In Parshat Pikudei there is discussion of a discrepancy in Moshe Rabbeinu’s tally of the silver collected for the Mishkan. This discrepancy greatly aggrieves Moshe – until he realizes that he forgot to include in his accounting the “vavim,” the clasps that were used to fasten the amudim, the supports that held the sides in place. Moshe is rightly referred to as a “gizbar ne’eman,” an honest treasurer who would not rest until he could explain where and for what purpose the donated amounts were used. (See the Gemara in Bechorot 5a and the related discussion found in the commentary of the Torah Temimah on Shemot 38:26)
So why must scientists lie in order to make news? And why must a seasoned news anchor conflate the facts for special effect when the news has enough drama to draw in viewers? While the rabbis in the Babylonian Talmud speak of those who “acquire their place in eternity” with one brief act of goodness and grace, the opposite is tragically true as well.
I am not advocating for a world of perfection, as life is not rehearsed and can only be played out in real time. We do not walk on velvet and I have long decried many of the “zero tolerance” policies that wound and mar the lives of too many essentially good people who have unintentionally erred. The mistakes we should rue are those that come not from a slip or unintended slight but from awareness and premeditation.
Were there more Mings and Mannys – more who aspire to follow the lead of Moshe Rabbeinu, mindful of the need for honest weights and measures and loath to place a stumbling block before the less informed and unsuspecting – perhaps some would look more closely into the camera while others would rather perish than publish bad science.