Shemirat HaLashon שמירת הלשון

How great is the power of lashon hara, which is over and against three grave transgressions, as stated in Arachin 15b. And in Midrash Shocher Tov: "The school of R. Yishmael taught: 'All who speak lashon hara mount iniquity over and against three transgressions: idolatry, illicit relations, and the spilling of blood, it being written here (Psalms 12:4): 'the tongue that speaks "great" [i.e., slanderous] things'; but, in respect to idolatry (Shemoth 32:31): 'I pray you — this people has sinned a great sin'; in respect to illicit relations (Bereshith 39:9): 'And how shall I do this great evil?'; in respect to the spilling of blood (Ibid. 4:13): 'My sin is too great to bear'" — whence [("things" - plural)] it is derived that lashon hara is severer than these three sins." Another explanation: One who kills a man kills only one soul; but one who speaks lashon hara kills three: the speaker, the accepter, and the one spoken about. Whence do you derive this? From Doeg, who spoke lashon hara about Achimelech before Saul, and the three of them were killed: Saul, who accepted it; Achimelech, who was spoken about; and Doeg, who spoke it. Saul, who accepted it, viz. (I Samuel 31:6): "And Saul died, etc."; Achimelech, who was spoken about, viz. (Ibid. 22:16): "Die, shall you die, Achimelech"; and Doeg, who spoke it, who was driven out of the world [to come], viz. (Psalms 52:7): "G-d also will destroy you forever" from life in the world [to come]. And what caused this? Lashon hara.

And it is stated in Sifrei, and also in Arachin 15a that our forefathers tried the L-rd ten times, and their decree was sealed only for the sin of lashon hara alone, as it is written (Bamidbar 14:22): "And they tried Me this ten times, and they did not heed My voice," and (Malachi 2:17): "You have wearied the L-rd with your words."

And thus have we found in Midrash Shocher Tov and in Yerushalmi Peah 1:1, that in the days of Achav, even though they served idols, they were victorious in war because there was no lashon hara among them. The proof: They did not slander Ovadiah [to Achav] for hiding a hundred prophets in two caves, and no man of them revealed that there was a prophet in Israel aside from Eliyahu, as it is written (I Malachi 18:22): "I alone have been left as a prophet to the L-rd" — even though everyone knew of it. For they would give Ovadiah bread and water to Ovadiah to feed them with. And in the end of the days of Saul, there was slander among them as with Doeg and the Zifim. But there was no idolatry among them as there was in the days of Achav. And there were young children among them who were conversant in forty-nine facets of Torah, [and yet] they went to war and were defeated.

And it [lashon hara] causes the Shechinah to depart from Israel, as it is written in Midrash Rabbah, Parshath Shoftim: R. Mona said: Everyone who speaks lashon hara causes the Shechinah to depart from "below to above." Know this to be so, for what did David say (Psalms 57:5): "My soul is in the midst of lions. I lie down (in the midst of) those that send out flames, (those) sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongue is a sharpened sword." What follows? "Rise above the heavens, O L-rd, etc." David said: "Master of the world, what is the Shechinah doing below? Remove the Shechinah to the heavens!" And thus we find in Midrash Rabbah, Parshath Tetze: "The Holy One Blessed be He said: "In this world, because there was lashon hara among you, I removed the Shechinah from among you." And, similarly, in Arachin 15b: R. Chisda said in the name of Mar Ukva: "[About] one who speaks lashon hara, the Holy One Blessed be He said: 'I and he cannot live [together] in the world, etc.'" And Jerusalem was destroyed in the time of the second Temple only because of the sin of the speakers of lashon hara and the vain hatred that they harbored [see Yoma 9b and Gittin 56a and b, in the name of R. Elazar, as explained by Rashi.]

