Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein discusses in Chashukei Chemed, Arakhin 15a the following question, which for the sake of ease, I more or less translated with the help of an artificial intelligence program ChatGPT. The translation isn’t perfect but good enough for the message being promoted.
Question: A community wishes to choose a prayer leader (Shatz) for Yom Kippur, and they have two candidates before them. One is an outstanding Torah scholar who fears Heaven, and the other is a respectable Torah scholar who regularly sets time for Torah study and is a person of good deeds, but not as distinguished in Torah knowledge as the first. However, the second candidate has a significant merit: he excels in speaking favorably of Israel and always finds virtues and merits in every Jew. Who should be chosen?
Gabriel (Gavriel)
Answer: This question was discussed in Chashukei Chemed on Yoma (page 77a), and we brought the Gemara there which states that the angel Gabriel was returned to his place because he spoke favorably of Israel. As it is written there, “Rav Huna said before the Holy One, Blessed Be He, ‘If all the wise men of the nations of the world were on one side of the scale, and Daniel, the man of desirable qualities, was on the other side, would he not outweigh them all?’ The Holy One, Blessed Be He, said, ‘Who is the one who speaks favorably of My children?’ They answered, ‘Gabriel.’ He said, ‘Let him come, as it is written, ‘I have come because of your words.'” From here we learn that it is a great merit to speak favorably of Israel.
Gideon (Gidon)
We also find that Gideon was appointed as a judge in Israel because he spoke favorably of all Israel, as it says, “And the Lord turned to him and said, ‘Go in this strength of yours, and you will save Israel from the hand of Midian. Did I not send you?'” (Judges 6:14), and Rashi explains that this refers to the merit of speaking favorably about Israel.
Moses (Moshe)
Furthermore, in Midrash Rabbah (Exodus 43:2, “D’var Acher”), it is written that Moses was called a wise man because he spoke favorably of Israel and appeased the Holy One, Blessed Be He. This is exemplified when the people sinned, and God’s anger rose, sending destroying angels to harm Israel. But Moses interceded and spoke favorably of them, which softened God’s anger.
Ahimaaz, son of Zadok (Achimaatz son of Tzadok in II Samuel Chapter 18)
It is also stated in Yalkut Shimoni (Samuel II, Remez 1033), where Rabbi Acha says, “We find that anyone who speaks favorably about Israel is exalted by the Holy One, Blessed Be He.” This is illustrated by the example of Ahimaaz, son of Zadok, who brought news of peace about Absalom and was rewarded with great honor for speaking favorably, even when he did not speak either good or bad about the king’s son. The implication is clear: someone who defends the children of the Almighty, how much more so will they be exalted.
It is possible that this idea is included in the words of the Mishnah Berurah (Orach Chaim 581:9), which writes that the community should choose leaders and officials who understand the suffering of the generation, and specifically those who are trustworthy and defend the generation. This may refer to leaders who are capable of defending the Jewish people, protecting them from accusations and harsh judgments.
This ChatGPT translation captures the essence of the original text, which discusses the value of speaking favorably about Israel and how this merit should be considered when choosing a prayer leader for Yom Kippur.
Appendix: Excerpt from the post – The Truth is that Rashi Did Not Believe Hashem Has a Body!
Translation of Rambam’s commentary to Ethics of the Fathers, chapter 1, Mishna 6 :
One should judge all of the person favorably. Its subject is when there is a person whom you do not know about him if he is righteous or if he is wicked and you see him doing an act or saying something and if you interpret it one way it will be good and if you interpret in another way it will be bad – [in this case,] take it to the good and do not think bad about it. But if the man is known to be famously righteous and of good deeds; and an action of his is seen that all of its aspects indicate that it is a bad deed and a person can only determine it to be good with great stretching and a distant possibility, it is fit that you take it that it is good, since there is some aspect of a possibility that it is good. And it is not permissible for you to suspect him; and about this did they say (Shabbat 97a), “The body of anyone who suspects proper ones will be struck.” And so [too] when it is an evildoer and his deeds are famous, and afterwards we see him that he does a deed, all of the indications about which are that it is good but there is an aspect of a distant possibility that it is bad; it is fit to guard oneself from him and not to believe that it is good, since there is a possibility for the bad. And about this is it stated (Proverbs 26:25), (Also) “Though he be fair-spoken do not trust him, etc.” {end of quote}
Appendix 2: Permissible Lashon Hara
Press here to read: “What is the source of the Chofetz Chaim’s ‘heteir lashon hara l’toelet,’ that it is sometimes permissible to speak negatively about another in order to prevent a loss?” at https://darchenoam.org/
Appendix 3: To Believe or Not Believe
“In regard to lashon hara (slanderous report) one should not accept what he hears as true but he nevertheless should take caution lest it be true.”
This important advice from our Talmudic Sages is the key to solving a mystery in the prophecy of Yirmiyahu.
“The pit into which Yishmael had cast the corpses of the people who were murdered by the hand of Gedaliah….” (Yirmiyahu41:9)
Earlier in that very chapter we learn that Gedaliah, who was appointed head of the Jewish community that remained in Eretz Yisrael, was assassinated by Yishmael. Yishmael subsequently murdered a large band of pilgrims from various parts of Israel and cast their bodies into a common grave. Why then is Gedaliah himself identified as the murderer?
The answer lies in the fact that Yochanan ben Karech had warned Gedaliah that Yishmael had been hired to assassinate him and requested permission to take preemptive action against him. Gedaliah’s response was that this could not be true and he took no precautions to protect himself. It was his failure to take caution while disbelieving which eventually led to the death of those buried in that pit.
Quoted from https://ohr.edu/explore_judaism/daf_yomi/talmudigest/5227 based on Talmud, Nida 61a