Musar su Esodo 23:1

The fourth: That his ears are always inclined to hear the good. Indeed, a useless or disgraceful report [should] not enter them at all. In the way that no yelling of judgement nor defect of evil speech enters the Highest Listening, so [should] he only listen to goodnesses and beneficial things. And he [should] not listen to the other things that intensify anger at all. And [just] like the snake, his speech and his expression do not enter Above, so [too,] must no disgraceful thing enter to him. And that is [the meaning of, "You shall not raise a false report" (Exodus 23:1) - all the more so, [should] the other disgraceful things not enter his ear at all. And it [should] only listen to good things.

First of all, the episode of the serpent, who spoke lashon hara of the Holy One Blessed be He and thereby brought death to the world. And (Bereshith 29:20): "If G-d will be with me and guard me," concerning which Chazal have said: "if He will guard me against lashon hara." And the episode of Joseph (Ibid. 37:2): "And Joseph brought their evil talk to their father," this being the catalyst of the descent of the Jews to Egypt. And (Shemoth 2:14): "In truth, the thing has become known" (see Rashi there and what we shall write below). There, too, (4:1) Moses our teacher, may peace be upon him, says: "But they will not believe me," and the Blessed L-rd counters (Ibid. 2): "What is this in your hand?" … (3) …and it became a serpent." Also there (6): "And, behold, his hand was leprous as snow." And (Ibid. 17:2): "And the people quarreled with Moses… (7) …over the quarrel of the children of Israel, etc." followed by (8): "And Amalek came and warred with Israel, etc." And (Ibid. 23:1): "You shall not bear a false report, which applies to both the speaker and the receiver [of lashon hara] (as we find in Makkoth 23a), followed by (2): "Do not be after many to do evil." And, in reference to the me'il [the outer robe of the ephod] (Ibid. 28:32): "A border shall there be to its mouth roundabout," and the entire section. And (35): "And its sound will be heard when he comes to the sanctuary, etc." And the entire section of Tazria and Metzora: the plague-spots of houses, the plague-spots of clothing, the plague-spots of men, (Vayikra 13:46): "Solitary shall he sit"— even outside of the camp of Israel. And his atonement— "chirping" birds. And (Ibid. 19:16): "Do not go talebearing among your people," (Ibid. 17): "Reprove, shall you reprove your neighbor, but you shall not bear sin because of him." And (Ibid. 25:17): "You shall not wrong, one man, his fellow," which relates to verbal wronging, which is also in the category of evil speech. And (Bamidbar 5:1): "And they shall send out of the camp every leper"— even if he were as great in Torah as Doeg. And (Ibid. 12:1): "And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, etc." And the entire section of Shelach Lecha, which speaks about the spies. And (Ibid. 21:5): "And the people spoke against G-d and against Moses." And (Devarim 23:10): "When you go out as a camp against your foes, guard yourself against every evil thing [davar ra]," concerning which Chazal have said: "davar ra" may be read as "dibbur ra" [evil speech]. And in Tetze, the "giving out of an evil name [motzi shem ra]," and (Ibid. 24:9): "Remember what the L-rd your G-d did to Miriam, etc." And (Ibid. 27:24): "Cursed be he who smites his friend in secret," which refers to lashon hara. And it is known that all of the "cursings" were preceded by blessings; and they opened with blessing, saying: "Blessed is he who does not smite"— whence we derive that one who is heedful in this is blessed.

And, in truth, how much should the speaker of lashon hara be ashamed of himself because of this. For if he were called up to the Torah and found the verses there to concern the issur of speaking lashon hara (such as Vayikra 19:16: "Do not go talebearing among your people," or Devarim 27:24: "Cursed is he who smites his friend in secret," or Ibid. 24:9: "Remember what the L-rd your G-d did to Miriam," or Shemoth 23:1: "Do not bear a false report," and the like) and the point of a yod were missing in some place, he would refuse to make the blessing on the Torah, saying that the Torah of the L-rd must be perfect, as the Holy One Blessed be He gave it to us, and not defective. He believes, then, in truth, in the Blessed L-rd and in His holy Torah, in all of its letters, but when that subject comes to hand, immediately the verses of the Torah are abandoned by him, and he does not think it a sin at all! Remember, my brother, what we find in Tanna d’bei Eliyahu Rabbah, Chapter 28: "If one recognizes words of Torah and 'passes them by,' he is an absolute evildoer."

