KE logo

The Truth About The Truth

This week is the penultimate week of the Sefirah count—the week of Yesod. While Yesod means
foundation, it is understood as truth or integrity. These meanings are very helpful when looking at the
Sefirot system as a process of change—now we must ‘measure’ our sincerity about changing in the light
of truth.

The well known formulation of attesting for a witness is to take an oath prior to testimony with the
formula: “the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”

Would it not be sufficient to just state any of the three statements? And if “nothing but the truth” is
truth at the highest level of truth telling than why would the witness not just say that without needing
to say more.

Investigating the origin of this phrase and the nuance of its meaning yielded little information. I recall a
talk by my Kabbalah teacher on the meaning of this phrase relating to the Sefirah of Yesod but could not
find any details. So I am flying solo on the wings of truth telling.

Can we ever attest that we are telling the truth? We know that what people remember about what they
see is very unreliable. So how can a witness in good conscience say that the evidence they give is the
truth when they know full well it is at best their version of the truth?

If we start from this premise it turns around the sworn testimony to acknowledge that the witness is
doing their best to tell the truth about what they experienced. Nothing but the truth then may mean. “I
am not adding anything to make my ‘story’ more plausible” and the whole truth may mean “I am not
leaving something out to make my ‘story’ more plausible.” I am (trying) to tell the truth.

When it comes to telling ourselves the truth (about any aspect of our life, including our commitment to
change) we must acknowledge the truth about the truth of our own version of the story. Are we telling
the whole truth and nothing but the truth? What manifests in our life depends on it.

David Sanders

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Avatar placeholder

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Posts

Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde

Dream and Dreamers

by Dr. David Sanders This past Monday, January 20th, we celebrated Martin Luther King Day. In his inaugural address that day, President Trump declared, that in his honor, “we will strive together to make his

image of fire in los angeles

Los Angeles is on Fire

Los Angeles is on fire. The Palisades are gone.   My teacher and friend, Rabbi Bradley Artson shared on TikTok: What are we supposed to do in all of this? All of our traditions, all

a new story blog

A New Story

by Dr. David Sanders   Rabbi Sharon Brous, author of The Amen Effect and founder of IKAR in Los Angeles spoke this past Yom Kippur on the stories which we talk about ourselves, our people,

magicall tree

Five Principles to Live By

by Melanie Gruenwald Life is a journey filled with moments of joy, challenge, and discovery. Along the way, we often find ourselves searching for meaning and clarity. For me, five principles guide my path and