October, 2002

Pirke Avot Project

ISSUES IN ETHICS

#1:  BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT

 

It’s a beautiful day and you are sitting on a park bench enjoying your lunch. All of a sudden you notice a street person staring at you. You pick up your lunch and move to another bench, some distance away. The street person continues to stare in your direction. Before finishing your lunch, you become uncomfortable, pick up your lunch, and begin to walk away. As you walk quickly in the opposite direction, you suddenly feel a hand tugging at your coat. You turn and there he is……

 

WHAT DOES HE WANT? 

 

The Mishnah Teaches 

 

…Judge each person on a scale of merit.                                                    Pirke Avot: 1:6

 

Discussion Questions

“Judge each person on a scale of merit” is usually interpreted to mean: give them the benefit of the doubt, or assume the best.

 

                     Do you think the rabbis intended this as an absolute?

 

                     Read the ending to the story at the bottom of this page. Have there been times in your life when you have misjudged someone? What happened?

 

                   What are the risks involved in not giving someone the benefit of the doubt?

 

 

Application/experience

Think about a time when you judged someone negatively.     Is it possible that the trait you disliked in that person is one that you yourself have?

The next time you think negatively about someone, try stopping and asking yourself if what you dislike in that person is something you really don’t like in yourself.

 

 

 

Story ending:

He says: “Is this yours?” In his hand is your wallet , open to a picture of your family.