POINTED ARROWS AND GLOWING COALS - THE EVIL OF LASHON HARA
Tehillim 120
Parshas Tazria discusses the laws of Tzaraas. A person would be struck with Tzaraas as punishment for a number of different sins. The most famous is for the sin of speaking Lashon Hara.
Miriam was struck with Tzaraas for speaking Lashon Hara about her brother Moshe. Moshe Rabbeinu himself was struck with Tzaraas at the Burning Bush for having spoken Lashon Hara about the Jewish people, when he questioned their faith.
On Yud Alef Nissan we began reciting Tehillim chapter 120 for the Rebbe. In it, Dovid Hamelech speaks about Lashon Hara and it damaging affects.
יְֽהוָ֗ה הַצִּ֣ילָה נַ֭פְשִׁי מִשְּׂפַת־שֶׁ֑קֶר מִלָּשׁ֥וֹן רְמִיָּֽה
Hashem save my soul from false lips and from a deceitful tongue.
This refers to the false lips and deceitful tongue which slanders and maligns others.
מַה־יִּתֵּ֣ן לְ֭ךָ וּמַה־יֹּסִ֥יף לָ֗ךְ לָשׁ֥וֹן רְמִיָּֽה
What can you profit, what can you gain, O deceitful tongue?
The Midrash teaches that when a person steals, they do so because of their hunger and to feed their starving family. When a person engages in a forbidden relationship, they do it to satisfy their desires. But what gain does a person have from speaking Lashon Hara?
The Gemara reads the verse as though Hashem is addressing the tongue itself: “What more can I add for you to protect you from being able to cause harm? I have placed you behind two barriers, one hard (the teeth) and the other soft (the lips) and yet you still breach forth with your slander.”
חִצֵּ֣י גִבּ֣וֹר שְׁנוּנִ֑ים עִ֝֗ם גַּחֲלֵ֥י רְתָמִֽים
A warrior’s sharp arrows, with hot coals of Rosem-wood.
When one wields a sword, they can always retract it. This is like the harm of other sins, where one can always rectify their wrongs and ask Mechilah.
But speaking Lashon Hara is like shooting an arrow. Once the arrow is released, it cannot be retrieved. Like the arrow, one can sit in their own place and inflict untold harm on someone miles away.
Lashon travels great distances very quickly. Since the slander spreads from person to person, once it is released, it can never be retrieved or rectified.
The Posuk likens Lashon Hara to the coals of Rosem wood.
The Midrash relates the story of 2 travellers who stopped at a camp and lit a fire with Rosem wood. Months later when they returned, the coals looked cool, but when they raked the coals and walked over it, it burned their feet.
Lashon Hara, like a coal, may looks harmless on the surface, but inside it burns. Like Rosem wood, the embers of Lashon Hora continue to burn with long-lasting affects.
אֽוֹיָה־לִ֭י כִּי־גַ֣רְתִּי מֶ֑שֶׁךְ שָׁ֝כַ֗נְתִּי עִֽם־אָהֳלֵ֥י קֵדָֽר
Woe is me, that I live with Meshech, that I dwell among the clans of Kedar.
This Pasuk describes the Jewish people in Golus. The word Meshech, aside from being a place, can also mean a long duration of time.
The first Temple was destroyed on account of the worst of sins; idolatry, murder and forbidden relationships. The Gemara notes that because their sins were ‘revealed’ - committed publicly, their Keitz, the end of their exile was ‘revealed’ to them. The their exile lasted only 70 years.
But when the second Temple was destroyed, their Keitz was hidden, because their sin was ‘hidden’, the Lashon Hara spoken behind each others’ backs. And so we live with Meshech, a Golus that has gone on for nearly 2000 years.
As we recite this Kapitel each day over the course of the year, let us take its words to heart. In the merit of our resolution to avoid Lashon Hara, may we see the Keitz Hayamin and the end to our Exile.
Miriam was struck with Tzaraas for speaking Lashon Hara about her brother Moshe. Moshe Rabbeinu himself was struck with Tzaraas at the Burning Bush for having spoken Lashon Hara about the Jewish people, when he questioned their faith.
On Yud Alef Nissan we began reciting Tehillim chapter 120 for the Rebbe. In it, Dovid Hamelech speaks about Lashon Hara and it damaging affects.
יְֽהוָ֗ה הַצִּ֣ילָה נַ֭פְשִׁי מִשְּׂפַת־שֶׁ֑קֶר מִלָּשׁ֥וֹן רְמִיָּֽה
Hashem save my soul from false lips and from a deceitful tongue.
This refers to the false lips and deceitful tongue which slanders and maligns others.
מַה־יִּתֵּ֣ן לְ֭ךָ וּמַה־יֹּסִ֥יף לָ֗ךְ לָשׁ֥וֹן רְמִיָּֽה
What can you profit, what can you gain, O deceitful tongue?
The Midrash teaches that when a person steals, they do so because of their hunger and to feed their starving family. When a person engages in a forbidden relationship, they do it to satisfy their desires. But what gain does a person have from speaking Lashon Hara?
The Gemara reads the verse as though Hashem is addressing the tongue itself: “What more can I add for you to protect you from being able to cause harm? I have placed you behind two barriers, one hard (the teeth) and the other soft (the lips) and yet you still breach forth with your slander.”
חִצֵּ֣י גִבּ֣וֹר שְׁנוּנִ֑ים עִ֝֗ם גַּחֲלֵ֥י רְתָמִֽים
A warrior’s sharp arrows, with hot coals of Rosem-wood.
When one wields a sword, they can always retract it. This is like the harm of other sins, where one can always rectify their wrongs and ask Mechilah.
But speaking Lashon Hara is like shooting an arrow. Once the arrow is released, it cannot be retrieved. Like the arrow, one can sit in their own place and inflict untold harm on someone miles away.
Lashon travels great distances very quickly. Since the slander spreads from person to person, once it is released, it can never be retrieved or rectified.
The Posuk likens Lashon Hara to the coals of Rosem wood.
The Midrash relates the story of 2 travellers who stopped at a camp and lit a fire with Rosem wood. Months later when they returned, the coals looked cool, but when they raked the coals and walked over it, it burned their feet.
Lashon Hara, like a coal, may looks harmless on the surface, but inside it burns. Like Rosem wood, the embers of Lashon Hora continue to burn with long-lasting affects.
אֽוֹיָה־לִ֭י כִּי־גַ֣רְתִּי מֶ֑שֶׁךְ שָׁ֝כַ֗נְתִּי עִֽם־אָהֳלֵ֥י קֵדָֽר
Woe is me, that I live with Meshech, that I dwell among the clans of Kedar.
This Pasuk describes the Jewish people in Golus. The word Meshech, aside from being a place, can also mean a long duration of time.
The first Temple was destroyed on account of the worst of sins; idolatry, murder and forbidden relationships. The Gemara notes that because their sins were ‘revealed’ - committed publicly, their Keitz, the end of their exile was ‘revealed’ to them. The their exile lasted only 70 years.
But when the second Temple was destroyed, their Keitz was hidden, because their sin was ‘hidden’, the Lashon Hara spoken behind each others’ backs. And so we live with Meshech, a Golus that has gone on for nearly 2000 years.
As we recite this Kapitel each day over the course of the year, let us take its words to heart. In the merit of our resolution to avoid Lashon Hara, may we see the Keitz Hayamin and the end to our Exile.