RABBI DR. ABRAHAM TWERSKI (Aish.com)
It happened as he [Moshe] drew near the camp and saw the calf and the dances, that Moshe’s anger flared up. He threw down the Tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. (32:19)
There is a remarkable Midrash which states that when G-d said to Moshe, “Go, descend – for your people that you brought up from Egypt have become corrupt,” Moshe held on to the Tablets and did not believe that the Israelites had sinned. He said, “If I do not see it, I do not believe it,” for the Torah says, “It happened as he [Moshe] drew near the camp and saw the calf and the dances,” hence, he did not break the Tablets until he saw it with his own eyes.
The Midrash continues, “Woe unto those people who testify to what they did not see. Is it possible that Moshe did not believe it when G-d said to him, `your people have become corrupt?' But Moshe wished to teach the Israelites proper behavior. Even if one hears something critical from a trustworthy person, one is not permitted to accept his word and take action on it if he does not see it himself” (Shemos Rabbah 46:1).
The Midrash seems to say that Moshe did in fact believe G-d, but that he acted as if he did not in order to set an example for the people. However, the Midrash earlier is very clear: “Moshe held on to the Tablets and did not believe that the Israelites had sinned. He said, `If I do not see it, I do not believe it.'”
The resolution of this apparent contradiction is that Moshe did not believe G-d because he knew that G-d did not wish that he believe Him. Moshe knew that G-d desires only what is proper, and inasmuch as it is proper not to believe anything negative about others unless one sees it oneself, G-d did not want Moshe to believe Him. Moshe did not act “as if.” His example and teaching were factual.
We find a similar incident when G-d told Moshe to go to Egypt to deliver the Israelites from their enslavement. Moshe said, “I must first ask permission from my father-in-law, Jethro” (Rashi, Shmot 4:18). How dare he refuse to follow G-d's command until he received Jethro's permission? Rabbi Chaim Shmulevits explains that Moshe understood G-d's will, that inasmuch as Jethro was hospitable to him when he fled from Pharaoh, G-d would not want him to depart without seeking his permission.
The Torah forbids speaking lashon hara (defamatory speech) and rechilus (talebearing). The Chafetz Chaim says that one who accepts lashon hara or talebearing is as sinful as the one who spreads them. In fact, even when one does see an apparent wrongdoing with one's own eyes, one should still give the person the benefit of doubt and assume that there must be compelling reasons for the person's action (Ethics of the Fathers 1:6).
If we observe Hillel's principle, “Do not do anything to others that you would not want done to you,” we can avoid both speaking and listening to lashon hara and talebearing.
