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Thursday

י"ח אדר ב’ התשפ"ד

Thursday
י"ח אדר ב’ התשפ"ד

חיפוש בארכיון

178. Error / טעות

There is no person in the world who does not err. King David thus said: All mankind is untruthful (Tehillim 116:11). It is not shameful for a person to say that he made a mistake, but it is shameful to carry on and deny that he erred. For if one does not recognize his error, then he is a fool. But if he knows he erred and yet denies it because he is embarrassed to admit it, so he insists on holding on to his error, then he is only adding disgrace to his shame since the truth is obvious, while he tries using lies and deceit to conceal it. But everyone sees through it and they scorn him as he carries on believing that he can fool everyone. That in itself is a terrible trait amongst people: to think that one is wiser than everyone else. Is there anyone greater for us than Moshe Rabbeinu? Yet he was not embarrassed to admit that he erred. We also find that the pillars of our People publicly proclaimed, “I was mistaken about the things that I told you” (Shabbos 63b). Even if one feels embarrassed to admit an error, it is better to be embarrassed in this World than in the World to Come. Therefore, one should be God-fearing and admit the truth for the sake of the honor of Hashem, God of Truth.

“My brothers and my nation, take this sefer Torah, and with this, and like this learn well, so that you should have it good; listen and enliven your soul, and achieve gladness and joy in this world and the world to come” (From the author’s intro.)