Thursday, April 3, 2014
Parshas Metzorah: Know how to Speak!
10:19 PM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
"And G-d spoke to Moshe saying, 'This shall be the law of the one struck with tzora'as in the day of his cleansing. He shall be brought to the priest" (Leviticus 14: 1-2)
There is a Midrash that tells us of a peddler that goes to a certain city and asks the people 'Who wants life?' He is brought a sefer tehillim (book of Psalms) and he points out that it says 'Who wants life? Guard your tongue from speaking evil and go away from evil and do good'. Rav Yanai said that all his life he read this verse and I didn't recognize the depth of it until this peddler demonstrated the importance of who wants life!
This is hard to understand. How could Rav Yanai not have understood the importance of this verse and why all of a sudden did a bell ring in his head about it because of this peddler?
Rav Moshe Sternbuch Shlit'a in Ta'am V'Da'as explains that Rav Yanai knew that to guard one's life from tragedy and lengthening one's days on this earth one needs to guard themselves about speaking badly against others. He thought though the way to do this would be to dwell alone far from others just like the metzora who lives alone outside the camp.
This is what the peddler was trying to teach us. He was giving us advice as to how not to fall in the trap of speaking badly against others and staying away from bad things in general and do good for others. The way to go about this is to learn Torah and internalize its messages and desire peace.
We should also go out of our way for others and have interaction and contact with others. This will allow ourselves to want to do for others and always look at people in a favorable light. This is easier said than done especially if others have wronged us or made us feel bad.
Even in such a scenario we are not allowed to speak badly against for no purpose or even if we have a reason to, we must be careful not to do so. The laws of lashon hara (speaking badly against others) are very complex.
When the Chofetz Chaim explained these halachos, he did not tell us that we are not allowed to speak. He taught us how we are allowed to speak. We often speak of others in a disparagingly way often justifying why. Even if we have the noblest reasons for doing so, it is forbidden.
We are very careful what we eat making sure that it has the best hechser. How come we are not so careful as to what comes out of our mouths? The easy way out would be never to speak to people and live alone. The Torah is telling us just the opposite! We not only have to have interaction with others but we need to guard ourselves in how we speak to them as well!
The more we want to do for others and look at them in a positive light, the easier it will be for us to guard ourselves against lashon hara!
Shabbat Shalom
There is a Midrash that tells us of a peddler that goes to a certain city and asks the people 'Who wants life?' He is brought a sefer tehillim (book of Psalms) and he points out that it says 'Who wants life? Guard your tongue from speaking evil and go away from evil and do good'. Rav Yanai said that all his life he read this verse and I didn't recognize the depth of it until this peddler demonstrated the importance of who wants life!
This is hard to understand. How could Rav Yanai not have understood the importance of this verse and why all of a sudden did a bell ring in his head about it because of this peddler?
Rav Moshe Sternbuch Shlit'a in Ta'am V'Da'as explains that Rav Yanai knew that to guard one's life from tragedy and lengthening one's days on this earth one needs to guard themselves about speaking badly against others. He thought though the way to do this would be to dwell alone far from others just like the metzora who lives alone outside the camp.
This is what the peddler was trying to teach us. He was giving us advice as to how not to fall in the trap of speaking badly against others and staying away from bad things in general and do good for others. The way to go about this is to learn Torah and internalize its messages and desire peace.
We should also go out of our way for others and have interaction and contact with others. This will allow ourselves to want to do for others and always look at people in a favorable light. This is easier said than done especially if others have wronged us or made us feel bad.
Even in such a scenario we are not allowed to speak badly against for no purpose or even if we have a reason to, we must be careful not to do so. The laws of lashon hara (speaking badly against others) are very complex.
When the Chofetz Chaim explained these halachos, he did not tell us that we are not allowed to speak. He taught us how we are allowed to speak. We often speak of others in a disparagingly way often justifying why. Even if we have the noblest reasons for doing so, it is forbidden.
We are very careful what we eat making sure that it has the best hechser. How come we are not so careful as to what comes out of our mouths? The easy way out would be never to speak to people and live alone. The Torah is telling us just the opposite! We not only have to have interaction with others but we need to guard ourselves in how we speak to them as well!
The more we want to do for others and look at them in a positive light, the easier it will be for us to guard ourselves against lashon hara!
Shabbat Shalom
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