Shemirat HaLashon שמירת הלשון

(Bereshith 9:22): "And he [Cham] told his two brother outside": The Torah hereby tells us his sin, that aside from not covering him [Noach] himself, he also told of it outside; that is, in the market, as Onkelos says, paying no heed to his [Noach's] state, not to shame him before people — wherefore he [Noach] cursed him.

(Ibid. 28:20): "And He guards me on the way that I will go": We find in the Midrash: "And He guards me from lashon hara." And thus have Chazal said in Sifrei on Devarim 23:10: "When you go out as an encampment against your enemies, then you shall guard yourself against every evil thing" that this alludes to lashon hara. And it is obvious that when a person goes to a place of danger he needs special guarding, as it is written there (Ibid. 15): "For the L-rd your G-d walks in the midst of your camp to save you, etc." And it is known that because of the sin of lashon hara the Shechinah departs from Israel, and there is no one to protect it. And so with Jacob when he went to Lavan, which was a place of danger, as we know from the end of the episode when he pursued him to kill him had the Holy One Blessed be He not saved him, as it is written (Devarim 26:5): "An Aramean (Lavan) would destroy my father [Jacob]" — wherefore Jacob our father prayed that he not stumble in this (lashon hara).