VeHevei Dan Et Kol HaAdam...

Tonight during a Pirkei Avot class I asked for ideas as to why the mishnah says to appoint a rabbi and aquire a friend and then follows that with saying to judge everyone favorably. What's the connection between getting a rabbi and friend and judging others favorably? One man said that we tend to see our mentors and friends positively and should allow that attitude to spill over to everyone else. This was a new take that I liked very much. It reminded me of the statement in Kiddushin that a man must see a woman before he marries her lest he later find something detestable in her and not fulfil that which is written: "Ve'ahavta Lereacha Kamochah." The explanation I heard for this is that marriage is the context in which with one person you focus on fulfilling the mitzvah of loving somone as much as you love yourself and only then can you branch out from there.