Shemirat HaLashon שמירת הלשון

We learned (Arachin 16a): "The me'il (the robe of the high-priest) atoned for lashon hara, the Holy One Blessed be He saying: 'Let that which produces a sound [(the bells on the robe)] atone for the sound of the voice' [i.e., lashon hara]." And this is so, only if his acts [of lashon hara] were not of avail [to produce quarrels and the like]; but if they were, plague-spots come upon him." With the help of the Blessed L-rd, we will explain the relevant section in the Torah, word by word:

(Shemoth 28:31): "And you shall make the me'il of the ephod [i.e., belted by the ephod] entirely of blue wool [tcheleth]." It would seem that tcheleth was necessary because of what our sages of blessed memory have said about tzitzith (Menachoth 89a), that tcheleth is reminiscent of [the color of] the sea; the sea, of the firmament; and the firmament, of the Throne of Glory. That is, he shall remember thereby that he will come before the Throne of Glory. Similarly, in our instance. It is stated in Tanna d'bei Eliyahu, that the lashon hara that one speaks ascends opposite the Throne of Glory, as it is written (Psalms 73a): "They have placed their mouths in the skies, and their tongue walks the earth." Since he is clothed in tcheleth, he will remember and reflect upon whither his words ascend, and he will guard himself against this.

(Shemoth 28:32): "And the mouth of its head shall be [folded over] within it." This intimates what Chazal have said on the verse (Job 26:7): "'He suspends the earth on nothingness [blimah]' — On whom does the earth depend? On him who clamps his mouth shut [bolem piv] in a time of quarrel." That is, he suppresses all his speech then, that it not go forth.

(Shemoth, Ibid.): "A border shall there be for its (his) mouth roundabout, the work of a weaver": That is, he should imagine that on his mouth roundabout there is the work of a weaver, his lips being woven one to the other, so that he cannot open them.

(Ibid.): "As the opening of a suit of armor shall it [its neck-opening] be for it, so that it not be torn." Why need the Torah add "as the opening of a suit of armor"? Is it not sufficient to have stated "And the mouth of its head shall be [folded over] within it. A border shall there be for its mouth"? It must intimate, then, that just as one dons armor for protection, that he not be harmed by the arrows shot at him, so, if one clamps shut his mouth, it affords him protection against his antagonist, and, in the end, it serves to silence him by giving him no answer. If he answered him, however, the quarrel would widen and he would come to blows, as it is written (Ibid. 21:18): "And if men quarrel, and a man strike his neighbor with stone or fist, etc." And the Holy One Blessed be He is also his Protector because of this, because "the earth depends upon him," as mentioned above.

(Ibid. 33-34): "And you shall make on its (lower) hem pomegranates of purple … and golden bells in their midst roundabout [one bell between every two pomegranates]. A golden bell and a pomegranate [next to it], a golden bell and a pomegranate, on the hem of the me'il roundabout. The allusion here would seem to be to what Chazal have said (Chullin 89a): "What is a man's 'trade'? Let him make himself a mute. I might think, even to words of Torah. It is, therefore, written (Psalms 58:2): 'Righteousness shall you speak.'" It is found, then, according to this, that whenever one has time, he should not remain idle, but he should learn Torah. And the learning should not be silent, as we find in Eruvin 54a. And when one cannot learn Torah, whatever the reason might be, he should make himself a mute, who cannot open his mouth. And for this reason there were on the hem of the me'il, "a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate," alluding to the study of Torah, as mentioned above. And, in the midst of this, when he cannot learn, he should embrace the trait of silence [as our sages of blessed memory have said (Avoth 1:16): "R. Shimon ben Gamliel said: 'All my life, I grew up among the wise, and I found nothing better for the body than silence.'"] And this is alluded to by the pomegranate next to the bell; that is, like a pomegranate, that makes no sound. And, if one conducts himself in this manner, the Torah assures us (Ibid. 35): "and its sound will be heard when he comes to the sanctuary." That is, the sound of his prayer and his Torah will be accepted on high, which will not be the case if he does not guard his faculty of speech and mixes his speech with lashon hara, rechiluth, and the like, in which case the forbidden speech will defile his words of holiness and they will not be accepted on high, as mentioned above in Chapter I.

And (Shemoth, Ibid.): "…and when he leaves and he will not die" is to be understood in the same vein. That is when his time to leave the world arrives, he will find there everything that he said "before the L-rd," as we find in the holy Zohar: "Even a solitary breath that leaves a man's mouth is not lost." "and he will not die": That is, through this, he will have eternal life, as it is written (Vayikra 18:5): "And he shall live through them."