beureself

Some people don’t seem to realize that dan l’kaf zechus does not mean giving the benefit of the doubt based on what each individual person thinks are the true facts behind the story. It means giving the benefit of the doubt regardless of whether you know the reasons or not. There can be so many facts to this story (and other stories) that we don’t know about, and maybe we’ll never know about, and if we would know them we would judge the people involved favorably. We have to believe that these people are innocent because of the mitzvah of dan l’kaf zechus and not because WE decided they are not guilty. Only Hashem is the true Judge.