“Do not bear a vain report” (Exodus 23:1). We were warned with this not to accept evil speech. And [it is] like the Targum (translation of Onkelos) says, “Do not accept a false report.”

There are some [negative commandments] that are dependent upon the tongue, for which we give lashes. For so did our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, say (Makkot 16a), “All the warnings in the Torah - we do not give lashes for a negative commandment that does not [involve] an action, except for one who makes an oath or curses his fellow with [God’s] name.” And even though there is no death penalty from the court with a vain oath, its punishment at the hands of the Heavens is more weighty than many sins that do have a death penalty from the court. For making an oath in vain profanes [God’s] name - as it is stated (Leviticus 19:12), “You shall not swear falsely by My name, profaning the name of your God” - and the punishment for profaning the name is more elevated than [that of] all of the sins. And it is not written like this about any of the sins besides a false oath and idolatry, as it is stated (Leviticus 20:3), “because he gave of his offspring to Molech and so defiled My sanctuary and profaned My holy name.” And it is stated in the warning about idolatry (Exodus 20:5), “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord, your God, am a jealous God.” [This] means to say, that He will not forgive the iniquity of idolatry in the way of forgiveness for other sins - like the matter that is written (Jeremiah 5:7), “Why should I forgive you; your children have forsaken Me and sworn by no-gods!” And likewise is it written in the warning for a false oath (Exodus 20:7), “for the Lord will not clear one who swears falsely by His name.” And the warning for a false oath is written (immediately) after the warning of idolatry, most certainly because the iniquity of profaning God, may He be blessed, is found under the wings of a false oath. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said regarding the matter of the verse (Proverbs 30:8-9), “Give me neither poverty nor riches, etc. Lest, being sated, I renounce, saying, ‘Who is the Lord,’ or, being impoverished (it is written fully with an aleph, but its meaning is, poor), I take to theft, and profane the name of my God,” that the latter is harsher than the former - as it is stated (Ezekiel 20:39), “As for you, O House of Israel, etc., go, every one of you, and worship his idols and continue, if you will not obey Me; but do not profane My holy name any more.” It is meaning to say that the iniquity of the one who swears falsely in a court is more weighty than the punishment of one who worships idolatry in private, due to the profaning of the name [involved in the former]. And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Shevuot 39a), “For all of the other transgressions in the Torah, punishment is exacted only from the transgressor and his family; whereas here, punishment is exacted from him and from the entire world,” And if the court obligates a man to make an oath but he knows that his mouth speaks falsely (it would be a false oath), it is forbidden to [even] take the oath upon himself, saying, “I will swear” - in order to frighten his fellow - even though he does not plan to swear. For it is stated, (Exodus 20:7), “You shall not bear” - and included in its meaning is not to accept (agree) to swear falsely. And likewise did they, may their memory be blessed, say in our Mekhilta (Mekhilta d’Rabbi Yishmael, Yitro). And the Targum (translation of Onkelos) of, “Do not bear a vain report“ (Exodus 23:1), is “do not accept.” And it is forbidden to make a needless oath, even if he is swearing about the truth, as it is stated (Exodus 20:7), “Do not bear the name of God in vain” - and its Targum is, “for nothing.” And likewise is the iniquity of one who causes his fellow to swear for nothing, great - for example when his fellow owed him a hundred and he doubled it in his claim, in order that the law would come out that one who admits partially is obligated to make a Torah-based oath; or when he claims against his fellow for nothing and asks him for what he knows nothing about and makes him take a [rabbinic] oath of inducement. And our Rabbis said (Shevuot 39a) that this man is called a thief, as he is stealing his mind (deceiving him); and about him is it stated (Zechariah 5:4), “[But] I have sent it forth - declares the Lord of Hosts - and [the curse] shall enter the house of the thief and the house of the one who swears falsely by My name, and it shall lodge inside their houses and shall consume them to the last timber and stone.” And one who knows that if he takes an oath, people will suspect him about [the truth of] the oath, should restrain himself from [taking] the oath for the honor of the Heavens - even though the truth is with him.

