Torah Portion

Words Of Our Mouth
Reflect Goodness Of Spirit

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there would not be four friends in
the world."
Why was the Jewish tradition so
outraged about this prevalent
human weakness? I believe the
answer lies in the experience of the
Jewish people. We have been
accused of every sin, every evil,
every moral deficiency. Even today,
we
find anti-Semitic journals that
he two sedrahs of Tazria
spew
forth calumnies and fabrica-
and Metzorah deal almost
tions
about
the Jewish people.
entirely with the care and
In the 20th century, false witness
treatment of leprosy.
and diabolical lies directed against
Later generations of rabbinic
the Jews became the justi-
commentators interpret the
fication for the horrors of
entire portion as a
the Holocaust. Today, in
metaphor. They say that
the solemn halls of the
the Hebrew word for leper,
United Nations, we note
metzorah stands for motzi
with
dismay and shock
ra, one who brings forth
how, even in our time,
evil, one who is morally
Israel is accused of the
diseased. This monstrous
most outrageous crimes
evil which condemns its
against
humanity.
perpetrator to quarantine
Thus,
what the rabbis
is, in the sages' view, lashon
taught
so
many centuries
RABBI IRWIN
ha-rah, wicked speech, the
ago
must
be
learned again
GRONER
slanderous tongue.
in
each
generation.
He
We view slander as utter-
Special to the
who
has
an
"evil
tongue
ing lies or committing ver-
Jewish News
breeds suspicion, and
bal aggression against
enmity.
He spreads a dis-
another. But the rabbis go
ease
that
weakens
society, that
further; for they declare that we can
destroys
the
social
bonds of mutual
commit this transgression even
trust
and
respect.
when telling the truth, if that truth
Such a person is to be regarded as
is spoken with malicious intent.
a spiritual leper. For causing the
Most of us engage in leshon ha-ra
separation of individuals and the
so constantly that we have lost our
divisiveness of society, he must bear
consciousness of its pernicious
the consequences. Therefore, the
effect. In the crime of gossip, it is
"leper" must go outside the camp.
difficult to find the culprit. "They
He
no longer is to share in the life
say" or "I heard the other day" is a
of
the
community. He is to endure
characteristic beginning of character
that
which
he sought to engender
defamation. Also, in this offense,
—
separation
and alienation.
the victim need not be present and
In this vivid commentary, we are
indeed the task is much easier when
reminded of the prayer that intro-
he is not in our midst.
duces
the silent devotion: "0 Lord,
What is the cause of this social
guard
my
tongue from evil, and my
illness, so pervasive and so destruc-
lips
from
speaking
falsely."
tive? Perhaps it is an emptiness of

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

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soul. We have nothing else to dis-
cuss so we start talking about peo-
ple, and sooner or later, we talk
against people. Then there is the
desire to be noticed. Saying some-
thing nasty is a great way of attract-
ing attention.
A cocktail party has been defined
as a place where they cut sandwiches
and friends into little pieces.
Although the definition may be
modern, the practice described is
very old. The French philosopher
Pascal declared that "if all men
knew what each said of the other,

Irwin Groner is senior rabbi of

Congregation Shaarey Zedek.

Conversations

In what ways does gossip pro-
mote harmful stereotypes in
school and community life? How
does talking about people pre-
vent working with people both
on the national and international
level? In what way may "stealing"
a reputation through slander
worse than literally stealing a
material item?

