Be Patient in Judgment — Dan L'Chaf Zechut
The obligation to judge others favorably (dan l'chaf zechut — judge to the scale of merit) is one of Judaism's most demanding ethical teachings.
Yehoshua ben Perachya taught: 'Acquire for yourself a teacher, get yourself a friend, and judge every person favorably (dan l'chaf zechut)' (Avot 1:6). Dan l'chaf zechut (judging to the scale of merit) is the practice of consistently interpreting ambiguous actions in the most favorable light possible — assuming good intentions in others unless proven otherwise. This is not naivety but a principled ethical practice that: protects relationships from the corrosive effects of uncharitable suspicion; cultivates the habit of seeing others at their best, which can paradoxically encourage them to fulfill those positive assumptions; and guards against the tendency to project one's own fears and biases onto others' behavior. The Talmud provides elaborate examples of situations where apparently suspicious behavior should be interpreted favorably, training the moral imagination to exercise generosity before judgment.
Judge every person favorably.
The obligation is stated in Pirkei Avot 1:6 by Yehoshua ben Perachiah: 'Judge every person favorably (hevei dan et kol ha-adam l'chaf zechut).' The Talmud (Shabbat 127b) promises that one who judges another favorably is himself judged favorably by Heaven.
Mishnah
Written about in
- What Judaism says about justice
Before judging someone you are obliged to look for the reading that puts them in the right. This is justice turned inward, applied to your own conclusions about people.
- What Judaism says about forgiveness
Yehoshua ben Perachya's rule is to read ambiguous behaviour in the most favourable light available. It is preventive rather than curative: a great deal of what later needs forgiving started as a misreading nobody checked.