Test the Source Before You Trust It
The Rav's letter on Besomim Rosh shows his demand that a text prove its authenticity before it is relied on.
A famous responsa collection, Besomim Rosh, had come out in print as though it were the Rosh's own, Rav Osher ben Yechiel's. Rav Mordechai was not convinced. He wrote to Berlin's chief Rav, Rav Tzvi Hirsch Levin, whose son had published the work, and set out his reasons for holding that it was not authentic. The letter shows the habit of mind that marked all his writing: he followed the evidence, weighed the sources, and arranged the material in a clear order instead of leaning on a famous name. For him, honoring a great name meant making sure the words truly belonged to him. A Torah scholar owes that care to the community that relies on him, and to the memory of the one whose words are being quoted.
Source: Parshas Mordechai, no. 5 (letter to Rav Tzvi Hirsch Levin on Besomim Rosh)
Before you share a quote, a story or a ruling this week, take one minute to ask where it comes from. Is there a sefer behind it, a name you can check, a rav who can confirm it? If you cannot tell, say so, or hold off. Passing on words unchecked, especially in the name of a great person, is easy to do and hard to undo. Taking this small care honors the person quoted and protects the people who will rely on what you say.