Will You Be Your Own Judge in the Heavenly Court?

'You Are That Man'

The Torah relates how, after David Hamelech (King David) took Batsheva as his wife, the prophet Natan approached the king.

"There were once two men," he said, "one rich and one poor. The rich man had a great many flocks and herds, but the poor man had just one small lamb. This lamb was treasured by his entire family; it grew up alongside his children and it would eat from the father's food, drink from his cup, and sleep in his embrace.

"One day, a traveler arrived at the home of the rich man, who wanted to serve him a meal. Instead of taking an animal from his own flocks and herds, he seized the lamb belonging to the poor man and had it slaughtered and prepared for his guest."

When David Hamelech heard this, he was appalled, and told the prophet, "The man who did that deserves to die, as he had no pity."

Then Natan the prophet told the king: "You are that man."

As Above, So Below

This episode is related in Sefer Shmuel (Samuel II, 12: 1-6). Following these events, David Hamelech took the prophet's words to heart and repented completely.

One of the lessons we can derive from this is that we pronounce judgment upon ourselves, both in this world and the next, although at the time, we may not realize it, because Hashem presents us with a parallel scenario that involves someone else. It is only when we look at things objectively that we realize that what happened was wrong. We may not all have a prophet in our lives to show us the parallel, but we are capable of seeing it for ourselves, if we will only try.

The Talmudic Sages state: "According to the measure a person measures, they will be measured." What this means is that Divine judgment is applied to us in the same way that we have judged others. If we tend to assume the worst of others and put the most negative interpretation possible on their deeds, we in turn will be treated that way.

By contrast, a person who views others with compassion and gives them the benefit of the doubt where possible will in turn be treated mercifully by the Heavenly Court. Those who forgive the people who hurt them become deserving of Heavenly mercy for their own misdeeds.

The Talmud states this clearly: "Whoever overlooks personal wrongs, all their transgressions are overlooked."

We Are Our Own Judges

This idea was also presented by the Baal Shem Tov, who described how we are judged after our passing, based on how we ourselves responded when confronted with people who acted just as we ourselves did. 

Rabbi Yeshayahu Wind writes: "When in Heaven they come to judge a person for a sin he committed, they show him the same act in a different form with another person. If the person is shocked and thinks to himself, 'Look how he behaved; he deserves a severe punishment,' then through this he determines his own judgment. What he thought should be done to his fellow man will be done to him. The verdict he pronounced becomes his own verdict."

Hashem's judgment is true and takes all the circumstances of a person's life into account. Some people are born with a natural tendency to feel compassion; others instinctively judge others negatively. But we can all work to improve on ourselves and endeavor to see the good in others, bringing mercy, forgiveness, and true repentance into the world.