In this week’s Torah portion Shelakh Lekha an anonymous man violated Shabbat by gathering wood. (Numbers 15:32-35 ) In rabbinic literature he is known as the mekoshesh etzim, מקשש עצים. The Gemara in massekhet Shabbat presents three suggestions of the specific av melakhah, category of work, he violated. 1, He carried the wood four amot in the public domain; 2, He detached the tree from the ground; 3. He gathered the wood together. Rabbi Akiva’s identification of this anonymous person as Zelophehad is troublesome (See how his famous daughters challenged the patriarchy and won in Numbers 27:1-11). Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira chastises him for this identification.
“Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira said to him: Akiva, in either case you will be judged in the future for this teaching. If the truth is in accordance with your statement that the wood gatherer was Zelophehad, the Torah concealed his identity, and you reveal it. And if it the truth is not in accordance with your statement, you are unjustly slandering that righteous man.” (TB Shabbat 97, Sefaria.org translation) Rabbi Yehuda ben Beteira’s chastisement teaches a very important and needed moral lesson for our time as well. One should never suspect the innocent person of indiscretion and falsely accuse him.
In Shakespeare's Othello, Iago famously declares, "He that filches from me my good name / Robs me of that which not enriches him / And makes me poor indeed." For centuries, this sentiment has resonated because a person's reputation—their good name—is the culmination of a lifetime of honesty, hard work, and moral choices. It is a currency built on trust. However, this priceless asset is terrifyingly fragile. When an innocent person is targeted by false allegations, the loss of their good name can be swift, devastating, and nearly impossible to fully repair
Why are we more willing to believe a person misbehaving than giving him the benefit of the doubt? Why do people accept as true undeniably false conspiracy theories? Rabbi Zelig Pliskin in his book Begin Again Now provides a method to “focus on the virtues of all the people you meet and honor them for those virtues. Master the habit of speaking well of everyone and everything you can. Train yourself to notice even the slightest good qualities and virtues. Keep asking yourself, ‘What positive qualities do I see in this person?’” (Page 279)
Don’t accept at face value all the rumors swirling
around an innocent person. Until proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt,
continue to look for the good in the person
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