\u05b6\u05d3\u05b6\u05e7 \u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05e4\u05b9\u05bc\u05d8 \u05e2\u05b2\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05ea\u05b6\u05da\u05b8 is also teaching us as follows: \u05e2\u05b7\u05dd \u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05d0\u05b4\u05ea\u05b0\u05bc\u05da\u05b8 \u05d1\u05b7\u05bc\u05ea\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8\u05b8\u05d4 \u05d5\u05bc\u05d1\u05b0\u05de\u05b4\u05e6\u05b0\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea \u05d4\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05ea\u05b7\u05bc\u05d3\u05b5\u05bc\u05dc \u05dc\u05b0\u05d3\u05d5\u05bc\u05e0\u05d5\u05b9 \u05d9\u05b8\u05e4\u05b6\u05d4 \u05d9\u05b8\u05e4\u05b6\u05d4 \u2013 A person who is with you in Torah and mitzvos, bemishtadeil, put effort into judging him favorably\u201d (Shevuos 30a). It\u2019s what we learned in Mesichta Avos: \u05d4\u05b1\u05d5\u05b5\u05d9 \u05d3\u05b8\u05bc\u05df \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea \u05db\u05b8\u05bc\u05dc \u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b8\u05d3\u05b8\u05dd \u05dc\u05b0\u05db\u05b7\u05e3 \u05d6\u05b0\u05db\u05d5\u05bc\u05ea \u2013 \u201cYou, every single one of you,should make sure to judge your fellow Jew with righteousness.\u201dL\u2019kafzechusmeans that you have to ignore thekaf chov, the side of guilt,and instead go out of your way to judge your fellow manl\u2019kaf zechus, to the side of merit.DON\u2019T BE A COW OR A LIBERALAnd what that means is thatevery personis a judge \u2013 it can\u2019t be helped. As soon as you see somebody, you\u2019re forming opinions. You can\u2019t avoid it! If you were a cow,chas v\u2019shalom, so you\u2019d be able to go through life without thinking, without judging; but if you\u2019re anadamthen you\u2019re already adayan.Don\u2019t be a liberal and say \u201cOh no, I don\u2019t judge anyone; I would never do that!\u201d It\u2019s not true! You\u2019realwayspassing judgement on people; don\u2019t think otherwise. You\u2019re judging your wife or your husband all the time! Why did he do this? Why didn\u2019t she do that? Why did he say this or that? You\u2019re judging your neighbors all the time! Why did he block my driveway? Why does he let his son ride his bike on my lawn? You\u2019re judging your children all the time! And your co-workers, and yourchavrusa, and the people in shul, and the Rav of your shul. You\u2019re even making judgements about strangers who pass you by on the street! You\u2019rea full timedayan.And even though you\u2019re not publicizing your decision, you\u2019re not telling anybody what you\u2019re thinking, nevertheless, Hashem isyireh l\u2019leivav, He sees what\u2019s going on in your thoughts. And so in the eyes of Hakodosh Boruch Hu, you\u2019re acting as adayan. And so, if you want to succeed in your \u201ccareer ofdayanus\u201d, you had better get busy purifying your thoughts as much as possible, and doing whatever you can to make sure that you\u2019re judging those around you favorably all the time.WE\u2019RE OBLIGATED TO DRILLNow, if you\u2019re paying attention you\u2019ll note that themitzvah\u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05e6\u05b6\u05d3\u05b6\u05e7 \u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05e4\u05b9\u05bc\u05d8 \u05e2\u05b2\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05ea\u05b6\u05da\u05b8 is a source for two seemingly contradictoryhalachos. On the one hand, the Torah is obligating a judge to issue his verdict on the basis of absolute justice, in strict accordance with the law. And yet, these same words are teaching us that outside thebeis dinwe are obligated in themitzvah\u05d4\u05b1\u05d5\u05b5\u05d9 \u05d3\u05b8\u05bc\u05df \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea \u05db\u05b8\u05bc\u05dc \u05d4\u05b8\u05d0\u05b8\u05d3\u05b8\u05dd \u05dc\u05b0\u05db\u05b7\u05e3 \u05d6\u05b0\u05db\u05d5\u05bc\u05ea -\u201cJudge your neighborfavorably,\u201d which means that we are obligatednotto be strict and instead to do our utmost to justify the actions and behavior of our fellow Jews.And it\u2019s the resolution to this apparent contradiction that will provide us with the tools we need to be successful at beingdan l\u2019kaf zchus.Because whatb\u2019tzedek tishpotreally means is that we expect from adayanin the courtroom not to be fooled by superficialities. So what of it if he\u2019s a poor man dressed in rags?! Who cares if he\u2019s mumbling or stuttering when presenting his claim?! And if he\u2019s a wealthy man, if he\u2019s dressed in a tailored suit and he\u2019s so impressive looking \u2013 so what?! Are you going to pass judgement on the basis of such a shallow thing?! With half-baked ideas you\u2019llpaskenon aYisroel?!Chas v\u2019shalom! Thedayanis expected to ignore the veneer of superficialities and drill down to the core of justice \u2013 he\u2019s expected to bedan din emes la\u2019amito.It\u2019s not easy for adayanto see past the superficialities in the courtroom. It\u2019s not easy to ignore what\u2019s right in front of his eyes \u2013 it\u2019s there; it\u2019s so real and concrete. What he sees in the poor man is real! What he sees in the wealthy man is obvious; it\u2019s so tangible! And so, it\u2019s very hard to push it all away, to ignore it completely, and come to the right decision. And yet, as difficult as it might be, that\u2019s the obligation ofb\u2019tzedek tishpot amisecha.WE HAVE A BIG JOB!And outside of the courtroomwe\u2019reexpected to do the same! We have that same obligation outside thebeis din; absolutely. In all of your contacts withamisecha, with your fellow Jews \u2013 the ones you like as well as the ones you don\u2019t like as much \u2013 you\u2019re expected to ignore the superficial things that bother you and instead you\u2019re