The Other Side of the Story - Shabbos Connection « Ohr Somayach

The Other Side of the Story - Shabbos Connection

Become a Supporter Library Library

The Other Side of the Story - Giving People the Benefit of the Doubt

Shabbos Connection

I have a friend on the Internet who is a recent ba'al teshuva (newly observant of Judaism). I live in Israel and he in the United States. One motzei Shabbat here, I went on-line. To my astonishment, I see my friend also on-line, when in the U.S. it was still Shabbat, and logs off after a moment. (I have him on my buddy list.) Now I said to myself, what zechut (positive judgment) could I give him? Perhaps he was in Europe now? (It happened once before, and I found out afterwards that he had been in France where it wasn't Shabbat anymore.) I didn't think so. Perhaps, he forgot that it was Shabbat now? That didn't seem good either, since I knew him to be a ba'al teshuva for some time now, and that couldn't have happened.

Two days later I see him again on-line, and I ask him, "Were you on-line this past motzei Shabbat by any chance?" He says, "I don't think so." I tell him "I think I saw your screen name signed on when it was still Shabbat by you." So he tells me "Oh, that was a relative. She's not religious and since she doesn't have her own screen name she was using mine."


The Other Side of the Story Archives


Based on "The Other Side of the Story" by Mrs. Yehudis Samet, ArtScroll Series

Do you have a story to share?

Were you in a situation where there was the potential to misjudge a person, but there really was a valid explanation? Has a friend or a relative ever told you how they were in such a situation?

Share you stories with us for inclusion in future columns of The Other Side of the Story.

To submit your story, send it to [email protected]. (To insure proper handling, put "Other Side" in the subject line of your message).


Subscribe to The Other Side of the Story via PointCast


The Ohr Somayach Home Page is hosted by TeamGenesis
vj_bar.gif (1798 bytes)

Copyright � 1999 Ohr Somayach International. Send us feedback.
Ohr Somayach International is a 501c3 not-for-profit corporation (letter on file) EIN 13-3503155 and your donation is tax deductable.