The Ethics of the Mystics Week 1: Searching for the Good in Everyone - Even Yourself!

Yehoshua ben Perahiah used to say: make for yourself a teacher, and acquire for yourself a friend and judge all people favorably.

A person should view themselves as if they were half-liable and half-meritorious. So if they perform one mitzvah they are fortunate, as they tilt themselves to the scale of merit. If they transgresses one prohibition, woe to them, as they tilt themselves to the scale of liability.

(1) Know, one must judge everyone favorably (Avot 1:6).

And even someone who is completely wicked, it is necessary to search and find in them some modicum of good; for in that little bit, they are not wicked. And by finding in them a modicum of good, and so judging them favorably, one genuinely elevates them to the scale of merit and can bring them to teshuvah.

This is the aspect of “In a little bit the wicked one will be no longer; you will look to his place and he will not be there” (Psalms 37:10). That is, Scripture is warning us to judge everyone favorably. Even if you see that someone is completely wicked, you must search and seek the little bit of good in them, where they are not wicked.

This is the meaning of: In a little bit, the wicked one will be no longer —You must seek the “little bit” of good that he still has within him, because in that place he is not wicked. For although he is wicked, how is it possible that he does not still possess even a little bit of good? Is it possible that throughout his life he never once did some mitzvah or good deed? And by your finding in him yet a little bit of good wherein he is not wicked, and your judging him favorably, you genuinely elevate him from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit, until, as a result of this, he returns in teshuvah.

Thus, this is “In a little bit the wicked one will be no longer...” By finding in the wicked person “yet a little bit” of good, as a result: "...you will reflect upon his place and he will not be there"—That is, when you contemplate and consider his place and level, he is no longer there in his original place. For by finding in him yet a little bit of good, some good point, and judging him favorably, we genuinely move him from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit.,

This is the explanation of “you will reflect upon his place and he will not be there,” as explained above. Understand this.

(2) And so, too, a person must also find this within themselves. For it is well known that a person must take great care to be happy always and to keep very far away from depression {as has been explained in our works a number of times}. It may be that when one begins examining oneself, one sees that one possesses no good whatsoever, and is filled with sin, and that as a result the Evil One wants to cause them to fall into sadness and black bitterness, God forbid.

Even so, it is forbidden to fall on account of this! Rather, one must search until one finds in oneself some little bit of good. For how is it possible that throughout one's life, they never once did some mitzvah or good deed? And even if when one begins examining this good thing one sees that it, too, is filled with flaws and contains no purity— i.e., one sees that the mitzvah or holy deed that one merited doing is itself full of hidden agendas, strange thoughts, and all kinds of inconsistencies —nevertheless, how is it possible that this mitzvah or holy deed contains not even a little bit of good? For in any case, despite this there must have been some good point in the mitzvah or good deed that they did.

Thus, a person has to search and seek to find in themselves some little bit of good in order to revive themselves and to attain joy, as explained above. By searching until one finds a remaining little bit of good in oneself, one genuinely moves from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit and can then return in teshuvah. This, in the aspect of “In yet a little bit the wicked one is no longer; you will reflect upon his place and he will not be there,” as explained above.

That is, just as has been explained above, that we must judge others favorably, even the wicked, and find in them some good point, and by doing so move them from the scale of guilt to the scale of merit - in the aspect of “in a little bit… you will reflect…” —the same applies with regard to oneself. A person has to judge themselves favorably and find in themselves some remaining good point, in order to give themselves the strength to avoid falling completely, God forbid. On the contrary, they will revive themselves and bring joy to their soul with the little bit of good they finds in themselves—i.e., that once in one's life one merited doing a mitzvah or good deed.

Likewise, one must go on searching until one finds in oneself yet another good thing. And although this good thing too is mixed with much impurity, still, one must extract some good point from there as well.

Indeed, one must go on searching and gathering further good points, for from these, melodies are created...

I will praise the Eternal all my life; I will sing to my God with every little bit I have left.

And Our Rebbe, of blessed memory, cautioned us to walk with this teaching constantly! For it is a major foundation for anyone who wishes to draw closer to God...