obligated to drill down to the core of the person and judge him favorably. And that means that we all have a big job ahead of us! Because it means thatyou have to think!So don\u2019t be lazy about it! Nobody said it\u2019s easy; you might have to take a minute or two to think, but you have to do it. You\u2019remichuyavto think, to search your mind for the answer that satisfies you, until you can give your fellow man the benefit of the doubt and walk away without anyhakpadahin your heart.WHO WILL CRITICIZE THE GREAT MAN?Let\u2019s say your wife says a sharp word to you \u2013 it happens sometimes. So instead of getting upset, instead of being hurt, you\u2019re obligated \u2013 it\u2019s amitzvah d\u2019oraisah\u2013 to search for reasons to give her the benefit of the doubt. First of all, maybe you deserved it \u2013 it could very well be you deserved to hear some criticism. Absolutely! When a wife criticizes a husband, you should know that she is doing a very great thing. Nobody will criticize this great man. Who\u2019s going to tell him the truth outside the house? And after a while he begins to think, \u201cMaybe I really am great.\u201d So he comes home and right away his wife deflates him. She puts a pin in his balloon and it bursts. That\u2019s a tremendous achievement. It\u2019s a perfection to be cut down to size once in a while. And so, you can forget about being upset at her; you should thank her.And let\u2019s say she was wrong \u2013 you didn\u2019t deserve to be told off at all. So you\u2019ll be a failure and judge your spouse because of something superficial; she criticized you; so what?! In two minutes she\u2019ll forget what she said. You\u2019re going to judge her because of that?! Maybe she was up all night with a crying baby while you were sleeping soundly. Maybe she had an impossible day with the children. Whatever it might be, you\u2019re obligated to seek to justify what your fellow Jew does or says by giving him or her the benefit of the doubt.MEASURE FOR MEASURENow inMesichta Shabbos(127b) there is a statement which has to be examined by us if we want to understand this subject more thoroughly. Thegemarathere states as follows: \u05d4\u05b7\u05d3\u05b8\u05bc\u05df \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea \u05d7\u05b2\u05d1\u05b5\u05e8\u05d5\u05b9 \u05dc\u05b0\u05db\u05b7\u05e3 \u05d6\u05b0\u05db\u05d5\u05bc\u05ea \u05d4\u05b7\u05de\u05b8\u05bc\u05e7\u05d5\u05b9\u05dd \u05d9\u05b0\u05d3\u05b4\u05d9\u05e0\u05b5\u05d4\u05d5\u05bc \u05dc\u05b0\u05db\u05b7\u05e3 \u05d6\u05b0\u05db\u05d5\u05bc\u05ea \u2013 \u201cIf you judge your fellow man on the side of merit, somiddah k\u2019neged middah, Hakodosh Boruch will judge you favorably.\u201dNow, those words are somewhat difficult for us to understand. Because up until now we learnedpshatin beingdan l\u2019kaf zechuslike this:if a person did something, and you\u2019re in doubt \u2013 it\u2019s possible that he meant well, it could be; but it also could be that he did it for a wrong reason, that\u2019s also a possibility. It\u2019s asafek, a doubt, so it\u2019s amitzvahto judge him favorably. You should be charitable and give him the benefit of the doubt.But if judgingl\u2019kaf zechusonly means that you\u2019re obligated to give others the benefit of the doubt, then when thegemarasays that Hashem will pay you back in turn, it means that when Hashem is in doubt about you, He will judge you favorably. But how could we say such a thing? What sense does it make to say that Hashem isdan l\u2019kaf zechuswhen He\u2019s in doubt,chas v\u2019shalom? Doubt?! He\u2019s never in doubt about you! Hakadosh Baruch Hu knowsexactlywho you are. You can\u2019t give the benefit of the doubt when there\u2019s no doubt at all.LEARNING A NEW ATTITUDEAnd so we\u2019re forced to learn another layer in thepshatof what it means to fulfill themitzvahofb\u2019tzedek tishpot amisecha, and we\u2019ll say as follows: To bedan l\u2019kaf zchusis actually much more than learning how to clarify a doubt \u2013 it\u2019slearning an attitudein dealing with other peoplethat leaves no room for doubt altogether! What that means is that we\u2019re expected to acquire themiddahof seeking out the positive in people; to be a \u05d7\u05b8\u05e4\u05b5\u05e5 \u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05d8\u05d5\u05b9\u05d1\u05b8\u05ea\u05d5\u05b9 \u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05dc \u05d7\u05b2\u05d1\u05b5\u05e8\u05d5\u05b9, to want only good things for the people around us, and thereby train ourselves to see only good.When you appreciate people by focusing on theirma\u2019alos, so you begin to actually like them and want them to be azaka\u2019im \u2013you want them to be free of all faults, to always be good. If youwanta person to be azakai\u2013 if youactually desireto look at people favorably \u2013 so you\u2019ll find ways to explain his actions in a way that it should be az\u2019chus. And even when you can\u2019t do that, you\u2019ll appreciate his otherma\u2019alosso much, that it will weigh down the scale to thekaf z\u2019chusand you\u2019ll overlook the negative. \u201cWho cares about that?! It\u2019s only anarishkeit,\u201d you\u2019ll think. \u201cI love that man!\u201d\u201cOh,\u201d Hashem says, \u201cYou want him to be azakai? So I want you to be azakaitoo.\u201d And when Hakadosh Baruch Hu wants things to be good for you, you can be sure He has ways of accomplishing that; He has His ways. And so when you train yourself to look at the good, to overlook the superficial things that may bother you, somiddah k\u2019neged middah, Hashem treats you the same way.THEY ONLY WANT DIRT ON THE PRESIDENTNow, in order to judge somebodyl\u2019kaf zechus, if you want to succeed in seeing people aszaka\u2019im, so you\u2019re going to need training in becoming anoheivtzedek;you have to love to see people in a good light. You know, when people love to see trouble in the world, so they pick up the newspaper to see what crimes were done. No one is interested to see if somebody did a good thing; if somebody kept the law let\u2019s say, or if somebody helped his fellow man. That doesn\u2019t matter \u2013 they wouldn\u2019t put that in a newspaper. \u201cWho was caught doing something embarrassing?