And behold this group of slanderers is divided into six sections:
And the first section: When he attributes a blemish to a person and [that person] does not have the blemish. There are times that he will lie against beauty. And behold the heart of this one (has his mouth jump the trait of) [gathers the evil of the traits of] two bad groups - which are the group of the liers and the group of the slanderers. And behold we have been warned by the Torah not to accept evil speech - perhaps it is empty or a false matter - as it is stated (Exodus 23:1), “You must not carry false rumors.” And King Solomon, peace be upon him, said (Proverbs 17:4), “An evildoer listens to bad talk; a lie gives ear to malicious words.” Its explanation is - two groups accept evil speech: The first is is a violent evildoing man - from the usage [in] (Isaiah 9:16), “for all are ungodly and doing evil” - for he suspects the innocent, and loves to find a blemish and guilt about his fellow and a disgrace to his honor. And it will be that when he hears someone saying evil speech about his companion, the violence in his heart brings him to believe that the things are true. And the second group is [that of] the lying man. He also listens and believes malicious talk. Since he does not distance himself from false words, he will not be concerned if he accepts a lie, or if he listens to a false rumor. Hence he will be quick to accept evil speech. [The meaning of] “a lie gives ear,” is like a man of lies. And likewise (Jeremiah 9:5), “You dwell in the midst of deceit,” [means] in the midst of people of deceit; [and also] (Psalms 109:4), “and I am prayer,” [means] a man of prayer.

King Solomon, peace be upon him, also said (Proverbs 26:28), “A lying tongue does a dakav hate.” The explanation is that a humble, contrite and lowly person hates a lying tongue - he will not seek it nor listen to it. For a humble person desires people’s worth, and is pained by their embarrassment and disgrace. The [letter,] vav, is in place of a hay in the root, like the vav, in [the word,] anav. And some explain [the verse as,] someone with a lying tongue will hate those who make him contrite and reprimand him, so he will not bring them more evil slander against people. And behold we have been warned by that which is written (Exodus 23:1), “You must not carry false rumors,” not to believe in our hearts the telling of evil speech - to hold in our thoughts that the things are true, such as to demean in our eyes the one about whom it is spoken.

A man is obligated to hide a secret that is revealed to him confidentially by his fellow, even though there is no matter of talebearing involved in revealing that secret. For there is damage to the holder of the secret [simply] by its being revealed, and it [can cause him] to abort his plan - as it is stated (Proverbs 15:22), “Plans are aborted without a secret.” Secondly - because revealing a secret is even an aberration of the ways of modesty, as he surely violates the will of the holder of the secret. And King Solomon said (Proverbs 20:19), “He who gives away secrets is a talebearer.” He means to say, if you see a man who does not control his spirit, to guard his tongue from revealing a secret - even though there is no issue of talebearing between a man and his friend in revealing that secret - this trait will bring him to go talebearing, which is from the four bad groups, given that his lips are not in his control to guard. He also said (Proverbs 11:13), “A talebearer will reveal secrets.” He means to say, do not confide a secret to someone who goes talebearing. For since he does not guard his lips from talebearing, do not trust him to hide your secret, even though you have given your words over to him in private and in confidentiality. And we have been warned by the Torah not to accept evil speech, as it is stated, (Exodus 23:1), “Do not accept a vain report.” And it is stated (Proverbs 29:12), “A ruler who listens to lies, all his ministers will be evildoers.” And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, explained (Midrash Tehillim 54) that when a ruler accepts evil speech and words of talebearing, his ministers will become evildoers and talebearers to find favor in the eyes of their master. And behold it is these three groups that we mentioned that they, may their memory be blessed, had in mind when they referred to the group of slanderers.

