Sometimes
the questions can be uncomfortable to answer publicly since they can force a
person to make an appraisal of a facet of his or her personality that might
preferably be concealed.
In Avot
1:18 Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: “The world stands on three things: on justice,
on truth and on peace”, citing a verse from Zechariah in support of this proposition.
Most people treat this teaching within the context of the administration of
justice. After all, much of the first perek of Avot is devoted to that topic
and the three things featured in this mishnah—justice, truth and peace—relate
to either the functioning of the court system or the objective it seeks to
achieve. One of the Dee Project questions goes beyond this, asking:
“When in your life do you sometimes choose to focus on some details
because it’s easier than accepting the whole truth, the אֶמֶת?”
This
question may not be demanded as a way of understanding Rabban Shimon ben
Gamliel’s teaching since it personalises concepts which he lists in the
abstract and focuses on how we react to them in the real world. However, it is
demanded of us all as we approach the Days of Awe and ask ourselves whether we
acknowledge two versions of truth: the genuine and absolute truth and ‘truth
lite’, a convenience product that is easy to apply, wipes our conduct clean and
leaves no nasty marks behind.
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