\u201d \u201cWhat new faults did they dig up in the President today?\u201d That\u2019s news! That\u2019s what people want to hear.To say that here we have a President who is a decent man, who minded his own business \u2013 I\u2019m talking about Reagan now \u2013 that he didn\u2019t want to put big taxes on you and that he wanted to protect the country from the Soviet Union, that they won\u2019t speak about. They won\u2019t tell you that President Reagan didn\u2019t mix into other people\u2019s business. To say that he didn\u2019t try to push theMedinas Yisroelinto making agreements with Arabs, no, that they won\u2019t talk about.He wasn\u2019t pressing anybody; he just wanted to keep Americans safe and wealthy. He was a quiet man and he was good natured and smiled to everybody. But that wasn\u2019t good enough for the journalists, for themeshuganehliberals. No, that\u2019s no good at all, nothing doing. \u201cReagan, no good!\u201d \u201cReaganomics, no good!\u201d \u201cThe Reagan years were the worst years! He\u2019s no good at all.\u201d Always looking for faults.A PRACTICAL PROGRAMAnd therefore the program for success is to rise above all the faults that you have the tendency to see in people, and to see thetzad zchus, the other side of the scale. Now, I know it\u2019s not easy to think, to always be using your mind \u2013 it\u2019s a burden \u2013 it\u2019s much easier to make judgments on what you see superficially. But Hakodosh Boruch Hu says that you have to make up your mind to get along with anymeshugas, anything that you think is an idiosyncrasy, that you think is unreasonable. And so you have to, as much as possible, ignore all the faults you imagine you see because that\u2019s what the Torah requires of you; to judge a person by hiskaf zchus,and to overlook thekaf chov.It\u2019s so important to develop an appreciation of the good qualities of the people around you. I\u2019ll give you a practicaleitzahfor accomplishing this \u2013 aneitzahthat\u2019s been tried and tested. One of the most practical programs for success in this endeavor is to attach a goodmiddah, ama\u2019aleh, to all the people you know. Your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers, everyone hassomethingthat makes them special. I had a rebbe once, a great rebbe, and he once told us that a person is not one thing, he\u2019s a bundle of things. It was sixty years ago that I heard him say that and I remember it like yesterday. \u201cA person is not onemiddah,\u201d he said, \u201cHe\u2019s a bundle ofmiddos.\u201d So one thing might be not good, but something else is good in him.YOU\u2019LL BE SURPRISED AT WHAT\u2019S IN THE BUNDLEAnd so when we see the man in shul who is a nuisance, the one who gets on people\u2019s nerves, wedon\u2019tsee that. Instead we look for thema\u2019alos, for thekaf zchus. He pays the electric bill for the shul. Quietly, without anybody knowing, he pays the bills for the shul. Now, when I see this man, I see the man who pays for the air conditioner; the man who pays for the lights.That\u2019swhat I see and I don\u2019t see anything else! Because our job in this world is to ignore the more difficult parts of the bundle and focus on only the good parts. And once you begin to look at people and see them only with theirma\u2019alos, that\u2019s your ticket to overlooking the superficialities of the things that would bother you, and fulfilling the mitzvah of beingdan l\u2019kaf zchus.Now, if you\u2019ll try to think about a person\u2019smiddos tovos,you\u2019ll be surprised there isn\u2019t a person who doesn\u2019t have good in him.Among theshomrei Toraheverybody has good qualities. In thismiddahhe could be excellent, whereas somebody else is excellent in a differentmiddah.So in case you can\u2019t love the person entirely, love at least one aspect of his personality.Let\u2019s say hedavens well.Love him for that. It says that Hashem is \u201coihevtzadikim.\u201d Why does Hashem lovetzaddikim?Because they give Himkavod?!They pay him money?!No; He loves thembecause they\u2019retzaddikim; they daven, they learn, they dress withtzniyus. So you can love them too! You see atzaddikthatdavens well. Love that man just because of that! In your eyes, from now onthat\u2019swhat you see when you see him. Another person learns well.Another person givestzedakah.Another person is quiet and well behaved.Find what you can in each person and you\u2019ll be surprised.You\u2019ll be very surprised; people are full of good things. And that\u2019s the only thing you should be looking at.PLANT THE SEEDSTheshomrei Torah,no question that they\u2019re full of good things. They\u2019re raising up families of children who will beovdei Hashem. They\u2019re upholding theshulsand theyeshivoswith their money, with their participation.They themselves aremekayeim mitzvosevery day.There are many reasons why you should love these people. