Torah Portion

Plague Of Evil Speech
_Still Afflicts Humanity

an overt act of wrongdoing. In the
crime of gossip or slander, it is very
hard to find the culprit; and the victim
doesn't have to be present. The injury is
other than theft and it is different from
physical assault. The injury is far more
destructive.
Our most cherished possession is our
oday's Torah portion would
reputation because material possessions,
seem to be of greatest con-
however costly, can be recovered; but a
- cem to physicians. It
name that has been stained can rarely
describes, in a clinical way,
be purified.
certain forms of leprosy that
Deeply concerned about
were prevalent in ancient
defining the characteristics of
times.
lashon hara, the Jewish tradi-
But when later generations
tion deems this one of the
studied this passage, they gave
most important moral issues
it an entirely different inter-
and is outraged when it takes
pretation.
place . on high levels.
The sages saw the entire
This focus on evil speech
portion as a metaphor and
arises from the experiences of
said that leprosy refers not
the Jewish people itself. In
only to physical disease, but
RABBI IRWIN the Middle Ages, when the
also to moral disease and spiri-
crops didn't grow and the .
GRONER
tual corruption. They took the
rain didn't fall and dread
Special to the
word metzora, the "leper" and
plague
struck, the medieval
Jewish News
they said that it stands for
mind saw this as the product
another Hebrew expression,
of the evil power of the Jew
motzi shem ra, someone who brings
who lived in their communities.
forth evil.
And even today, there are anti-
Of what form of evil were they
Semitic journals that circulate the most
speaking? The evil is lashon hara, the
despicable lies and fabrications about
evil tongue, wicked speech and slander-
the Jewish people. There is such a thing
ous words. Because the sages saw fit to
as collective slander, which is not only
place upon these texts this interpreta-
destructive to an individual, but can
tion, let us examine the nature and
make a total people an object of hatred,
character of evil speech in our lives.
derision and contempt.
If there is unnecessary cruelty in the
We, as Jews, know that the laws of
world, it is certainly the cruelty to
kashrut described in last week's Torah
which we, with hardly any exception,
portion prescribe what should go into
are all addicted. It is the cruelty of the
our mouths. What we don't always con-
evil tongue, slanderous lips, wanton
sider is that Halachah, Jewish law, has
speech.
definite rules about what may come out
We gossip about the habits of others;
of our mouths.
we make life a little more difficult, a lit-
Words can soften grief, can lift our
de more unpleasant and harsh for our
sagging spirit. Kind words are the
fellow human beings — although this
music of the world and the passkey to
is neither required nor necessary nor
every heart.
advantageous.
Three times each day, at the end of
The sages say that even telling the
the silent devotion, we pray to be
truth, but with malicious purpose, is
spared moral leprosy: "0, Lord, guide
lashon hara, for it brings pain and
my tongue from evil and my lips from
anguish to another. Lashon hara is that
speaking falsehood." It is a prayer we all
special pleasure that we discover in talk-
need to offer.
ing about our neighbor's weakness, the
More important, it is the prayer we
special delight we find in 'disclosing
all need to live by. ❑
his/her sins.
Why do people engage in lashon
hara?
The difficulty in speaking about the
Discuss times that Jews have been
evil tongue is that it doesn't seem to be
accused of sin, of vice, of depravi-
ty. Why are tabloid newspapers so
Irwin Groner is senior rabbi at
popular
and how does this further
Congregation Shaarey Zedek. His e-mail
the idea of lashon hara?
address is smarshall@shaareyzedek.org

Shabbat Hagadol,
Parshat Metzora:
Leviticus 14:1-15:33;
Malachi 3:4-24.

T

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