And [this holds true] especially in the area of guarding one's tongue. For if he permits, G-d forbid, his soul to be in the category of speakers of lashon hara in this world, and, as a matter of course, does not prevent his ears, too, from always hearing lashon hara and rechiluth and accepting it, (also, so that he will have later what to talk about; for this is the trait of the talebearer, to go and hear in one place and sell this "merchandise" in another place, as a merchant with his wares [viz. Torath Cohanim and Rashi's commentary on Chumash]), then he will have damaged his faculties of speech and hearing, and will certainly be punished in his soul, correspondingly, in the world to come, in these two faculties themselves, speech and hearing. [This is the language of the GRA (R. Eliyahu of Vilna) on the verse (Mishlei 13:13): "He who neglects a thing will be hurt by it, and the fearer of a mitzvah — he will be complete." "For there are 248 organs in a man, and, corresponding to them, 248 positive commandments. And likewise, every thing derives its vital strength from the mitzvoth. And, therefore, anyone who neglects any matter of mitzvah hurts himself. For he is thereby deprived of the vital strength of that matter. But one who fears forsaking any mitzvah and seeks to fulfill every thing [(of mitzvah)] will be complete in all of his organs."] And we may also say that this is the intent of the verse (Devarim 32:5): "[In the transgressions that they have committed,] they have corrupted [themselves], not Him," [G-d forbid], as it is written [Iyyov 35:6]: "If you have sinned, what have you done to Him." The intent [of the verse in Devarim] is as he [the GRA] explains — that through their sins they become blemished in the end. [see Rashi on "banav mumam" ("His sons, their blemish")]. That is, if any mitzvah becomes expendable in his eyes, G-d forbid, then the organ corresponding to that mitzvah becomes blemished in the end, as we have written in the name of the GRA. For in the issur of speaking lashon hara and rechiluth that he speaks with his mouth he transgresses "You shall not go talebearing among your people," most of which [sin] inheres in the mouth. And in hearing lashon hara and accepting it, he infringes on the transgression of (Shemoth 23:1): "You shall not bear a false report." [viz. Sefer Charedim on the negative commandments dependent on the ears, and what I have copied of his words in Principle X of the Be'er Mayim Chayim.] And it is known that these [(speaking and hearing)] are the major faculties of the "form" of man and of his perfection, even in this world. (This is well known from the ruling of Chazal that a deaf-mute [cheresh], who does not hear and does not speak is [legally] comparable to a shoteh [one who is mentally deficient] and to a minor, in all matters. And, in Bava Kamma 85b: "If one rendered another a cheresh he pays him the [legal] worth of an entire man"; for from now on he is not [legally] worth anything.) How much more so is he (i.e., "the counterpart of mouth and ear") rendered defective (for sins by those organs)] in the world to come. And even if we say that he will not be lacking entirely in these faculties, (for did he not also employ them in his lifetime in words of Torah and holiness?) in any event, they will certainly be defective, for he damaged them while yet living and did not repent. And this is known to all who have understanding — that even in this world, if, G-d forbid, a man's faculty of speech and hearing is impaired, even if — with great effort — he can still speak and hear, this greatly grieves him in his lifetime, and he will be more greatly shamed by this lack than if he were affected, in his other organs; for these are man's prime faculties and he will also not be able to conceal their loss. How much more so, in the higher world — how much will his soul grieve there before the eyes of all! Even if no punishment were inflicted upon the man of lashon hara at all, but only his speech and hearing were impaired, how much shame would he suffer because of this! For there it is known and recognized by all that his speech and hearing impairment there is due to his being a man of lashon hara and strife in this world.

He also diminishes his stature as a human being thereby [(by speaking lashon hara)] until he emerges "worse than a dog," as Chazal have said (Pesachim 118a): "One who speaks lashon hara … deserves to be thrown to the dogs, it being written (Shemoth 23:1): 'You shall not receive a false report,' which is read as you shall not spread, which is preceded by (Ibid. 22:30): '…to the dog shall you throw it.'" The rationale is obvious, as written by the Maharal of Prague: "For the dogs guarded themselves when necessary, from 'sharpening their tongues,' as it is written (Ibid. 11;7): 'And against all the children of Israel, a dog shall not sharpen its tongue' — and he [(a human being)], whom the L-rd accorded understanding and knowledge could not restrain his yetzer from this [(lashon hara)] — wherefore he is 'worse' than a dog."

And, likewise, one who is accustomed to eat unkosher meat or to feed it to a Jew. And this is intimated in the Torah, it being written (Shemoth 23:1): "And men of holiness shall you be to Me, and flesh torn in the field you shall not eat. To the dog shall you throw it," after which it is written (Ibid. 23:1): "You shall not spread a false report." It emerges, then, that the verse of "To the dog shall you throw it" is found between these two sins — eating treifah [torn flesh] and speaking lashon hara, to teach us that for these two sins, a man may be reincarnated as a dog. And this is what King David, may peace be upon him, intimated in (Psalms 22:21): "Rescue from the sword, my soul; [rescue] from the dog, my soul," followed by "I will speak Your name to my brothers, etc." That is, I do not use my tongue to speak lashon hara, to be punished therefor by this dreadful reincarnation, but I use it to praise You and to exhort Israel, that they should fear You and praise You. And know that the Kabbalists have said that even though when a man is reincarnated in the form of another man he is unaware of his prior state, still when he is reincarnated as an animal or as a bird, he is aware of his prior state and suffers terribly at having descended from heaven from the form of a man to the form of a beast. Therefore, every man should fear and tremble and be soft of heart while he yet lives, while he yet has free will and knows his G-d, so that He forgives his sins and removes His wrath from him. And when his soul leaves him he will rest in peace and repose in His shade in Gan Eden. For He is gracious and merciful and abundant in lovingkindness. And (Berachoth 34b): "In the place where penitents stand, absolute Tzaddikim cannot stand." Until here, the words of the Sefer Charedim, in short.

