SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM?
Day 131 ¨C Definition
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One who does not exercise proper caution in matters of speech may find himself inadvertently fanning the flames of hatred. It is forbidden to mention an incident or other piece of information which might remind the listener of a
situation where he was wronged by someone. To relate such information is to speak avak (lit, the dust of) rechilus. The speaker transgresses even though he has no intent of causing the listener to recall the wrongdoing; the Sages hold the speaker responsible
for not having exercised proper caution in mentioning that which might reawaken ill feelings.
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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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Choose Your Company
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Scripture states: ¡°Withdraw yourselves from the man whose life¡¯s breath is in his nostrils, for with what is he deemed worthy?¡¯¡¯ (Yeshayahu 2:22). Zohar comments (Parashas Tetzaveh):
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With these words, the Holy One, Blessed is He, commands and cautions man to guard himself from those who have turned away from the path of good to that of evil, who have contaminated their souls ... And how is man to know whose company he should seek and whose
he should avoid? By gauging an individual¡¯s anger, one can determine what sort of person he is. If when anger comes upon a person, he guards the sanctity of his soul and does not allow it to be uprooted and replaced by that ¡°foreign god¡± [that is anger], then
he is a person whom it is fit to be near. However, if he does not guard the sanctity of his soul, allowing it to become uprooted so that the ¡°other side¡± can dwell in its place, surely he is a person who rebels against his Master, and it is forbidden to seek
his company ... He is the person who ¡°tears apart his soul in his anger¡± (Iyov 18:4); he tears apart and uproots his soul because of his anger, and allows a foreign god to dwell within himself.
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Regarding such a person it is written, ¡°Withdraw yourselves from the man whose life¡¯s breath is ¡®in his nostrils¡¯,¡± [meaning,] whose sacred soul is torn apart and contaminated by his anger .1
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Thus, it is imperative that one rid his heart of anger so that he will be saved from Gehinnom and will merit entry into the World to Come.
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1. In Scripture, the term ¡°charon af¡± denotes outwardly displayed, flared-up anger. The expression metaphorically refers to flaming nostrils (see Rashi to Shemos 15:8).
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Keep reading Day 132, the lesson for Shabbos
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SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM
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Day 132 ¨C Rechilus When Attempting to Avoid Rechilus?????????
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It is forbidden to tell someone, ¡°I¡¯d rather not tell you what so-and-so said about you,¡± for this is implying that ¡°so-and-so¡± said something negative about the listener. If the speaker honestly ¨C though naively ¨C intended to avoid
speaking rechilus, he violated only the rabbinical prohibition of ¡°avak rechilus.¡± However, if the implication was intentional, then the remark is classified as outright rechilus and he has transgressed the Scriptural prohibition.
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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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Scoffing
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One of the root causes of loshon hora is scoffing. Some people are accustomed to scoffing at anything, and attach themselves to people who are of their own kind. It is natural for such people to scoff at others who are outside their circle and to speak degradingly
of them. Therefore, one who seeks to cleanse his soul should ponder the terrible sin of such behavior.
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Our Sages teach that scoffers are one of four groups that will not merit to greet the Divine Presence (Sotah 42a). In addition to his own sins, a scoffer is guilty of causing others to join him in his ridicule. It is well known that to cause others to sin is
an extremely grave offense, and prevents the perpetrator from being granted Heavenly assistance to repent (Avos 5:18).
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Aside from all of the above, to idle one¡¯s time away, even not in a sinful way, is to waste precious time that could be used for studying Torah and accruing reward for the World to Come. According to one Talmudic opinion, the verse ¡°... for he scorned the word
of Hashem¡± (Bamidbar 15:31) applies to one who squanders the opportunity to study Torah.
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How ashamed, then, should one be to have spent hour upon hour in the company of scoffers! Moreover, were they to restrain themselves from speaking the forbidden, they would thereby merit eternal life, for, as the Midrash states, for each moment that a person
refrains from speaking the forbidden, he merits a hidden light that no angel can fathom.
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