‘You Can’t Handle the Truth’

“I want the truth!” Lt. Daniel Kaffee demands in A Few Good Men. Col. Nathan Jessup fires back, “You can’t handle the truth.” Truth these days is lacking, and it caused me to reflect on a Jewish blessing, Baruch Dayan HaEmet—Blessed is the True Judge—in a profoundly different way.

Perhaps if Jessup had replied, “What sort of truth do you want?” the exchange would capture the chaos of our world today. I once believed most people could align on a shared, objective truth through reason and evidence. But lately, I’ve seen how human truth fractures under competing stories and biases. Yet, amid this noise, I’ve grappled with a challenging question about truth and found inspiration in a Jewish blessing that points to a higher reality: Baruch Dayan HaEmet—Blessed is the True Judge. In God’s truth, I find clarity, peace, and hope.

The Chaos of Human Truth

The world feels like a clash of completely at odds narratives. This weekend, a man attacked a group of Jews in Boulder, Colorado, during a peaceful rally for Israeli hostages, throwing incendiary devices and shouting “Free Palestine.” Some call it terrorism; others, “resistance.” The facts—eight injured, including an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor—get buried under conflicting claims.

A December 2023 poll by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found only 9% of people in the West Bank and Gaza believe Hamas attacked civilians on October 7, 2023. Ninety percent either deny it or see it as a military operation. Despite clear evidence—filmed live by the perpetrators, with videos, testimonies, and destruction—truth bends to belief.

At home in Israel, friends argue Israel’s government is a front for a “deep state,” while others call the government itself illegitimate. Conspiracies thrive, each side clinging to their own “facts.” As the photo indicates 9/11 was an inside job.

Winston Churchill, often misquoted, supposedly said statistics are like “a drunk with a lamppost: used more for support than illumination.” The quote’s origin is shaky, but it nails how we twist data to fit our stories. I’m sure I do the same, however much I try to stay objective.

My Own Search for Clarity

It’s not just in politics—it’s in areas like medicine. I’ve been tempted to spend money on “miracle cures” promoted by dubious pyramid schemes. From one doctor to the next, each has a different perspective on my disease, and it sometimes feels like I’m caught in an episode of House—playing the roles of patient, diagnostician, and administrator all at once. I love my doctors, but the brain remains poorly understood, and some exploit this uncertainty for profit in a world where healthcare is big business.

The press – well let’s just say it doesn’t need elaborating on…and Social Media… As the modern phrase goes LOL (Laugh out Loud).

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks noted, perhaps generously, “Man is in his actions and practice, as well as in his fictions, essentially a story-telling animal.” Our stories shape us, but they don’t define the ultimate truth. My faith in humanity’s ability to find truth has been shaken, but I still believe we can get there.

Truth That Endures…Possibly

Yet, I believe truth persists. Churchill, in a quote often tied to him, said, “The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” Even if misattributed, it holds: truth waits to be seen. Most of us share a basic sense of reality, frayed only by fear or ideology.

This sense is sadly thinning day by day. Where the Holocaust was denied by a small minority, October 7 is rewritten immediately after the fact. We seem to have gone further backward, and I wonder what would have happened had World War II had today’s communication tools. Would it have led to the same result?

Baruch Dayan HaEmet: God’s Perfect Truth

In this chaos, I turn to Baruch Dayan HaEmet, the blessing we say when someone dies. Why “True Judge”? Why truth in grief? I’ve always wondered because it feels so wooden somehow – so devoid of emotion, but now it’s clear.

Rabbi Sacks explained, “To say Baruch Dayan HaEmet is to declare that, despite the pain and loss, we affirm that God’s justice is perfect, even when we cannot understand it.” Human truth falters, clouded by bias, but God’s truth is clear and just. Pirkei Avot 1:18 teaches, “The world stands on three things: truth, justice, and peace.” These are divine gifts, not human inventions.

Abraham Lincoln said, “My greatest concern is to be on God’s side, for God is always right.” In God’s truth, I find hope.

When we say Baruch Dayan HaEmet, we trust in God, the True Judge, who sees beyond our fractured perspectives. This blessing lifts me up, promising not just truth but mercy at the moment of judgment. It reminds me that while we clash over attacks, history, power, or medical diagnoses, God’s truth offers peace—a reality that heals, not divides.

Choosing Hope

How do we live in this noisy world? We hold fast to facts as best we can—dates, documents, testimonies—while staying humble about our limits. We listen, even when it’s hard, and question our own stories. We must push back against narratives—like those from oppressive regimes or anti-Zionists—that clearly distort truth for power. Above all, we seek God’s truth, which steadies us.

Baruch Dayan HaEmet—a reminder that God’s justice endures. May we all seek that truth and live with its courage, peace, and mercy.