(Ibid. 17): "For I heard them [the brothers] saying: 'Let us go to Dothan [nelchah dotainah],' which Rashi interprets: 'to seek against you nichlei datoth [legal devices (suggested by 'nelchah dothainah')] to kill you with." The explanation: It was decided by them that Joseph was a man of lashon hara, who provoked their father to hate them. And who knows how much contention he would stir up among them? They, therefore, sought some pretext to rid themselves of him in a way which would not make them "murderers" legally. As far as his being killed indirectly through them, this did not concern them. And as to their saying (Ibid. 60): "Let us go and kill him," this was meant in the same indirect sense. As stated in the well known Gemara, Makkoth 23a): "If one speaks lashon hara, he is fit to be cast to the dogs, it being written (Shemoth 23:1): 'You shall not bear a false report,' preceded by (Ibid. 22:39): 'To the dog shall you cast it.'" And we find in the Gemara (Bava Kamma 24b): "If one sicked a dog against someone, he is not guilty [of murder]." And even though by the law of Heaven, he is certainly liable for "indirection," too, they thought that in this instance they would not be liable by the law of Heaven because Joseph was a man of lashon hara and contention.

And know further that one who desires to merit the quality of peace must guard himself also against the accepting of lashon hara and rechiluth. For aside from the punishment itself (Chazal having said (Pesachim 118a): "If one accepts lashon hara, he is fit to be thrown to the dogs, it being written (Shemoth 23:1): 'Do not bear a false report,' preceded by (Ibid. 22:30): 'To the dog shall you throw it'"), one further comes through it to vain hatred, quarrels, and contention. For since he accepts the thing at the outset as true, that Ploni spoke against him or did this and this to him, it is almost impossible for him afterwards not to cause his friend suffering or to quarrel with him because of this. And in the end, this results in their becoming great foes, each one wanting to "swallow the other's blood," and rejoicing in his misfortune. And all of this resulted from acceptance, his acceptance of the speaker's words at the outset as absolute truth. If he had followed the way of the Torah, he would not have come to this. For when someone comes to him and tells him what Ploni did or said to him, he should have thought: Perhaps the thing is an outright lie, or perhaps he added something that changed the complexion of the thing entirely. Or even if he added nothing, perhaps he did not relate the entire thing as it was, but left out several words. Or perhaps he varied his intonation, and thereby entirely changed things. Or perhaps he should have thought of something in defense of the one spoken of, that he did what he did unwittingly, or the like. And [if he had proceeded thus], as a matter of course, things would not have come to quarreling and contention and vain hatred.

(Ibid. 23:1): "Do not receive a false report," concerning which our sages have said (Pesachim 118a): "All who speak lashon hara deserve to be cast to the dogs, it being written 'Do not receive [tissa] a false report,' which may also be read 'Do not spread [tassi] a false report.' And this is preceded by (22:30): 'To the dog shall you throw it [which can also be read "him"].'" This is easily understood. For it is the way of the dog always to bark and sometimes even to bite one who walks by him, even if he does so "innocently." So is it the way of the man of lashon hara to harm everyone with his "bark." He finds fault with all men and shames them. It is only fit, then, that he be cast before the dogs and that they affright and bite him, "measure for measure."

And see further that from his cleansing we can reflect upon the greatness of his sin. For Scripture required the Cohein to place what remained of the oil on his palm or on the head of the one to be cleansed, something that we find in no other place. And this, because he must also have sinned in the acceptance of lashon hara. And the issur of the acceptance of lashon hara stems from his believing the lashon hara absolutely in his mind, whereby he transgresses the negative commandment of (Shemoth 23a): "You shall not bear a false report," as we explained in Chafetz Chaim, in the name of the Rishonim. If so, his mind is full of blemishes and faults vis-à-vis many men, wherefore the Torah required him to cleanse his head, so that henceforward he will follow this path no more and will judge every man in the scales of merit.

