The rabbis focus on the danger of lashon ha'ra, evil speech and telling tales about others. They use the example of the spies who spoke unkindly of Israel. Rabbi Elazar ben Perata says, " Come and see how great the power of malicious speech is! From where do we derive this? From the spies: And if one who defames the wood and rocks received such a severe punishment, how much more will it be with one who defames another person!"
The rabbis continue to up the ante on the dangers of lashon ha'ra. It escalates to the point where student of Rabbi Yishmael teach that whoever speaks slander increases his sins up to the degree of the three worst sins: idolatry, forbidden sexual relations, and bloodshed. Biblical verses are used to support their arguments.
The Gemara suggests a number of antidotes to lashon ha'ra:
Rabbi Chama ben Rabbi Chanina said, "What is the remedy for slanderers? If his is a scholar, let him engage in the Torah, as it is said " A soothing tongue is the tree of life". "Tongue refers to malicious speech: "Their tongue is a sharpened arrow". "Tree of life" means only the Torah: "It is a tree of life to the m that lay hold of it." And if he is an ignoramus, let him become humble: Its perverseness is a broken spirit".
Rabbi Acha ben Rabbi Chanina said that if he has slandered already, there is no remedy for him. King David has cut him off already: "May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks great/proud things!" What should be his consequence so that he may not come to speak more evil speech? If he is a scholar, let him engage in the Torah. If he is an ignorant person, let him humble himself: "Its perverseness is a broken spirit".
The commentators ask how Rabbi Acha can suggest that there is no consequence for someone who has slandered. Isn't repentance is possible for all sins? One answer is that the difficulty in correcting the results of slander and in identifying the people who suffered because of slander for the purpose of apologizing to them.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment