בריך רחמנא דסעיין לי מריש ועד סוף
Shalom Aleichem! One of the deepest aspects of Elul, Selichos, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and indeed the entirety of Tishrei is the reality of true Jewish unity, one which happens regardless of whether or not we are shomer shabbos, shomer kashrus, and shomer taharas hamishpocha… whether or not we are spiritually healthy, clean, and pure, or soiled, dirty, or, chas v’shalom, sick - and how much moreso those who are skirting the line between life and death every day of their lives. In Selichos we find many psukim which are normally written in singular (יהיו לרצון אמרי פי) and express them in plural (יהיו לרצון אמרי פינו) to indicate our unity with each other as we stand before Hashem.
This is expressed especially through the most sensitive times of Tishrei, on Rosh Hashana (where we beseech Hashem to accept OUR prayers in musaf), and on Yom Kippur (where we begin the entire davening by night with the words “with the permission of the heavenly court and the earthly court, we are henceforth allowed to pray alongside the transgressors”). It stands to reason that when it comes to anyone who is Jewish - either halachically Jewish by birth, or one who went through a proper orthodox conversion - it is more important than any other time of the year to judge them favorably and assume the best in them. Part of this may be assuming that a Jew who does not keep Torah simply was never taught how to fulfill aspects of the Torah, or that they never had the opportunity to learn (that they’re a tinuk shenishbe), and part of that may be assuming that they’ve gone through some trauma in their lives, or personal challenges that they are having difficulty overcoming, and that if we were in their situation, we may not do differently than they are.
This is expressed to the extreme in one of my favorite halachos (that I’ve come across so far), in Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 139:1). This section of Shulchan Aruch is the beginning of the laws concerning idolatry, and the extent of the prohibition thereof, and it begins by discussing the difference between idolatry that belongs to a Jew, and that which belongs to a non-Jew:
Idolatry that belongs to a non-Jew is presumed prohibited to benefit or use from the point that it comes into their hands (or from the point that they make it, even though they have yet to bow down to it), but if they break it into pieces (and it’s no longer fit to worship), a Jew can benefit from the pieces.
By contrast, idolatry that belongs to a Jew does not become prohibited to benefit from until they bow down to it (or commit any other act of idolatry that constitutes serving the idol), but once it has become prohibited, the materials will never become permitted to benefit from for a Jew - even if it has been broken - and must be disposed of in a permanent manner (such as dropping them off a boat in the middle of the sea, or burning them, and scattering the ashes in a place where they won’t benefit anyone).
The beautiful limud zchuss is in two essential parts as follows:
1) The Turei Zahav mentions that while in most cases, a Yehudi Mumar (a rebelling Jew, who violates certain prohibitions in public out of spite against G-d) is considered to be a non-Jew and cannot be relied upon for the Laws of Kashrus, Shabbos, or the like, and they cannot be called up to the Torah in shul, or counted for the minyan, in the case of the laws of idolatry, they are considered a Jew both for a leniency (their idolatry doesn’t become prohibited until it’s served) and for a stringency (their idolatry will never become permitted, even if they break it). The Turi Zahav concludes his thought; “Even though he is a sinner, he’s still a Jew.”
2) The Remah adds on to the ruling of the Shulchan Aruch that if a Jew sets up an idol for the sake of idolatry, and a non-Jew bows down to it, it becomes prohibited to benefit from (even though a person generally cannot cause something that does not belong to them to become prohibited, since the Jew set up the idol for the purpose of idolatry, we have an exception to the rule). The Sifsei Kohen, commenting on the Remah’s ruling, says: “However, if the same non-Jew picks another idol from the house of the same Jew, stands it up, and bows down to it, it does not become prohibited, because perhaps the Jew only designated the idol he set up for idolatry for that purpose, but anything else in his house, he does not wish to use for that purpose.”
Regardless of the fact that this Jew is actively an idolator, committing full-on acts of idolatry, we still judge him favorably, assuming that anything else in his house, even if it looks and smells like idolatry, is nothing more than a decoration or a keepsake and remains permitted to benefit from. Despite his chazakah of being wicked, we still deem him to be righteous with regards to any action he has not clearly already done, and we do not assume that he will continue to sin in the future. In the merit of our limud zchuss on every Jew we meet, we should merit to be judged favorably by Hashem and be written down for blessing in the coming year, and merit the ultimate blessing, of our speedy and complete redemption!