Shemirat HaLashon שמירת הלשון

(Shemoth 2:14): "And Moses was afraid, and he said: 'Indeed, the thing has become known.'" (see above, Chapter IV)

(Ibid. 4:1): "And Moses answered and he said: 'But they will not believe me, and they will not hearken to my voice; for they will say: 'The L-rd did not appear to you.'" (Ibid. 2): "And the L-rd said to him: 'What is this in your hand?' And he said: 'A staff.'" Why did G-d hold this against Moses? Should he not have questioned as he did? I heard from the Gaon, R. Eliyahu Schick, of blessed memory, that He took exception to the words "But 'Hen' they will not believe me," stated categorically. He should have said "Perhaps they will not believe me." [This explains what our sages of blessed memory said: "When the Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses (Devarim 31:14): "Hen your days have drawn near to die," Moses replied: "With 'Hen' did I praise You (viz. Ibid. 10:14): "Hen, to the L-rd your G-d are the heavens and the heavens of the heavens, etc.") and with 'Hen' do You answer me?" The L-red replied: "But you also said: 'But Hen they will not believe me.'" Ostensibly, this is unexplainable; but, according to the above interpretation, the meaning is clear: The Holy One Blessed be He said to him: "'Hen' your days have drawn near to die" — categorically. This was very difficult for Moses to accept, and he answered: "But I praised You with 'Hen," and do You answer me with 'Hen'!" And to this the L-rd replied, that this is "measure for measure" for his also having said 'Hen' [categorically].

And, (in my humble opinion,) it is possible to answer that Moses' saying "They will not believe me" may have led some to come to doubt his prophecy, as in the episode of Korach. [For, although in the end, the truth of his prophecy was evident to all — as it is written (Devarim 11:2): "For it is not [with] your children [that I speak now], who did not know and who did not see the chastisement of the L-rd your G-d… (6): And what He wrought against Dathan and Aviram, the son of Eliav… (9): …but with you, whose eyes have seen the entire great deed of the L-rd, that He has wrought" — still, in the beginning, he suffered sorely at the hands of Korach, Dathan, and Aviram.

(Shemoth 4:2): "What is this in your hand? And he said: 'A staff.'" (see Rashi, to the effect that He said to Moses: "Mizeh ["From this"] that is in your hand, you deserve to be smitten" [for having wrongly suspected the innocent]. From this we can understand that in all instances of lashon hara — it being known from Tosefta Peah that punishment is exacted for them in this world, with the principal remaining [for punishment] in the world to come — there is no necessity of adducing a distant cause for his punishment, but [it can readily be understood] as proceeding from what is immediately "at hand."

And, even according to the second explanation in Rashi, it can be understood as His saying to him: "Is it not evident to all that it is [only] a staff, and that it cannot cause any great harm? I shall show you how 'the dread of death' can proceed from it." And, the analogue (along the same lines), that through lashon hara, a seemingly small thing can lead to "the dread of death."

(Ibid. 3): "And he threw it to the ground and it became a serpent" (see Rashi). It is also possible to say that He intimated to him that by words of lashon hara there was created the serpent that "prosecutes" man above, desiring to "bite" him.

(Ibid. 4): "Stretch out your hand and hold its tail." He thereby intimated to him that by merely fleeing it he had not yet rescued himself from it — until he had accepted his punishment [for speaking against Israel].

(Ibid. 5): "And he stretched out his hand and grasped it." It is not written "and held it" (as commanded), but "and grasped it," indicating that Moses did as the L-rd had commanded, and even more, for grasping it makes it more dangerous. But as soon as he had acquiesced [in his punishment], it was removed from him.

(Ibid.): "And it became a staff in his hand," specifically, to intimate that when one accepts upon him the suffering that is brought upon him, immediately, the din of Heaven departs from him.

And this will explain what we find in Avodah Zarah 16b: "The rabbis taught: When R. Eliezer was seized by the heretics, he was taken up to the scaffold for "judgment." The archon said to him: "An old man like you to engage in such frivolity!" He replied: "The Judge has my faith!" The archon thought that he was meant (when he had intended his Father in heaven), and he said to him: "Since you have taken on the faith of Dimus [(the idolatry of the archon)], you are free!" The idea is that since R. Eliezer had accepted G-d's judgment upon him, the din departed from him immediately and it entered the mind of the archon that he was meant, and he freed him!

(Shemoth 4:6): "And the L-rd said to him again: 'Put your hand into your bosom, etc.'" (see Rashi). In this instance, He also intimated to him that he had spoken lashon hara, and that because of this he would be stricken with leprosy. And even though in the beginning, he had already received his punishment in dread of the serpent, this ["Put your hand into your bosom, etc."] was because of the second thing he had said, i.e., "And they will not hearken to my voice." And, in truth, it was not so [i.e., that they did not hearken], it being written afterwards (Ibid. 31): "And the people believed, and they hearkened, etc."

(Ibid. 7): "And He said: 'Return your hand to your bosom'" — to show him that it was not the bosom which caused the leprosy, but the sin, and that when the sin was removed, the bosom itself would effect the cure of his hand.