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu loves them for that, so with a little bit of thought you could do the same.Try to like him because of hisma\u2019alos\u2013 whatever they are \u2013 and little by little it will enter into your heart and you\u2019ll gain a certain warmth towards that person.And that warmth as little as it is, it\u2019s a tremendous achievement.That\u2019s why we came to this world.To learn to be happy with, to see favorably all kinds of people \u2013 even theba\u2019alei ga\u2019avah,andthe ka\u2019asanim,and the nuisances; everybody!We\u2019re learning now that themitzvahofb\u2019tzedek tishpot amisechais really a program for life; and it requires planting the seeds of loving your fellow Jew in your mind, of seeing thema\u2019alos\u2013 of seeingonlythe positive- of the people around you. It\u2019s not easy; I understand that. But even if you\u2019ll achieve only ama\u2019shehu, a small fraction of this avodah, it\u2019s a tremendous perfection of your character. And the more you plant and nurture the proper thoughts in your mind, the more you\u2019re won over, and the more you\u2019ll be able to fulfill thismitzvahin all of your encounters throughout your life.Part II.How to JudgeTHE JEWS YOU BARELY NOTICENow, thepossukdoesn\u2019t sayb\u2019tzedek tishpot es \u2018your wife\u2019 or \u2018your neighbor\u2019 or \u2018the nuisance in shul\u2019; it saysamisecha, \u2018your nation\u2019. \u201cB\u2019tzedek tishpot amisecha\u201dmeans that \u201cyou should judge your fellow Jews\u2013 all of them \u2013favorably.\u201d \u05e2\u05b7\u05dd \u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05d0\u05b4\u05ea\u05b0\u05bc\u05da\u05b8 \u05d1\u05b7\u05bc\u05ea\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8\u05b8\u05d4 \u05d5\u05bc\u05d1\u05b0\u05de\u05b4\u05e6\u05b0\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea \u05d4\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05ea\u05b7\u05bc\u05d3\u05b5\u05bc\u05dc \u05dc\u05b0\u05d3\u05d5\u05bc\u05e0\u05d5\u05b9 \u05d9\u05b8\u05e4\u05b6\u05d4 \u05d9\u05b8\u05e4\u05b6\u05d4 \u2013 \u201cA person who is with you in Torah andmitzvos, bemishtadeil, put effort into judging him favorably\u201d (Shevuos 30a). If he\u2019s a loyal Torah Jew, then you have to judge himb\u2019tzedek. Thereshaimwe leave out; it\u2019s not our business now. Beingmilameid z\u2019chuson wicked people, that I\u2019ll leave to somebody else, somebody bigger than I am. But the great mass of frum Jews, we\u2019re obligated to look at them all with favor.So what do we do now with the wholeAm Yisroel\u2013 people you pass on the street that you\u2019ve never even thought about, frum Jews that you barely notice? All thosefrumJews are your brothers and Hakadosh Baruch Hu expects you to have a certain attitude of beingdan l\u2019kaf zchuswhen you see them.It\u2019s amitzvahmin hatorah. Amisechadoesn\u2019t mean this man right here who is a good friend of yours; it means all of all the frum Jews. And that means that even the people we don\u2019t know; the strangers we pass on the street, the unfamiliar people we see in shul, everyone from theAm Yisroel, we\u2019re obligated to see them in a good light. If he\u2019s a loyal Torah Jew, if he\u2019samisecha, then you have to judge himb\u2019tzedek.But we\u2019ll say here that the wordamisechais doing much more than including all of thefrummeh; what it does is give an impetus, a dynamo, forhowto fulfill the mitzvah. Because if you train yourself to look at all of your fellow Jews as the \u05e2\u05b7\u05dd \u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05d0\u05b4\u05ea\u05b0\u05bc\u05da\u05b8 \u05d1\u05b7\u05bc\u05ea\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8\u05b8\u05d4 \u05d5\u05bc\u05d1\u05b0\u05de\u05b4\u05e6\u05b0\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea, as your comrade in arms \u2013 you\u2019re on the same team after all \u2013 so you begin to develop a favorable attitude towards all of theAm Yisroel.TAKE A TRIP TO BORO PARKThis is a remarkable opportunity for success in this world. It\u2019s something you can practice all the time in the street. You see a fellow Jew, so what should you think? \u201cHe\u2019s my brother, this man. He puts ontefillinafter all. That\u2019s enough!\u201d When you see a Jew in the street with a covered head, whether it\u2019s a black hat or a yarmulke, or a woman with a sheitel, you\u2019re already sold out to that person. \u201cHe covers his head like me! He\u2019s ours. He\u2019s wearing a yarmulke, a cap, whatever he has, if he covers his head, he belongs to us.\u201dI don\u2019t care what kind ofyarmulkehe wears, he\u2019s still my brother. And even though he follows a different Rebbi, or a different set of political objectives, nevertheless, don\u2019t lose sight of the fact that, fundamentally,hebelongs to your peopleand that therefore you\u2019remichuyav, you\u2019re obligated, to think well of him. This alone that he isamisecha, that he is on your team, that should be enough for you to always look at him with favor,l\u2019kaf zchus.Let\u2019s say you\u2019re walking in a far-off neighborhood, in Bedford Stuyvesant let\u2019s say, where there are no Jews. And suddenly you see from a distance a man with ayarmulke. Ayarmulke! It\u2019s exciting! So you feel a warmth towards him; it\u2019s abrother, achaver. And it\u2019s true; heisyour brother.But it\u2019s a mistake to think that it\u2019s a thought you only have when you\u2019re in an Italian neighborhood or a colored neighborhood. In a strange neighborhood maybe you\u2019re happy to see a fellow Jew because you feel safer that way. But that\u2019s how you should think when you walk in Boro Park. Boro Park! Bigmezuzos,and everybody has beards andpayos. It\u2019s a neighborhood ofamisechaso you should practice feeling warmth towards everyone on the street. I told you once before \u2013 if you have some time, I think it\u2019s worth it to go to Boro Park and just stand there for a half hour appreciating the frum Jews. You watch as they walk back and forth, back and forth, and you\u2019re thinking, \u201cThese are my people, and I love them all.