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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The following two comments
are a great illustration of the “black and white” philosophy, the
first statement, and the “shades of gray” philosophy, the second
statement.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText style='margin-top:12.0pt'>1) You have two choices.
Either it's a fact, or he was a liar...<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>2) Or he was mistaken. Or words were attributed to
him that he never said.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText>Or, he said "as if", and his talmidim missed
those two words in the retelling. Or...<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>I’ve always had a problem
with the “either black or white” philosophy which borders on seeing
things as being too simplistic. Life is much too complex and therefore it appears
the safer approach is the “shades of gray” philosophy. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>We’ve all heard about: “your
version”, “his version” and the truth lies somewhere in
between. Obviously, that’s an oversimplification also. But to say one is
either telling the truth or is a liar can be quite inaccurate and unfair. We
all have perceptions, and just because my perception is different from yours,
does not mean that one of us is right and the other wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Back to eilu v’eilu.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Kol tuv/Best regards,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>ri<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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