Midreshet Amit

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Dan Lecaf Zechut, judging one's fellow man favorably is an attribute that we all aspire to have and gain from to the highest potential. Dan Lecaf Zechut is mentioned in boththe Gemara and Pirkei Avot. One of the precepts listed by R' Yochanan in the gemara, in masechet shabbat, perek shmonah esar, is "Dan Lecaf Zechut", "judging one's fellow man favorably". The gemara then mentions three incidents which exhibit "Hadan chavero lecaf zechut dinyan ohto lezechut", "one who judges his fellow man favorably is himself judged favorably. One of these incidents involves a certain man that went to go work and when the years were done he went to the owner and asked for his wages.

The owner said that he did not have the man's wages or any other form of payment that he could give him. The man left and went home without the wages that were due to him. The owner then travelled to his worker with much more than what was due to this man for his work. After they drank, the owner asked the man what he was thinking when he could not pay him his wages or give him any other form of payment and the worker replied that he had assumed the owner had done something better with the wages. The owner knew that his worker had judged him favorably. In the end of the story we see that the worker benefitted more for judging the owner favorably. From this we learn that if we judge others favorably, Hashem will be in our favor.

A perush in Pirkei Avot says that one must judge his teachers and friends favorably in order to receive the most benefit from these relationships. In order to do so one must think about the individual and the individual's personal situation. This individual may have other qualities to compensate for the ones he suffers in. The mishna implies this thought by saying "Havei dan et kol ha'adam lecaf zechut". The literal translation of this saying is "judge the ENTIRE PERSON favorably". When Natan Hanavi went to rebuke Dovid Hamelech, he spoke of two citizens, one wealthy and one poor. The wealthy man owned many cattle while the poor man only owned one small sheep. Then the rich man eventhough he had much cattle, stole the sheep from the poor man. When Dovid Hamelech heard this story he responded by saying "Let the man who did this die," Natan then explained that this was a story parallel to Dovid's own situation. Dovid was the rich man in this story because he took Batsheva from Uriah. The Baal Shem Tov teaches that one who can look at someone else doing exactly what he himself did and pass judgement, only then can he realize what he himself did. "The fashion in which man judges his friend is in reality the way in which he is judged from heaven." This is the reason we are taught to judge everyone favorably because one may be judging himself.

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AMIT schools are more than places of education; they are Batei Chinuch - centers of values education where the students are taught religious commitment, tolerance and Jewish values in an atmosphere of dialogue together with educational excellence. As part of the Beit Chinuch concept, the connection of the students with their community and a love for and commitment to the state and people of Israel are emphasized.