SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM
Day 51 ¨C Helping Others to Improve?
The first category of constructive purpose is to help the person about whom one is speaking.? There is a tendency among many to ignore the misconduct of others in favor of a ¡°live and let live¡± attitude.? Let us first understand
why the Torah rejects this attitude.
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Every person is born with character flaws.? It is our mission in life to change, to grow, to strive for perfection and spirituality.? We all want to rid ourselves of our imperfections; people do want to be good.? What makes life so challenging is that negative
character traits are blinding.? We either lose sight of what our goals should be or rationalize to the point that we simply cannot differentiate between right and wrong.
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One of the greatest gifts Hashem has blessed us with is companionship:? friends, family, people around us who are close enough to care, yet distant enough to be objective.? To abstain from speaking up and offering one another reproof and guidance amounts to
depriving one another of one of the most valuable tools for personal growth.? We must get involved and, when necessary, even enlist the involvement of others in helping people through the struggles of life.? Remaining silent when reproof is called for is not
Shmiras Haloshon, it is depriving one¡¯s fellow of his lifeline to self-improvement.
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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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More Lessons
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After hearing the slander of the other Spies, Calev and Yehoshua bin (son of) Nun responded to their sinful words:
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The Land that we passed through, to spy it out ¡ª the Land is very, very good! If Hashem desires us, He will bring us to this Land and give it to us ... But do not rebel against Hashem! You should not fear the people of the Land, for they are our bread. Their
protection has departed from them; Hashem is with us ¡ª do not fear them! (Bamidbar 14:7-9).
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They meant the following: The Spies¡¯ contention that Hashem¡¯s promise of the Land was conditional on their being tzaddikim was patently incorrect. Hashem does not say to a person, ¡°I will help you, but only if you will be a tzaddik.¡¯¡¯ Rather, Hashem says, ¡°I
will not help you if you rebel against Me.¡¯¡¯ This is the intent of the words, ¡°But do not rebel against Hashem.¡¯¡¯ As long as a person does not flout Hashem¡¯s will, he can still hope for His compassion.
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As to the Spies¡¯ fearful descriptions of the mighty Canaanites, Calev and Yehoshua responded, ¡°...for they are our bread.¡¯¡¯ Would a person be frightened by a giant-sized loaf of bread? Similarly, they argued, Hashem would not offer the Canaanites any protection
from the Jews, and as such they would be easily devoured, as it is written, ¡°You will devour all the people that Hashem, your God, has delivered to you¡± (Devarim?7:16).
Indeed, Scripture indicates that when the Jews, led by Yehoshua, crossed the Jordan River and began their conquest, they found the giants of Canaan to be the most fainthearted of all.
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The lessons to be learned from this tragic episode are crucial to us all.
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