When I was little, I constantly wondered whether sometimes it was better to lie or tell a half-truth than to tell the full truth. I told myself, at that age, that if it would the truth would end up hurting someone, it was better to lie.
Rabbi Telushkin agrees with little me! He goes back all the way to Abraham and Sarah to justify his reasoning. He says that Sarah laughed when she found out she would have a son at her age and at her husband's age. But G-d says to Abraham that Sarah laughed at finding out she would have a son at her age. Even G-d took into account the way Abraham would feel by being called old.
"[...] when no constructive purpose is served by being truthful, peace is valued more highly than truth" (67).
Day 45: The Sin That No One Ever Acknowledges Committing
What is it? What is the sin that no one ever acknowledges committing? Guess. No guesses? Ok well here it is: groundless hatred.
The Talmud equates the sin of groundless hatred with the sins of idolatry, sexual immorality, and murder. Seems kind of hefty right? Well here's the thing, isn't the golden rule to love others as you love yourself? Rabbi offers some methods to avoid or get rid of groundless hatred from your heart.
The first method is consider whether your dislike of someone is proportionate to the bad things this person has done. If your dislike and their bad things are not equal, then at least some of your hatred is groundless.
The second method is to learn and accept good things about the person you dislike. Try to see the good in them and remember that good whenever you hear or think about them (see Day 25: "Judge the Whole of a Person Favorably").
"The Talmud teaches that the Second Temple was destroyed because of causeless hatred. Perhaps the Third Temple will be built because of causeless love." -Rabbi Kook
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