“Be slow and cautious to judge” (Avos 1:1)
Rav Ovadia Yosef used to illustrate our Mishna using the following story:
A merchant approached Rav Eliyohu Chaim Meisel of Lodz and complained, “I came from Lomza to conduct business here in Lodz and stayed at a local inn. When I headed to the train station, I realized that I had forgotten my wallet and watch back at my hotel room under my pillow. However, when I came back to the hotel, the proprietor claimed he did not find them. Rav, I know I left them under my pillow – what am I to do?”
Rav Eliyohu Chaim knew that the innkeeper was untrustworthy when it came to money matters, and that his reputation was none too good. He called him in and presented the arguments and accusations of the visiting merchant, but the innkeeper stood his ground and emphatically declared his honesty. Taking out his silver snuffbox and taking a pinch, he declared, “Rav, I tell you he made a mistake. I didn’t find any wallet or watch in his room.”
“May I have a pinch of snuff?” asked the Rav.
“Of course,” agreed the innkeeper.
As the Rav took the silver snuffbox and began to take snuff, he asked the two litigants two wait outside while he deliberated, and he called in his attendant. “Quick, hurry down to the inn, give the innkeeper’s wife this silver snuffbox and say, “Your husband asked me to pick up the watch and the wallet he found in the room. Here is his silver snuffbox as proof that he sent me.”
The attendant ran off to fulfill his errand and soon came back with the watch and the wallet. Rav Eliyohu Chaim called in the merchant and asked for identifying simonim on the watch, how much money was in the wallet and in what denominations. He then returned them to their rightful owner, called in the innkeeper, returned his snuffbox and sent him home. (Anaf Etz Avos p. 4)
