SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON Days 1, 11 and 12 “Which man desires life, who loves days of seeing good? Guard your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it” (Tehillim 34:13-15). The commentators explain that the term “life” refers to that of the World to Come, while “days” refers to man’s years on this world which are only “days” by comparison to the eternal life of the next world. We are commanded to fulfill 613 mitzvos; regarding all of them Hashem says to us, “See that I have placed before you today life and that which is good ... that you should love Hashem, your God, to go in His ways and to observe His commandments” (Devarim 30:15-16). Why, then, does David, in the above verse, say that the quality of one’s life in both worlds is primarily dependent on guarding one’s tongue? In the opening passages of this work we have offered one answer to this question. Below, we offer more on the subject: In the preface to Sefer Chofetz Chaim, we explained how the bitter sin of loshon hora can involve transgression of numerous positive and negative commandments, to a degree that is not found with any other sin. Thus, shmiras haloshon is a key to fulfillment of one’s obligations both toward Hashem and toward his fellow Jew. When a person is careful not to speak disparagingly of his fellow, or to embarrass him; when he demonstrates caution in avoiding comments that can aggravate dispute; and when he is careful to avoid transgression of other commandments related to evil talk, both positive and negative, then he will surely avoid more blatant sins. If one accepts upon himself to scrupulously avoid causing harm or shame through the spoken word, surely he will not do so through action! Thus, one who zealously refrains from speaking loshon hora will, through such self-discipline, come to fulfill all his obligations toward his fellow. Talmud Yerushalmi (Pe’ah 1:1) states that the reward for studying Torah is equivalent to that of all other mitzvos combined, and the punishment for speaking loshon hora is equivalent to that of all other sins combined. Thus, the antithesis of Torah study, the greatest of all mitzvos, is loshon hora. Their respective primacy can be explained as follows: Of the four basic elements of nature —fire, wind, water and earth —the intangible (fire and wind) are far more powerful than the tangible (water and earth). Fire can engulf material objects and totally destroy them, and the power of wind is awesome, as it is written, “A great and mighty wind which breaks apart mountains and shatters stones” (I Melachim 19:11). The same is true in the spiritual realm. Torah study impacts in the Upper Worlds in a way that no other mitzvah can. This is because all other mitzvos are related to the physical — for example, to fulfill the mitzvah of tzitzis, one dons a garment, a material object; a lulav is held, a physical act; a shofar must be blown, etc. Torah study, however, is performed through the power of speech, which, essentially, is a function of the soul.1 This is why the reward of Torah study is equivalent to that of all other mitzvos combined. The converse is true of sin. The spiritual damage caused by loshon hora is infinitely greater than that caused by other transgressions, because it is committed through the power of speech. Its effect in the Upper Spheres is awesome. Therefore, its punishment is equivalent to that of all other sins combined. 1. As mentioned above, Targum Onkelos translates “and man became a living being” (Bereishis 2:7), as “and man became a speaking spirit.” The way in which one acts towards others determines the way in which Heaven will act towards him. For example, if one strives to overlook the hurt caused him, and if he acts towards others with kindness and compassion, then he awakens the Attribute of Compassion in Heaven. Hashem will judge him with mercy and he will be shown kindness from Above. As our Sages state: “Whoever has compassion towards others will be shown compassion from Above” (Shabbos 151b); and “Whoever refrains from exacting his measure [of retribution from others for the wrong they caused him] will have all his sins forgiven” (Rosh Hashanah 17a). Moreover, in his merit, Divine compassion will manifest itself upon the Jewish nation as a whole. However, if it is one’s way to be absolutely unrelenting towards others and to treat them without compassion, then he lends strength to the Attribute of Justice —toward himself specifically, and to the entire Jewish nation as well. Heaven will be unrelenting regarding that person’s sins, for “With the measure that a person measures do they [i.e. Heaven] measure him” (Megillah 12b). Our Sages state: “Jerusalem was destroyed only because its inhabitants limited their decisions to the [letter of the] law of Torah” (Bava Metzia 30b). This seems difficult, for Scripture records many sins of which that generation was guilty. Our discussion sheds light on the matter. Had the people overlooked the wrong caused them, then Hashem would have forgiven them as well. However, they were absolutely unrelenting toward each other, demanding from one another whatever they could possibly extract according to the law —and Heaven judged them accordingly.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Jan 2014 18:10:55 +0000
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