לא תשא שמע שוא. A judge must not listen to the arguments of one litigant when his opposite number is absent. Rabbi Menachem Habavli writes that we may view the body and the soul as two litigants before the judge, i.e. G–d. As long as they both approach G–d simultaneously, G–d judges them. If, however, the body has already died, become decomposed, etc., the sinner, i.e the soul, remains a litigant who cannot be dealt with since his partner in crime is missing. This is why the Torah has to say elsewhere וכפר אדמתו עמו, (Deut 32,41) that the red looking body i.e. אדמדם (while full of blood) is the other litigant. If it has departed there is nothing else for the soul to do but return to its origin, the place below G–d's throne.

Gossips may be divided into six categories. The first is he who speaks evil of people and says, "Thus did they do," when in fact they did not do so, and at times he will slander an honorable and innocent person — in which case he is both a liar and a gossip. And we have been warned by the Torah not to accept gossip because it may be false, as it is said, "Thou shalt not utter a false report" (Ex. 23:1). And one who speaks gossip, will also be quick to accept gossip. And you should know that if one who hears gossip endorses what he has heard, then he is just as guilty as the gossiper. For all who hear that he agreed, will say, "Since he endorses it, it must be true." And even if he does not agree, but simply listens intently to the words, and appears to believe them, in the presence of people, he causes others to believe them too, and thus he helps the gossiper. For if he were to scold the gossiper, then he might restrain him from telling more, but since he pays attention and shows that he is interested, he causes him to speak even more gossip. And, behold, we have been warned by the verse, "Thou shalt not utter a false report" that we should not believe a gossip story in our hearts, for this would leave a strong imprint in our thoughts that the words are true and cause us to despise the object of the gossip.

And now we shall speak about the faculty of hearing. Hearing, in itself, is good, as it is written (Isaiah 55:3): "Hear, and let your souls live." And (Mishlei 15:31): "The ear that hears the reproof of life, in the midst of the wise will it reside." And hearing works on a man to cause him to satisfy [an obligation] by hearing as if he had performed it himself. A proof may be adduced from the reading of the Megillah, the blowing of the shofar, and other such things, such as [the recitation of] Kiddush and the grace over meals, where one makes the blessing and all the listeners satisfy the obligation. Similarly, all of the receiving of the Torah was through hearing. All this, for good things. The reverse is true for bad things, G-d forbid. Hearing [bad things] also greatly affects a man's soul. It is well known what our sages of blessed memory have said (Kethuvoth 5b): "The Rabbis taught: 'Let a man not allow idle speech to be heard by his ears, for they are the first of the organs to be "burnt."'" How much more so [does this apply] to one who intends to cause rechiluth to be heard by his ears, this being proscribed by a negative commandment in the Torah, viz. (Shemoth 23:1): "You shall not bear a false report," or to one who hears, with intent, lashon hara and other forbidden things, or frivolous speech or leitzanuth (levity), in which instance his sin is too great to bear. And our sages of blessed memory have said about the scoffer (Avodah Zarah 18b) that suffering comes upon him, as it is written (Isaiah 28:22): "Do not scoff, lest your bonds be strengthened." And they have also said (Shabbath 33a): "Even he who listens [to obscenity] and remains silent [is condemned], it being written (Mishlei 22:14): 'The abhorred of the L-rd will abide there' [next to the speaker of obscenity.]"

The צרור המור however, makes G–d the subject, i.e. the litigant really comes to G–d, as if Moses had said "when a matter needs to be judged by G–d, the litigant comes to me (Moses) to present his arguments. When that happens, I do not listen to him, but wait until the other litigant, his opponent, is also present." This is independently confirmed in Deut. 1,16. Our Rabbis have warned insistently that judges must not hear an argument unless both sides are present; they even ruled that failure to observe this rule is equivalent to violating the commandment "לא תשא שמע שוא" (Exodus 23,1). This is the reason why the first verse in our Parshah states תשים לפניהם, "place before them." Furthermore, Moses told Yitro (18,16) that even if a similar problem as that which is now בא אלי, had been judged by him on a previous occasion, he would not simply use that precedent to hand down an identical verdict, but would consider this case on its own merits, i.e. ושפטתי בין איש ובין רעהו, because no two cases can be entirely alike. The judge must consider the respective personalities of the litigants. This too is the meaning of אשר תשים לפניהם. Another possible meaning of the word לפניהם could be that the matter should be judged forthwith, the judge should not say that he will deal with it when he gets around to it in his own good time.