To their credit, some media outlets apologised and retracted. Others, in a bid to save-face and salvage their pride and integrity, revised their reports to state that the facts remain unclear and are subject to dispute.
Either way, it was too late. The damage to Israel’s reputation had been done. The protests and global anti-semitism had been unleashed and could not be quelled and those who were just looking for a pretext for their hatred of Israel and Jews, continued to argue that it was still Israel’s fault.
Media is incredibly powerful and not just in shaping people’s opinions. Their headlines can lead to violence, bloodshed and even war. In rushing to condemn Israel, the media was completely dangerous and recklessly irresponsible.
Before destroying the cities of Sodom and Amora. Hashem says ארדה נא ואראה הכצעקתה הבאה אלי עשו כלה, “I will descend and see; if they have acted in accordance with the outcry that has come to Me - then destruction”. These were the cries of oppression and evil that arose from Sodom.
The commentaries are perplexed. Hashem is all-knowing. Before Him, “everything is revealed and known”. Why did He need to descend to see the truth of the outcry that came before Him?
The truth is that Hashem did not need to descend and see. He was teaching us a lesson.
Rashi explains that from this verse, our sages teach that a judge in a capital case may not rule on the case without first seeing. The intent is not that the judges have to literally witness the crime - that it the role of witnesses. It means that the judges cannot just rely on testimony or hearsay, without thoroughly investigating and questioning the witnesses to discover the truth, before issuing their ruling.
It is very easy to criticise the media outlets for failing to adhere to our sages’ sound advice. But how often do we do the exact same thing?
We hear the cries of Lashon Hara, gossip and rumours about others that come before us and are quick to accept the reports as truth. In the importance of public awareness, we have to share the “headline reports” with our families, friends and acquaintances in conversation and across social media.
On a subtler level, we interpret things that we see about others or form judgments from our interactions with them based on our own subjectivity-bias. Instead of being Dan Lekaf Zechus, we rush to presume the worst and are hasty to condemn.
Do we stop to first question the truth of the reports that we here and the authenticity of where they are coming from? Do we seek to be sure of our conclusions before sharing them with others or making our own judgments based on them? Would we stand up to the same scrutiny that we subject the media and standard of integrity that we expect from them?
The message of the Parsha is as relevant to us as they are to CNN, BBC and ABC. We can’t expect much better from the media who are known for sensationalism and are unlikely to change their ways. But we can certainly demand higher standards of honesty, ethics and integrity from ourselves in our personal interactions and in our communities.
If this is how Hashem responded to the cries about the people of Sodom whom the Torah describes as being exceedingly wicked and sinful, certainly we can do the same in our relationships and interactions with others, even if it is simply because it his how we would want others to treat us.
