This post is based on a sermon I delivered to my congregation, Temple Sholom in Vancouver BC Canada on May 15, 2026

Once an error enters, it stays

More than 1,700 years ago, the rabbis of the Talmud debated an educational question that now feels startlingly modern: Is it better to have a teacher who covers a great deal of material but occasionally makes mistakes, or one who moves more slowly and carefully?

The answer given by one rabbi was blunt: choose the careful teacher. Once an error enters the mind, he warned, it tends to stay there.

That insight should haunt anyone involved in modern media.

Last week, many readers encountered a New York Times opinion piece by Nicholas Kristof alleging widespread sexual violence by Israelis against Palestinians. The article relied heavily on allegations gathered through interviews facilitated by an NGO linked to Hamas governance structures in Gaza.

At almost the same moment, an independent commission in Israel released a deeply researched 300-page report documenting the sexual crimes committed by Hamas on Oct. 7 and against hostages held in Gaza.

The contrast between the two documents was difficult to ignore.

One was a journalistic opinion essay built largely around 14 interviews and inflammatory allegations that........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)