Devar Torah Tazria/Metzora 5781
How serious is the sin of speaking Loshen Hara? Big!
King David wrote in psalms (34:13-15):
13: Who is the man who is eager for life, who desires years of good fortune?
14: Guard your tongue from evil, your lips from deceitful speech.
15: Shun evil and do good, seek amity and pursue it.
Verse 14 discusses the prohibition of speaking loshen hara. Verse 15 says to “shun evil”.
The question asked by Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian is in verse 15 we are told to shun ALL evil. Why was it necessary to single out the sin of loshen hara in verse 14?
He answers that loshen hara is a sin on which all Jews stumble! As such, the first line is speaking to all Jews and telling them to not stumble – to be very careful of this mitzvah. But the next line is talking to Jews as individuals. Each Jew has some bad character trait that needs to be rectified. The person might steal, damage others, have illicit relations, etc. The sin is unique for each person, and each person must discover what it is and then correct it.
But loshen hara is something that all Jews must work on.
A story is told (it could be apocryphal) about two girls on a bus in Israel who were discussing an engagement that was just announced at their seminary. They talked and talked about all the bad qualities of this girl and how unfortunate her fiancé was. As they talked, a woman approached her and said, “I wanted to thank you girls. I have been listening to this conversation, and you should know that I am the aunt of this young boy. As soon as I get off this bus, I will call my sister to urge her to break off the engagement with this girl.” The two girls tried to convince the aunt not to do this; that they didn’t mean it; that the girl really wasn’t so bad. But the aunt refused to budge. When it finally came to the aunt’s stop, she turned to the girls and said, “By the way, I am not really the aunt. I have no idea who these two people are. But I wanted you to understand how much damage can be caused by speaking loshen hara!“
The laws of loshen hara are not so complex. Pick up a book from your local Jewish bookshop (or order on Amazon) and learn the rules – then follow them. As it says, paraphrasing our verses above:
You want to live a long life? Then don’t speak loshen hara!
Wishing everyone a great Shabbos!