\u201d It\u2019s worth every second.THE WORLD IS GOING CRAZYNow all this is work, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu expects that work. Otherwise, you\u2019ll remain a person who sees only faults all of his life. Because when people have that attitude, when they\u2019re looking for faults, so Hakadosh Baruch Hu says, \u201cYou\u2019ll succeed,\u201d and that\u2019s what they find. Not only do they find faults in people, but they find trouble too. That\u2019s what happens in this world. The natural tendency is to see the imperfections in people, and all the good, thekaf z\u2019chus,is ignored.Constantly today people can\u2019t get along with each other because they aredaneach otherl\u2019kaf chova.If you\u2019re a rabbi, you\u2019ll sit at the telephone and it\u2019s always ringing. Husbands and wives are fighting all the time today. And in some places \u2013 a man told me he was in a certain community; I don\u2019t want to say where it was \u2013 and he said that there are divorces, and divorces and divorces. Among Jews! What\u2019s doing here? The world is going crazy; everybody\u2019s fighting.THE HUSBAND WHO IS ONLY TROUBLENow when you speak to them, you see right away that nobody has ahavahaminaof beingdan l\u2019kaf zchus.Nothing doing! Onlythemselvesthey judge favorably. I spoke to a couple of women today. They called me up to tell me that their husbands are no good at all.I said, \u201cIs he working?\u201d \u201cHe works.\u201d \u201cDoes he bum around?\u201d \u201cHe doesn\u2019t bum around.\u201d \u201cIs heshomer mitzvos?\u201d \u201cHe\u2019sshomer mitzvos.\u201d \u201cDoes he give you money?\u201d \u201cHe gives me money.\u201d\u201cSo what\u2019s the trouble?\u201d I said. \u201cOh, he\u2019sonlytrouble,\u201d she says. He does this wrong, he says this wrong, he acts like this and like that \u2013 a whole laundry list she\u2019s reading off to me. \u201cHe\u2019s so mean to me; he\u2019s inhuman,\u201d she said. Now, if I askhimI\u2019m sure he\u2019ll give me a report about his wife. She doesn\u2019t do her work. She\u2019s nagging me; this and that. And I\u2019m sure that everybody\u2019s right. A little bit everybody is right. Butthey\u2019re all wrongbecause they\u2019re all sinning against this great quality which Hashem said you should try to gain \u2013 to judge your fellow manl\u2019kaf zechus\u2013 to ignore the faults of people and train yourself to focus only on their good qualities.FORGET THAT HE FORGOT YOUR BIRTHDAY!When she thinks about her husband, she should think that he goes to work every day. He\u2019d like to sit home instead. He\u2019d like to go thebeis medrashto learn and instead he\u2019s wasting his life in the shop where he\u2019s working. It\u2019s a great pity on him, but he\u2019s doing it out of loyalty to his family. And she should think, \u201cLook, my husband is anish ne\u2019eman.\u201d He works hard by day and then he comes home at night. There are so many loafers today in the world, unfortunately. Some people loaf around in Brooklyn and then they take a vacation from loafing to go to Atlantic City to loaf some more. The frum loafers, they go toshtiblachto loaf; they sit inshtiblachand open agemaraand get busy loafing \u2013 he doesn\u2019t learn a word. You ask him, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you get a job?\u201d he says, \u201c\u05ea\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8\u05b8\u05ea\u05d5\u05b9 \u05d0\u05bb\u05de\u05b8\u05bc\u05e0\u05d5\u05bc\u05ea\u05d5\u05b9\u201d, he says, \u201cMyumnessis learning.\u201d What he means is that \u201cLoafing is myumness.\u201dButyourhusband is a decent man. He\u2019s working, supporting his family; he\u2019s giving away his life. His life! And the wise woman appreciates that. When she sees her husband walking up the steps to the door, that\u2019s what she sees \u2013 the man who comes home and he gives her money she needs and she appreciates that. She should think, \u201cI love that man! He\u2019s working all day long to support my children.\u201d \u201cI admire my husband thetalmid chochom.\u201dShe doesn\u2019t see that he opened his big mouth last night and said something stupid. She doesn\u2019t see the man who forgot it was her birthday. She\u2019s overlooking thekaf chovand she\u2019s beingdanhiml\u2019kaf zchus.CHOLENT FOR THE MINDThat\u2019s your job in this world \u2013 to look for the good in each person. You\u2019re going to say that you can\u2019t find good in your wife?! You can\u2019t find good in your husband?! Come on; come on!That\u2019s nothing but wickedness!And Hakadosh Baruch Hu pays the wickedness with wickedness; they seeonlyfaults and they suffer as a result.Every man has a tendency to have complaints against his wife \u2013 it\u2019s only natural; you\u2019re living together and your tendency is to see the faults of a person. But theavodahwe\u2019re learning now is to train yourself to always see thekaf zchusand to let the good side of the scale outweigh thekaf chov. Awise man understands that his wife is important; that she\u2019s raising the children, and feeding the family. Not only does she fulfill her duties in the home; sheisthe home! But it\u2019s not enough to know that in general terms \u2013 he has to study the details of that so that whenever he sees his wife,that\u2019s what he sees!Let\u2019s say your wife made for you acholent. Don\u2019t say, \u201cIt\u2019s nothing; it\u2019s just food.