And one who, by his lashon hara and rechiluth, stirs up strife between good companions and causes quarrels among them, G-d forbid, is abominated because of this before the L-rd. And this sin is more severe than that of pride, lying, spilling innocent blood, etc., as written in Mishlei 6:16-20: "These six are hated by the L-rd, and the seventh is the abomination of His soul: haughty eyes, a false tongue, and hands spilling innocent blood; a heart plotting vain thoughts, feet hastening to run to evil; a false witness spouting lies, and the inciter of strife among brothers" — concerning which Chazal have said (Vayikrah Rabbah 16): "This ['the inciter of strife'] is 'the seventh,' that is more severe than all.

And more than this we find in the Midrash, that the Holy One Blessed be He does not want to associate at all with a man of lashon hara to rescue him from his troubles. And there is no remedy for a man other than to guard his tongue from evil and to hide himself always from sitting in the company of men who speak demeaningly of their friends.

And this is the language of the Midrash and Sifrei Zuta [adduced by Yalkut, Parshath Tetze]: "The Holy One Blessed be He said: 'From all the troubles that come upon you I can rescue you. But from lashon hara [slander]? Hide yourself and you will not be hurt!' An analogy: A rich man who loved a villager went to visit him. There was a mad dog there who bit everyone. The rich man said to his beloved: 'My son, if you are in debt to anyone, I will pay your debt, and don't hide from him. But if you see a mad dog, hide from him. For if he bites you, I don't know what I can do for you.' Thus says the Holy One Blessed be He (Iyyov 5:19): 'From six troubles shall He rescue you … but from the lash of the tongue — hide!'"

See the aptness of these words of Chazal, who compared one afflicted by this sin to one bitten by a mad dog. For, in truth, both are alike. As stated in Yoma 84a: "One bitten by a mad dog has no cure." And about lashon hara they have also said that there is no remedy for one who is habituated to this sin, G-d forbid, viz. (Arachin 15b): "If he has already slandered, there is no remedy for him."

How apt is this analogy of our sages of blessed memory. For when we reflect upon it, we find in it all the signs described by our sages of blessed memory, in Yoma 83b, of a rabid dog — wherefore there also rests upon him [the slanderer] the spirit of uncleanliness that reposes on that dog. This is what the Gemara says there: "The Rabbis taught: 'Five things were said of a rabid dog: His mouth hangs open; his spittle drips; his ears hang down; his tail hangs down on his hindquarters; and he walks on the sides of the public thoroughfare. Others say: He also barks without being heard … One who rubs against him is in danger of dying. One who is bitten by him dies. 'One who rubs against him is in danger of dying': What is the remedy? Let him doff his mantle, throw it before him, and run.'"

We shall now explain:

"His mouth hangs open" — This is also the way of the man of lashon hara. His mouth is always open to speak against anyone he meets, child or adult.

"his spittle drips" — Because a foul spirit reposes upon him, and the power of anger and audacity implanted in him intensifies itself within him [(Beitzah 25b): "Three are audacious. The most audacious of the animals is the dog"], [he wants] to swallow anything that he chances upon, wherefore his mouth [always] drips spittle, especially so, in that his mouth is [always] open, and there is no restraint for it. This is the way of the confirmed speaker of lashon hara — to vent his anger at whoever he wants to.

And there is in this, something [even] more apt. Just as it is the way of a rabid dog to drip spittle, the mucous of the dog, which is certainly repulsive — especially that of a rabid dog — [it follows that] wherever he was, even for a few moments, there is recognized, even after he has left that spot, the dripped spittle of his constantly open mouth. And this is the way of the man of lashon hara. His mouth hangs open like the mouth of this dog. And he raises his stench wherever he goes, and he leaves an impression on that spot.

There are yet three more signs of a rabid dog. His ears hang down, etc. That is, the rabid dog, aside from his bite being extremely dangerous, as mentioned by Chazal, has a great desire to bite anyone who comes before him. And so that people not hide from him because of the great danger owing to the evil spirit reposing upon him, as written there, he hides and conceals himself in every possible way, and suddenly he pounces upon the person and bites him. That is why he walks (and does not run) on the sides of the public thoroughfares and not on the thoroughfares themselves facing the people [(for that is where people walk, viz. Bava Kamma 60b: "A man should not walk along the sides of the roads, etc.")], so that people should think that he is going slowly on his way. And because of this, his ears also hang down. For it is well known that the Holy One Blessed be He has given a dog an acute sense of hearing to help him protect his master and himself from danger. And so, this dog, who wants to attack everyone, walks along the sides of the road with his ears dragging, so that he appears to everyone as going his own way and not wanting to hear anything on his sides. And that is why his tail also hangs down on his hindquarters, unlifted. All this to show everyone that he is quiet and secure and has no desire to rouse his senses to attack the people at his sides. And some say that he also barks without being heard. All because of the same reason, so that everyone think that he is the very best of dogs, and will not guard themselves from him at all. And all of these things he does through the agency of the evil spirit that rests upon him.

