The students of Rabbi Joshua were traveling between cities when night overtook them. They found lodging at an inn run by a man whose appearance was deeply off-putting — ugly, unkempt, and hardly inspiring trust. Everything about the place suggested they should leave.
But Rabbi Joshua had taught them a principle that overrode their instincts: always judge people favorably. Give the benefit of the doubt. Do not assume that an unattractive exterior conceals a corrupt interior.
So they stayed. They ate the food the innkeeper served. They slept under his roof. They trusted him completely, despite every surface-level reason not to.
And they were right to trust him. The innkeeper treated them with extraordinary kindness. He fed them well, gave them comfortable beds, charged them fairly, and sent them on their way the next morning with provisions for the road. His appearance had been misleading. His heart was generous.
The Talmud in Shabbat (127b) preserves this as an illustration of the commandment to judge others favorably — dan le-kaf zekhut. The students did not perform some great act of heroism. They simply chose not to let fear and prejudice govern their decisions. They looked at a man the world would have dismissed and treated him as worthy of trust.
The Midrash Hagadol on Leviticus adds that this encounter became a teaching story for generations of students: the eyes deceive. Appearances lie. The only reliable measure of a person is how they treat you when they have power over you — and that ugly innkeeper, with travelers helpless under his roof, chose kindness.