Torah Guidance to Discern Truth From Lies – Part 2
3) Be patient in judgment.
This is the very first lesson transmitted to us in Pirkei Avos by the Men of the Great Assembly, who received it in an unbroken chain from Moshe Rabbeinu at Har Sinai.
This is surely no accident.
Being patient in judgment is the best way to avoid making mistakes. Jumping to conclusions is the surest way to land on the wrong conclusion. And as Chazal also taught us, once a mistake has become ingrained in someone's mind, it's usually there to stay – “שבשתא כיון דעל על” (Pesachim 112A and Bava Basra 21A).
The voices of authority, expertise, and influence all around us specifically demand of us not to be patient in judgment, but to rush to conclusions. Not only that, they demand of us to immediately accept conclusions that someone else already made for us – without so much as the right to investigate, analyze, question, and critique the process behind these pre-packaged conclusions.
They claim this is for our own good, of course. And if sometimes it's not for our own good, it's for the greater good: the good of society, the good of the country, sometimes the good of the entire planet! If we don't jump to conclusions, especially pre-packaged conclusions, bad things will happen! We might die! We might cause others to die! We might be responsible for the destruction of the entire world!
Who wants that on their conscience?
And who wants to be the sore thumb who doesn't jump to the “right” conclusion when everyone else is falling into line?
I'll tell you who. Our greatest teachers and transmitters of Torah, and everyone who keeps their teachings firmly in mind – especially when under pressure to cast them aside.
The snakes who temporarily rule over us need people to be in a constant state of fear, pressure, and dependence on them for information and relief. If you don't take the shots now, people will die. Now is not the time to ask questions. Run to your shelters and wait for instructions. Don't stop. Don't think. Just react as you're told.
Believe whatever the people on television tell you, immediately! They know best! Their word is all the evidence you need, and the burden of proof is on whoever dares to be skeptical.
Of course, those who know better will rarely be able to convince those who follow the snakes. שבשתא כיון דעל על.
Resolving to be patient in judgment, no matter how much the snakes hiss at us, is one of the best ways to shield us from their lies and protect us from making dangerous mistakes.
(Also see Berachos 20A: “Patience is worth 400 zuz.”)
4) Bad things come from wicked people (Shmuel I 24:14).
This is not only a Torah axiom, that this was known from the earliest of times!
Unfortunately, this axion has largely been forgotten, even among those who study Torah.
Chazal also state in numerous places: “מגלגלים זכות על ידי זכאי וחובה על ידי חייב ”, Hashem orchestrates meritorious developments through meritorious people, and misfortunes through the guilty. The classic example given in the Gemara is that of someone who is guilty of a capital crime but was never brought to justice. Hashem will arrange his “unexpected” death at the hands of someone who is also guilty, so both can be punished for their crimes.
Based on this, one would be extremely foolish to believe that humanity was saved by a vaccine developed and forced upon the public by some of the most wicked, anti-God people on earth. One would be extremely foolish to believe that the shadowy monsters who rule over them are planning anything with the safety and wellbeing of humanity in mind, near or afar.
The most wise, Torah-true approach is to assume the opposite of whatever they tell you is in your best interests until conclusively proven otherwise.
Tanna D'bei Eliyahu, the Midrash of Eliyahu HaNavi, makes a pithy comment in 18:85 that should be the motto of our generation: “ כל מה שאתה יכול לתלות ברשעים תלהו עליהם”
All that you can attribute to the wicked, attribute to them.
The wicked are guilty, at least in our own minds, until proven innocent. When there are mysterious problems and tragedies in the world, we assume that wicked people deliberately caused them until conclusively proven otherwise. We don't assume they were accidents, innocent mistakes, or a most unlikely series of coincidences. We attribute all that we can to the wicked. That's our starting point.
Not only that, we take a maximalist approach to it. ALL that we can plausibly attribute to the intentional actions of the wicked, we attribute to them.
That's what the Torah teaches.
We don't assume that pandemics shrouded in mystery and dubious narratives are natural events, but the workings of the wicked until conclusively proven otherwise.
We don't assume that “wildfires” that behave in most unusual ways are natural events, but the workings of the wicked until conclusively proven otherwise.
We don't assume that the tragedy at Meron was due to an accident, or poor planning, or irresponsible behavior by religious Jews. We assume they were deliberately murdered by wicked people, and that the murderers intended to kill many more.
We assume that the IDF failing to provide a meaningful response for 8 hours and more while thousands of Jews were being maimed and massacred in full view of the world was a deliberate, coordinated attack on the Jewish people from the Erev Rav inside our land, collaborating with the enemies outside our land.
That's our starting point. The burden of proof is always squarely on the wicked people to prove that this time it really wasn't them.
Bad things come from bad people, and all that you can attribute to the wicked, attribute to them.
If we keep these Torah teachings in mind, we will be far less susceptible to the deception they depend upon, and we will no longer be such easy prey.
To be continued...
__________________________
Buy my books on Amazon here or contact me to purchase in Israel.
Download Tovim Ha-Shenayim as a PDF for free!
If you received this from someone else and want to receive future articles directly, please send a request to endthemadness@gmail.com.
* * *
A reader put it well: "How can we keep people from going to "municipal complexes" that the government has prepared to "shelter" us? They had those in Germany, too... what were they called again?"
The Torah's guidance to discern truth from lies would certainly help...
* * *
Americans and Hebrew-Speakers Giving Orders to Hamas on October 7
This video was originally released shortly after October 7. The media you continue to trust somehow missed it. And all the good little boys and girls who continue to follow orders aren't perturbed enough to make different choices.
You can keep sharing all the information in your little group and echo chamber, but nothing changes until people make different choices in real life, where it matters.
No comments:
Post a Comment