The other night, as our family sat
down for dinner, we engaged in our unwritten routine. Everyone sat in the seats
that they had assigned themselves, their Makom Kavuah. My Wife served dinner to
the children first and then she served us. I turned on the weeknight NBC
newscast. As our children ate, they all noticed something was slightly askew.
The food tasted like mommy’s cooking. Everyone looked the same. No one seemed
to be acting differently, yet for a moment our children couldn’t quite figure
out what was different. Then our daughter look up at the TV as we were
listening to the newscast and asked about the person who usually reports the
news. She had noticed, quite correctly, that the normal anchorman, Brian
Williams, was not reporting the news. There was a different anchorman. “Is he
sick?” they asked. “Is he on vacation?” they wondered aloud. I told them that
he removed himself from being the anchorman because he and had come under
pressure at the network for embellishing the truth. While some say he lied,
which seems to suggest something pre-meditated, at the very least he stretched
the truth and embellished his experience from 10-12 years ago while reporting
during the Iraq War and during Hurricane Katrina. They asked what the
connection was between his embellishing and removing himself as Anchorman. We had a fascinating discussion about
assumptions that we make about people who transmit information to us. It was a
teachable moment about trust, and questioning sources of information.
Interestingly enough it also turned into a teachable moment of Torah.
This week’s Parsha is Mishpatim. Moshe
is still at Har Sinai. However the revelation that occurred with the giving of
the Aseret Dibrot (Ten Commandments)
is long gone. Instead, God has now started giving Moshe numerous laws that
affect the day to day issues raised by human interaction. There is no shofar
blowing, there is no anticipation of meeting God at the mountain. Rather there
is only God telling Moshe how to decide various legal matters including the
damages to be paid if my ox gores your ox; two men are fighting near a pregnant
woman and she gets hurt, and how to
treat to a Jewish servant, observing festivals, the issues of liability for
those who are asked to safeguard another’s property as well as manslaughter, to
name just a few of the fifty three commandments (according to the Sefer
HaChinuch). Moshe tells these laws to
Bnai Yisroel and they respond with the words Naaseh v’Nishmah – we
will do and learn. The Parsha concludes
with glowing fire upon the Mountain that Moshe ascends once again.
In the midst of the more than fifty
Mitzvot and within the midst civil law appears a commandment that seems more
like a warning than a commandment. Midvar Sheker Tirchak V’Naki V”Tzadik Al
Taharog–Distance yourself from a
false word; (Ex. 23:7).Usually a commandment uses language such as “do” or “don’t”.
In fact the commandments that immediately appear before and after uses the
commandment language of “do” or “don’t”. This is the only commandment that tells
us to Tirchak – distance ourselves and as a result creates inherent subjectivity.
One person’s distancing from falsehood might not necessarily be another person’s
distancing from falsehood. So why the relativism as compared to the absolutism
of the all these other commandments? Perhaps the ability to discern falsehood carries
with it a degree of subjectivity. Perhaps the Torah and later the sages
understand that falsehoods are relative, relative to severity, relative to
intent and even relative to harm. In Breishit Rabbah, the Talmudic Sages
commentary upon the Torah, we learn: “When the Holy One Blessed be He was about
to create mankind, the ministering angels divided into two parties. Mercy said:
‘Create him!’ Truth said: ‘Do not create him since he is all falsehood’ “. However the same Talmudic Sages teach in the
Masechet Chullin (the Talmudic Tractate that deals with all the laws of Kosher
ritual slaughter) HitRacheik Min HaKiOr
U’Min HaDomah Lo V’Min HaDomah L’Doma – Keep
far (distance yourself) from ugly
dealings and that which smells of them, or even remotely resembles them
(Chullin 44b). One statement acknowledges that a world only built upon absolute
truth might very well be a harsh world that is not particularly forgiving. The
other statement, like the Torah’s warning, reminds us that if we spend too much
time near falsehood, then the world might become corrupt and no one would trust
systems and institutions. We need to have enough judgment as to determine when
we are too close to falsehood that it leads to mistrust.
Brian Williams’ absence from the NBC
anchor desk exemplifies the failures to distance oneself from falsehood. If
unchecked, the failure to create distance ultimately causes mistrust. For most institutions, including the press,
success or failure is directly related to whether the public perceives
trustworthiness. For years, Walter Cronkite, the legendary CBS anchorman was
considered to be the most trusted man in America. If he has embellished or
exaggerated the truth, then the perception of mistrust will hamper his ability
to connect to the public and the public would not believe what was being
reported. As our children watched the news,
and then ask their mother and me to clarify certain statements, or offer
background, context or even judgment they are now aware of the correlation
between the transmitter of information and the information itself.
Peace.
Rav Yitz
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