\u201d For the wise man, for the one who wants to bedan l\u2019kaf zchus, even acholentis enough to win him over. If you think about it, your wife gave you cooked potatoes; but not only potatoes, she knows how to make it brown and tasty. She added in onions for you, and barley and beans too. It\u2019s a whole meal that she prepared for you. And if while you\u2019re sitting there and enjoying it, you think about that wonderful thing that she did for you, so it will become part of your personality. Not only does it go into your body \u2013 it becomes your hair and your bones and your eyes \u2013but it goes into your mind.Your wife should be a different person in your mind after a goodcholent. And after every supper she becomes even more and more precious in your eyes.DON\u2019T STOP THE DRILLINGThat\u2019s how you should think about these things; the appreciation for the food she made for you should fill your mind at the same time it\u2019s filling your stomach. Now, I\u2019m just giving one little example. There\u2019s no end to the appreciation you should be feeling for your wife; itsmamishendless. And once a person begins to think in these terms, he\u2019ll find ways and means of assessing the importance of his wife in his life, the happiness that she\u2019s giving him by taking care of the children and the house, and for what she creates in the kitchen. It\u2019s an endless happiness that she brings to your life.And so you have to train yourself \u2013 it won\u2019t happen by itself. So you see your wife you should say to yourself, \u201cI love that woman over there.\u201d You see her on the street from far away, she goes shopping, and now you see her coming back carrying shopping bags, so you say, \u201cI love that woman over there, carrying home the food for my children.\u201dOnly that what happens? The husband ignores all the good that his wife does and he sees only the superficialities \u2013 she nagged him, she complained, she wasted money \u2013 he never drills down past the superficial things to the core of what his wife really is, and what she means to his life. And same thing with the wife \u2013 to be adan l\u2019kaf zchusshe has to be adayanwho ignores all the superficialities of theba\u2019alei din, and focuses only on the truth to fulfill themitzvahofb\u2019tzedek tishpot amisecha.CANCEL THE THORNNow, I only mention a husband and wife because it is the most common interaction and the home is a great opportunity for perfection \u2013 but that\u2019s how you should train yourself to look ateveryone, by focusing only on the good; even small things. You must look for good things. No question, everyone has good things. And even if one thing might not be the best, something elseisgood. And your job in this world is to ignore the more difficult parts of the bundle and focus on only the good parts.Here\u2019s a man isroidef achar hakavod, he loveskavod. He\u2019s aba\u2019al ga\u2019avah,he thinks much of himself. Naturally, that\u2019s what sticks out at you \u2013 it\u2019s a thorn in your eyes. And it will remain that way forever unless you cancel out thekaf chovby focusing on thekaf zchus. And if you\u2019ll look you\u2019ll find a lot of good! But if you\u2019re busy looking only for what\u2019s wrong, you\u2019ll find that too and that\u2019s how you\u2019ll remain a failure.And the truth is that once you start looking, you\u2019ll discover, you\u2019ll find all types of good qualities. And that\u2019s themishpat tzedek,the righteous judging that Hashem wants from you.\u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05e6\u05b6\u05d3\u05b6\u05e7 \u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05e9\u05b0\u05c1\u05e4\u05b9\u05bc\u05d8 \u05e2\u05b2\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05ea\u05b6\u05da\u05b8 \u2013 You should judge your fellow man withtzedek, by focusing only on thetzedek. You\u2019re a judge all the time, and if you\u2019re anoheiv tzedek, so you love to find good things in people, and that\u2019s how you follow the program of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.THE MOST INTERESTING THINGNow, you have to know how to look at your fellow Jews \u2013 it\u2019s anavodah! First of all, look at his face, and remind yourself that it\u2019stzelem Elokim. Isn\u2019t that reason enough to honor him and to think well of him?Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave that reason! He said, \u201cThe face of a man resembles Mine\u201d (Bereishis 9:6).It\u2019s not an accident. Every person you look at is atzelem Elokim.It\u2019s a beautiful sight, the human face. Look at a person\u2019s face. Eyes! Eyes are so expressive, so beautiful. You can see theneshama,you can see intelligence shining out of the eyes. Even the cheeks, the way the cheeks move, a smile or sadness; it\u2019s expressing emotions.The nobility of the human countenance is unequal.In the entire universe, there\u2019s nothing like it \u2013 if you\u2019ll travel, let\u2019s say, to the far off countries; if you\u2019ll climb mountains and search the vast wilderness, you\u2019ll never see anything in the universe as interesting as a human face.Now how to explain that, that\u2019s a different subject. It\u2019ll take us a lot of time to understand that. But we have to at least practice it up \u2013 it\u2019s in the Torah after all.So when you look at the face of a fellow Jew, the very first obligation is to think that you\u2019re seeing something very very impressive.Only that we\u2019re very far away from theruach haTorah.The spirit of the Torah declares that when you look at the face of a fellow Jew, you should be very much impressed. Now don\u2019t tell me, \u201cOh, it\u2019s exaggerated.You\u2019re blowing up, making a whole story out of nothing.\u201d It\u2019s in the Chumash! \u05db\u05b4\u05bc\u05d3\u05b0\u05de\u05d5\u05bc\u05ea\u05d5\u05b9 \u2013 that\u2019s the resemblance of Hashem. And Hakadosh Baruch Hu insists that we should learn the Torah and get into our heads, that when you\u2019re looking at the face of a person, you should think that you\u2019re seeing thetzelem Elokim.Men look in a men\u2019s faces, and women look in women\u2019s faces.And when you look, the first thing is to think, \u201cTzelem Elokim.\u201dAnd no matter how much you\u2019ll think, you should know, you\u2019re not thinking enough.Don\u2019t say, \u201cI\u2019m maybe overdoing it.