Thursday 7 February 2013

shabbat 127

is it so unrealistic to hope that what type of hospitality goes on behind closed and locked doors is NO ONE's business. and there is no need to speculate and judge. even favourably.

so, if you are going to tell a tale, tell a nice story.

(included in the list of things one is rewarded for both in this world and in the next world are hospitality and judging other people favourably. Some examples are given of people judging favourably being blessed that others should judge their actions well. Two of the examples are of men being alone with a woman overnight, one a freed slave, the other a Roman woman. In both stories the men go to immerse themselves in the mikveh, something happened that made them ritually impure. They ask their students what they thought went on and the students reply with various theories, but do not accuse them of sleeping with these women. The rabbis confirm these theories and bless the students for judging favourably... who knows what really happened. for english translation of this talmud page, see here)

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