Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism

The next of the 48 ways of acquiring Torah is to minimize speech. The Mishna does not say do not speak, it says to minimize speech. This means that when we speak, make it meaningful. Don't waste your time on things that don't matter or speak derogatory things about others especially when we are learning.

We have seen previously in Pirke Avos that if one is walking on the way learning and stops learning  and says what a nice tree or nice furrow (or something else he says wasting time from learning) it is as if he is obligated with death. (Pirke Avos Chapter 3 Mishna 7). According to some commentaries this means even if he praises G-d's creation, it is as if he has forfeited his life.

We could look at this and say this is different because it shows the importance of Torah learning and wasting time while learning. We could also see this as a general idea of not speaking when I don't need to all the more so when I am learning Torah!

The Chofetz Chaim wrote a book called Shemiras HaLashon, guarding our speech. He didn't say it is forbidden to speak, but how we are allowed to speak. The Torah praises action more than speech, as we say, talk is cheap, let's see some action!

Another message from this character trait is that there is nothing better than being quiet. Better not to answer when something is said if you will not be able to control what you have to say. Even if you do have to say something, the idea is to minimize it as much as possible.

The reason is that the more one speaks, the more careful one must be since there are so many halachos about proper speech, one may make a mistake and say something they are not allowed to say. The problem is that the media promulgates the idea of saying whatever you want, when you want...Here the message is very different.