\u201dYou\u2019re alwaysunderdoing it! And even if you spend years of this effort, you should know, you haven\u2019t reached the standards that Hakadosh Baruch Hu expects in appreciating what it meanstzelem Elokim.THE GREATNESS OF TALL SKINNY JEWSSo now you have what to be busy with.Instead of thinking what faults you can find in people \u2013 he has a comical face; he talks too much; he\u2019s tall and skinny; he\u2019s short and fat \u2013 instead of looking for things to ridicule, you have to get busy now looking at thetzelem Elokimin his face. If you can\u2019t do it with all the people around, then start one at a time. You\u2019re standing on the street and looking at your fellow Jews walk by and you\u2019re thinking, \u201cTzelem Elokim, tzelem Elokim, tzelem Elokim.\u201dNow I understand that these words don\u2019t find an echo in your mind immediately. But you must understand that Torah must be learned; it\u2019s Torah after all. There\u2019s a lot of work to be done and don\u2019t think you can shirk it. It\u2019s expected of us that we should plant this seed in our minds and as the years go by it will take root and it will grow branches and fruit.Of course it\u2019s artificial; in the beginning you\u2019ll be a hypocrite, but \u05d4\u05b7\u05d7\u05b4\u05d9\u05e6\u05d5\u05b9\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9\u05bc\u05d5\u05bc\u05ea \u05de\u05b0\u05e2\u05d5\u05b9\u05e8\u05b6\u05e8\u05b6\u05ea \u05d0\u05b6\u05ea \u05d4\u05b7\u05e4\u05b0\u05bc\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9\u05de\u05b4\u05d9\u05bc\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea.We make an attempt, and after a while, the spark will be kindled in your heart.\u05d4\u05b7\u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u05d0 \u05dc\u05b0\u05d8\u05b7\u05d4\u05b5\u05e8 \u05de\u05b0\u05e1\u05b7\u05d9\u05b0\u05bc\u05e2\u05b4\u05d9\u05df \u05dc\u05d5\u05b9 \u2013 Hakadosh Baruch Hu will give you assistance and you\u2019ll gain a certain appreciation ofamisecha, the Am Yisroel.Now once you understand the greatness oftzelem Elokim\u2013 you don\u2019t yet, it\u2019s a tremendous idea; a skyscraper \u2013 but there\u2019s another skyscraper that\u2019s even greater than that one. ThemishnainAvossays (3:14)that while it\u2019s true that all of humanity is blessed withtzelem Elokim,but there\u2019s one nation in the world that is praised with an even greater title. It says \u05d7\u05b2\u05d1\u05b4\u05d9\u05d1\u05b4\u05d9\u05df \u05d9\u05b4\u05e9\u05b0\u05c2\u05e8\u05b8\u05d0\u05b5\u05dc \u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05e0\u05b4\u05bc\u05e7\u05b0\u05e8\u05b0\u05d0\u05d5\u05bc \u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd \u05dc\u05b7\u05de\u05b8\u05bc\u05e7\u05d5\u05b9\u05dd \u2013 \u201cHow beloved areYisroelwho are called the children of Hashem.\u201d A child of Hashem! Now, that\u2019s something!The first skyscraper oftzelem Elokimgoes up to the skies, but this skyscraper goes all the way up to Hashem. \u201cHow beloved areYisroelwho are called children of Hakodosh Boruch Hu.\u201dTORAH OR GARBAGE?We\u2019re accustomed to saying, \u201cWe\u2019re all children.\u201d Let\u2019s say the reform Jews get together on a stage with the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and they say, \u201cWe stand in solidarity with our African American brothers because we\u2019re all children of the same G-d.\u201d That\u2019s not Torah \u2013 it\u2019sgarbage. Nobody is the children of Hashem except for theAm Yisroel.\u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd\u05d0\u05b7\u05ea\u05b6\u05bc\u05dd\u05dc\u05b7\u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05b5\u05bc\u05c1\u05dd \u05d0\u05b1\u05dc\u05b9\u05e7\u05b5\u05d9\u05db\u05b6\u05dd \u2013Youare children of Hashem and nobody else, and make no mistake about it.Now, we don\u2019t care what the world says \u2013 they\u2019ll say it\u2019s chauvinism; maybe so, but we stick by the Torah, and the Torah says thatonly weare the children of Hashem.Suppose a man comes to see you. \u201cI noticed that you married my cousin.\u201dSo you ask him, \u201cWho are you?\u201d \u201cI\u2019m the son of therosh yeshivaof Ponovezh,\u201d he says. \u201cOooh-wha!I didn\u2019t know I got such amechutan!Therosh yeshivaof Ponovezh became mymechutanby marriage.\u201d You\u2019re excited over him; he\u2019s the child of somebody great! But you can tell him, \u201cI\u2019m the son of somebody greater.I\u2019m the son of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.\u201dHe jumps up!\u201cYou\u2019re the son of Hakadosh Baruch Hu?!\u201d\u201cYes, I am\u201d, you say.\u201cIt\u2019s in the Chumash, \u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u05e0\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd \u05d0\u05b7\u05ea\u05b6\u05bc\u05dd \u05dc\u05b7\u05d4\u05b7\u05e9\u05b5\u05bc\u05c1\u05dd \u05d0\u05b1\u05dc\u05b9\u05e7\u05b5\u05d9\u05db\u05b6\u05dd.\u201dTHE VERY HEAVY JEWWe\u2019reexpectedto think that way.It\u2019s not written inPirkei Avosfor nothing.Chavivin Yisrael! We are the beloved ones! Now when it says we\u2019re beloved, it doesn\u2019t mean that Hashem likes us like we let\u2019s say, like a second cousin or a nephew. It\u2019s much more than that; it means He loves every single one of us more than anything else in the entire world.And we\u2019re told this for an important purpose. And that is because we\u2019re expected to think that way about every single Jew.Not in general, in a way that\u2019s abstract. Yes, that you\u2019re willing to say: \u201cIn general, on all Jews, I can saychavivin. I can love theAm Yisroelin general. But when it comes to this Jew, not this one. And that one? No, not him either.\u201d And that\u2019s a terrible mistake.Chavivin Yisroel,meanseveryone of them! Allshomrei Torah; even though he\u2019s not from yourshtiebel, not from your community.A differentshtiebel, so you might think, he\u2019s not in your neighborhood, maybe not yournusach; maybe he\u2019s aSefardior aTaimani.Maybe he\u2019s a Russian Jew or a Polish Jew, so you think, \u201cNot him, not him.\u201d No, when you see any fellow Jew, anyshomer Torah u\u2019mitzvos, you\u2019re looking at a person who is most beloved by Hashem.If you have a big scale, and you put on one side of the scale the sun, and also the millions of stars and all the planets too; and also all the nations \u2013 all the Englishmen, all the Americans, all the French, every other people on the face of the earth, all on one side of the scale. And on the other side is this oneYisroel, this one Jew that passes by you on the street, so he ismachri\u2019a es kulan\u2013 he outweighs all of them. That\u2019s whatchavivinmeans, and that\u2019s how you have to think.DON\u2019T BE LAZY!Now, I\u2019m very sorry to say that all of this will not happen, nothing good will grow in your head, if you\u2019re a lazy man. \u05e2\u05b7\u05dc \u05e9\u05b0\u05c2\u05d3\u05b5\u05d4 \u05d0\u05b4\u05d9\u05e9\u05c1 \u05e2\u05b8\u05e6\u05b5\u05dc \u05e2\u05b8\u05d1\u05b7\u05e8\u05b0\u05ea\u05b4\u05bc\u05d9 \u2013 \u201cI passed the field of a lazy man,\u201d said Shlomo Hamelech. And what is growing there? \u05d4\u05b4\u05e0\u05b5\u05bc\u05d4 \u05db\u05b8\u05bc\u05e1\u05b8\u05d4 \u05e4\u05b8\u05bc\u05e0\u05b8\u05d9\u05d5 \u05d7\u05b2\u05e8\u05d5\u05bc\u05dc\u05b4\u05d9\u05dd thorns and brambles; all types of weeds grow in the head of a lazy man. Maybe he was too lazy to come to these lectures altogether. Or maybe he came, but it was entertainment, to get out of the house a little, that\u2019s all. That\u2019s good too, it\u2019s also good \u2013 but if you never work on these ideas, so what grows in your mind instead of delicious fruit? \u05e8\u05b9\u05d0\u05e9\u05c1 \u05d5\u05b0\u05dc\u05b7\u05e2\u05b2\u05e0\u05b8\u05d4 \u2013 \u201cPoison growths.\u201dSinas chinam, miskabeid b\u2019klon chaveiro, other thorns. But notb\u2019tzedek tishpot amisecha; no, no, that won\u2019t grow on its own.And so you have to always be on guard \u2013 you\u2019re busy always weeding out your field, pulling up thorns that creep up in your mind. Let\u2019s say a thought comes into your mind when you see this person, \u201cWhy is he wearingthat?\u201d \u201cWhy did he do such a thing?\u201d \u201cWhy did she say that?\u201d You can\u2019t let a poison weed like that fester in your mind! You can\u2019t be anish atzeil,a lazy person, and allow that thought to grow. You have to do something about it! And so you get busy right away thinking the thoughts we spoke about tonight.Now, don\u2019t think that it\u2019s merely a thought. No, you\u2019re actually planting seeds in your mind. And these seeds, once they take root, they grow into beautiful flowers ofdan es chaveiro l\u2019kaf zchus. Try to judge a fellow man with a meritorious balance, to think well of him. And the more you do it, the more you\u2019ll succeed at this program. And the more you succeed, then Hakodosh Boruch Huy\u2019dineihu l\u2019kaf zchus, the more you\u2019ll succeed at gaining the goodwill of Hashem for yourself. Because that\u2019s the purpose why Hashem brought you into this world, to give you one opportunity to plant a garden of delicious fruits and flowers in your mind, a garden that will last forever.HAKADOSH BARUCH HU WILL LOVE YOUNow how much can you do?! You\u2019ll say, \u201cI should love my neighbor? I should love mychavrusaand my boss? I should love the man who sits next to me in shul? That\u2019s too much!\u201d So Hashem says, \u201cAt least plant the seeds; as much as you can always look at that person with a favorable eye. Bedan l\u2019kaf zchus; go out of your way to judge him favorably, to find a reason to make him azakaiin everything he does.\u201d And \u05d4\u05b7\u05d1\u05b8\u05bc\u05d0 \u05dc\u05b0\u05d8\u05b7\u05d4\u05b5\u05e8 \u05de\u05b0\u05e1\u05b7\u05d9\u05b0\u05bc\u05e2\u05b4\u05d9\u05df \u05dc\u05d5\u05b9, if you try to be good, then Hashem will help you be good.And one of the ways He\u2019ll help you is by giving you more and more opportunities to perfect yourself \u2013 He\u2019ll send you all types of people, He\u2019ll put you in contact with all types of frum Jews. And \u05db\u05b8\u05bc\u05dc \u05e2\u05b4\u05e0\u05b0\u05d9\u05b8\u05e0\u05b5\u05d9 \u05d4\u05b8\u05e2\u05d5\u05b9\u05dc\u05b8\u05dd \u05e0\u05b4\u05e1\u05b0\u05d9\u05d5\u05b9\u05e0\u05d5\u05b9\u05ea \u05d4\u05b5\u05dd \u05dc\u05b0\u05d0\u05b8\u05d3\u05b8\u05dd, everything in this world is an opportunity; every person that you meet is a test for you to see if you\u2019ll rise to the occasion and use the opportunity to plant the seeds ofb\u2019tzedek tishpot amisechain your mind.And you\u2019ll live a happier life because of it \u2013 you\u2019ll be happy with your spouse, and with your neighbor and your boss, and with all your fellow Jews \u2013 the world becomes a happier place. And it\u2019s a good investment as well, this business of thinking well of your fellowman, becauseHamakomyidineihu l\u2019kaf zchus,Hashem will look at yourma\u2019alosand He\u2019ll be happy with you. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is going to love you too; despite the fact that sometimes you can be a nuisance too. Hakadosh Baruch Hu will overlook that and see that you have good things in you. \u05d1\u05b0\u05bc\u05de\u05b4\u05d3\u05b8\u05bc\u05d4\u05bc \u05e9\u05b6\u05c1\u05d0\u05b8\u05d3\u05b8\u05dd \u05de\u05d5\u05b9\u05d3\u05b5\u05d3 \u05de\u05d5\u05b9\u05d3\u05b0\u05d3\u05b4\u05d9\u05df \u05dc\u05d5\u05b9 \u2013 \u201cThe way you treat others is how you\u2019ll be treated.\u201d And when Hakadosh Baruch Hu does that, He does it with a full hand, a heaping hand of reward in this world and also in the World to Come.HAVE A WONDERFUL SHABBOSGo Back See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.