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he Torah Portion of this
Sabbath describes, in a
clinically precise way,
certain forms of a di-
sease akin to leprosy preva-
lent in ancient times and the
manner of their treatment.
The sages, centuries later, in-
terpreted the entire portion
as a metaphor. The Hebrew
word for leper is metzorah,
which they declared, is to be
read as motzi shem ra, one
who brings forth evil, one who
is morally diseased. They de-
clare that the evil of which
the text speaks is leshon ha-
ra, the evil tongue, wicked
speech and slanderous words,
a disease as loathsome as
leprosy.
The most widespread and
unnecessary cruelty of the
world is encountered in this
transgression to which we are
all, in one form or another,
addicted — the cruelty of
slanderous lips. Leshon ha-ra
is that special pleasure we
discover in talking about our
neighbor's weaknesses, his
failures and transgressions.
The sages declare it kills
three: the one who speaks it,
the one who hears it and the
one of whom it is spoken.
In this crime, the victim
doesn't have to be present;
and, indeed, the task is made
easier when he is not in-
cluded in our midst. The in-
jury is not immediately ap-
parent although it is, never-
theless, real. Shakespeare ex-
pressed it best: "Good name
in man and woman, dear my
Lord, is the immediate jewel
of their souls. Who steals my
purse steals trash. `Tis
something, nothing, `twas
mine, 'tis his, and has been
slave to thousands. But he
that filches from me my good
name, robs me of that which
not enriches him, and makes
me poor indeed."
Of course, we don't gossip;
we engage in "character
analysis." The sad truth is
that gossip has become both
a profession and an industry
in our time. A whole cadre
of journalists, writers and
speakers have achieved du-
bious fame by their exclusive
pre-occupation with gossip
about notables and celeb-
rities. A great deal of the
contemporary newspaper is
devoted to such morally ques-
tionable material. Certain

Irwin Groner is senior rabbi of

Congregation Shaarey Zedek.

magazines exclusively purvey
gossip; and, of course, televi-
sion has found its substantial
share of this market.
The Jewish tradition, which
has carefully identified the
diverse forms and manifesta-
tions of slanderous speech,
has denounced this evil and
deems it one of the most im-
portant moral issues.
What are the causes of this
social illness that is so per-
vasive? The first element is
what can be termed an emp-
tiness of soul. We have noth-
ing else to talk about, so we
start with people; and as we

Shabbat Tazria-
Mezrorah:
Leviticus
12:1-15:33
II Kings 7:3-20.

talk of people, sooner or later,
we talk against them.
Secondly, one notes the
desire to be the center of at-
traction. The one subject
which seems to immediately
create an avid and interested
audience is to make a pro-
clamation that is unfriendly
or critical about one whom we
know.
And finally, some people
with a sense of inferiority feel
that they may gain honor and
distinction through the fall of
another. By a perverse logic,
they believe that by bringing
down others, in some strange
way, they have risen.
It may be that this sense of
indignation about the sins of
the tongue arises out of the
collective experience of the
Jewish people. As Jews, we
have been accused of every
sin, vice and form of deprav-
ity. In the first century, Jews
were accused of indolence
because they refused to work
on the seventh day, when the
concept of the Sabbath was
unknown in the Roman
world. They were charged
with ignorance because they
would not bow down to the
great gods of the Roman Pan-
theon. In the Middle Ages,
when drought occurred or
dread plague struck, the
masses attributed these
disasters to the evil power of
the Jews who lived in their
communities.
Even today, anti-Semitic

