Shmirat Haloshon

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SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM
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Day 15 – Other Forms of Negativity
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While the Scriptural prohibition against loshon hora applies only to speaking about the living, our Sages prohibit making slanderous remarks about the deceased.
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It is also forbidden to speak negatively of our beloved land, Eretz Yisrael.? As the Torah relates, the generation that merited to be liberated from Egypt spent forty years in the Wilderness and died there because of?? evil speech concerning the Land ( See Bamidbar chs. 13-14).
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In truth, it is proper to avoid focusing on the negative unnecessarily even when discussing non-sacred objects.? The early commentators tell of the wise man and his students who came upon the carcass of an animal.? When the students commented on its foul odor, the wise man responded, “But see how white are its teeth!”
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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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A Dreadful Scenario
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Picture the following scenario: A Jew is instructed to enter the Temple of God, stand before the Holy Ark and accuse his fellow Jews of whatever sins he knows them to be guilty of. Without a doubt, even the lowest among us would endanger his own life rather than carry out this dreadful order.
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Yet people fail to realize that this is exactly what they are doing when they speak loshon hora! As stated in Tanna D’Vei Eliyahu (I, 18:64): “When the wicked speak loshon hora, it ascends before the Throne of Glory...”
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It is therefore not difficult to understand the gravity of this sin, and the heavy price that the speaker is liable to pay, both in this world and the next. Therefore, David cautions us that if we seek to enjoy the bliss of eternal life in the next world and desire good days in this world, our first step must be to guard our tongues.
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On the holy day of Yom Kippur we beseech Hashem “Silence the Accuser and let the Defender take his place.” How can one utter these words without feeling shame and humiliation, if through his own loshon hora the Accuser is aroused and endowed with the strength to accuse?
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Conversely, those who are successful in their efforts to refrain from speaking ill of others can rest assured that their entreaties before Hashem to “silence the Accuser” carry great weight in Heaven.
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May Hashem cause love, peace and brotherhood to dwell amongst His people.

? Keep reading day 16, the lesson for Pesach 2

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SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM

Day 16 – The Listener
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Once something is defined as derogatory, it is forbidden to relate it other than for constructive purposes and under specific conditions which will be discussed later.? One may not share negative information about people with friends and family, including one’s spouse.? It must be underscored that relating loshon hora to one’s spouse is no less forbidden than when relating it to anyone else.? To focus on another’s shortcomings is undignified and wrong.

SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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Man’s Superiority
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The person who restrains himself from speaking the forbidden merits the “hidden light” ?which was stored away for the righteous at the time of Creation.1 Conversely, regarding the sin of loshon hora, our Sages state (Yerushalmi Pe’ah 1:1): “Punishment for this sin is exacted from the person on this world, while its principal [i.e. primary punishment] remains for him in the World to Come.”
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This is yet another reason why David declares: “Which man desires life... Guard your tongue from evil.”
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Consider the following: Man is superior to all other creatures by way of his Heavenly soul, which the Creator has endowed with intellect that is granted expression through the power of speech. As mentioned above, the Torah defines man’s essence by calling him a “living being,” which Onkelos translates as “a speaking spirit” (Bereishis 2:7). But man can claim superiority only if he uses his power of speech in a constructive manner. If he uses this power wickedly, then all other creatures, who cannot speak and cause the destructiveness that only words can cause, are actually superior to him.
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Thus does Scripture state: “Which man [desires life... guard your tongue...],” ?for it is this quality that makes one deserving of being called a man.
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See Rashi to Bereishis 1:4.

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