And thus, exactly, is the man of lashon hara. Aside from always probing the houses of the city in order to have what to relate thereafter in the marketplace, he is versatile in changing. For when he is adversely publicized as one who goes peddling [his tales] from one to the other and becomes like a thorn in the eyes of the people of the city, and everyone guards himself against him, he walks on the sides of the public thoroughfare, enwrapped in silence, as if nothing concerns him, in order to spy out everything going on in the city — secret and otherwise. And, correspondingly, when he tells his lashon hara and rechiluth [talebearing], he does so deceptively, as if speaking in pure innocence, not telling the whole story, but intimating — whereby his interlocutor "figures out the rest." And his ears drag, and his tail hangs between his legs. There also applies to him what was said about the aforementioned dog. That is, even though there burn in his midst all the senses of feeling, and, especially, that of hearing, to hear of everything that is done in the city and to run and peddle it from one to the other — in spite of this, in public, he appears to the eye of the beholder as one who suppresses all of his feelings, is equable to all, and wants to hear nothing of what is done among people — all, so that the people of the city not guard themselves against him and everything be revealed to him. "And others say: He also barks without being heard." For in his lashon hara, he wounds in secret (as do those writers of wrongs [called "paskevilim"], about whom it is written (Devarim 27:24):"Cursed be he who smites his neighbor in secret.") — all so that his neighbor will be unable to guard himself against him and he will be able to attack him, like the aforementioned dog. Therefore, there reposes upon him the same spirit of uncleanliness that reposes upon a mad dog, and the Sifrei refers to him as "one bitten by a dog." For upon him, too, there reposes the spirit of uncleanliness. [The end of the comparison is self-explanatory. See the end of Chapter 16.]

And what need is there for me to elaborate on the greatness of this sin, when they have already said that he [a speaker of lashon hara] is like one who transgresses the five books of the Torah and a denier of the Deity, G-d forbid. For this is the language of the Midrash Rabbah (16:1): "R. Yehoshua b. Levi said: Five "toroth" are written in the parshah: (Vayikra 13:59): "This is the Torah of the plague-spot of leprosy"; (Ibid. 14:54): "This is the Torah for all plague-spots of leprosy"; (Ibid. 14:2): "This shall be the Torah of the leper"; (Ibid. 14:32): This is the Torah for him with a plague-spot of leprosy"; (Ibid. 14:57): "This is the Torah of leprosy" ["hametzora," (acronym for)] "hamotzi shem ra," ("one who spreads a false report") — to teach you that one who speaks lashon hara transgresses five books of Torah.

And Chazal have said in Arachin 15b: "R. Yochanan said in the name of R. Yossi b. Zimra: If one speaks lashon hara, it is as if he would deny the Deity, as it is written (Psalms 12:5): 'Who have said: "With our tongue will we be mighty, our lips are with us. Who is L-rd over us?'" The reason is as they have written in the books of Yereim: It is known that one who wants to speak lashon hara looks all around to make sure that the one he wants to talk about is not there, as if the Eye above did not see, G-d forbid, as Chazal have said about a thief [(who steals at night)]. And in Midrash Tanchuma, Metzora 2: "[The sin of] lashon hara is grave; for one does not utter it until he denies the Deity."

Therefore, one who has a brain in his head will see to it always to spur himself and to fight the war of the L-rd with his yetzer not to be ensnared in this great, bitter sin. And then, happy is his portion in this world and in the world to come.