And the judges shall inquire thoroughly, and behold, the witness is a false witness; he has testified falsely against his brother; then you shall do to him as he plotted to do to his brother, and you shall abolish evil from among you. And those who remain shall listen and fear, and they shall no longer continue to commit any such evil thing among you. (Devarim 19:18-20)

This is a fascinating law in the Torah. Witnesses who give testimony can have the results they were aiming at the defendant boomerang back at them. Whatever punishment that was aimed at the convict will be enacted upon them.

If they were trying to get him to pay a million dollars then they must pay and if they were trying to deliver him to a death penalty then they are put to death. It’s really an amazing feature of Torah justice but not surprising to anyone who is slightly familiar with the way HASHEM runs the world.

The Talmud (Sota 8b) spells out a simple formula that explains many phenomena in the world of human interaction. It states, “With the measurement that a person measures with, so he will be measured.” This helps explain a troubling line in Pirke Avos where it says, “know before Whom you will give judgment and accounting”.

The question is asked, “Are we the ones to give the judgment?” I can understand that we give an accounting, but how are we the ones rendering the judgment!? The answer is that the final judgment is heavily impacted by how we judge others.

If we witness, even our own behavior in the abstract, unaware that we the ones in the center of the trial, we will give a final verdict based on the habits of judgment we developed and employed upon others during our lifetime. If we were extra strict and harsh with others then we can expect the same fate. However, if we were tolerant and understanding of others then that will be our saving grace. Perhaps that is why the Mishne in Avos wisely advises, “judge every person to the side of merit”. Not bad advice!

The Baal Shem Tov pointed this out in a familiar verse from Tehillim (121) “HASHEM TZILCHA” – “HASHEM is your shadow”. HASHEM is like a mirror and life is very much a self-portrait. The story is told about a Russian peasant farmer who had never left the small and parochial surroundings of his town. He had occasion to come to the big city of Moscow. He arrived at the elegant hotel with mud on his boots and overalls, looking completely disheveled. The man at the desk assigned him to a room on the top floor and treated him as any other paying customer.

With key in hand, he started the long climb to the hotel room. On the first landing there was a full-length mirror. The man, who had never seen himself before, was suddenly startled and frightened by the imposing image before him. He growled and barked to scare him away only to find that the image in the mirror threatened and shouted back the same. He ran to the next floor and confronted the fearsome giant, again exchanging harsh looks, and almost coming to blows. On the third floor they stood nose to nose and exchanged simultaneous insults as a deepening war-like attitude was taking root in ‘both of them’.

Realizing that he could not escape this ugly beast-like fellow who was aggressively stalking him in the hotel, he ran quickly back to the lobby and the front desk to file a complaint. After having been given a detailed description of the perpetrator, the man at the desk understood that he had met the enemy and it was the man in the mirror.

So as to save the face of his guest and to disengage the hostility he offered simple advice. “The fellow whom you confronted is here to protect people. He is really quite harmless. Trust me. If you will show him a harsh and angry countenance, he will do the same. However, if when you see him, you just smile pleasantly and continue on your way he will nod and smile at you as well. Enjoy the rest of your stay.” That’s what he did and perhaps not so remarkably it worked. At the risk of oversimplifying, if we smile at HASHEM and the people around us, life will then smile back at us!