Shemirat HaLashon שמירת הלשון

How great is the punishment of the man of lashon hara, who brings upon himself plague-spots because of his speech and becomes thereby a "confirmed" leper, as stated in Arachin 15b: "If one speaks lashon hara, plague-spots come upon him, as it is written (Psalms 101:5): 'He who slanders his neighbor in secret, him shall I confirm [as a leper].' Resh Lakish said (Vayikra 14:2): "This shall be the law of the metzora [the leper]" — the law of the motzi shem ra [the slanderer]."

And see how stringent the Torah was with the uncleanliness of the metzora, which is more severe than the uncleanliness of a zav and a keri [(types of genital discharges)] and dead-body uncleanliness, his not being permitted to come [even] into the camp of Israel, as it is written (Vayikra 13:46): "Solitary shall he sit; outside the camp [i.e., the three camps] is his dwelling."

And it is stated there (Arachin 16b): "Why did the Torah single out the leper for 'Solitary shall he sit'? He [(by his slander, for which he was stricken with leprosy)] separated between a man and his wife, between a man and his neighbor; therefore, the Torah writes 'Solitary shall he sit, etc.' And R. Yehoshua b. Levi said: "Why did the Torah single out the leper for bringing two birds for his cleansing? (Ibid. 14:4). The Holy One Blessed be He said: 'He committed an act of prattling' [i.e., slander]; therefore, let him bring a sacrifice of 'prattlers' [i.e., 'chirpers']."

And we learn in Sifrei (Devarim 24:8): "Be heedful of the plague-spot of leprosy, etc.," followed by (Ibid. 9): "Remember what the L-rd your G-d did to Miriam, etc." What is the rationale of the juxtaposition? We are hereby taught that she was punished only because of lashon hara [(Miriam having slandered Moses because of the Kushite woman that he had taken.)] Now does this not follow a fortiori? viz.: If Miriam, who had spoken thus only of her younger brother, was punished, then one who speaks thus of someone greater than he, how much more so [should he be punished!] Another interpretation: Now, if Miriam, who, when she spoke, was heard by no one but the Holy One Blessed be He alone, as it is written (Numbers 12:2): 'And the L-rd heard,' was punished thus, how much more so, one who speaks demeaningly of his friend in public!"

And they also expounded (in Vayikra Rabbah 16) the verse (Koheleth 5:5): "Do not allow your mouth to cause sin to your flesh" — do not speak lashon hara with your mouth to punish all of your flesh with this sin. The Rabbis applied this verse to Miriam: "Do not allow your mouth" — you, Miriam, as it is written (Numbers 12:10): "And, behold, Miriam was leprous, [white] as snow." (Koheleth, Ibid.): "that it was an error" — as it is written (Numbers 12:11): "wherein we [(Aaron and Miriam)] have erred and wherein we have sinned." (Koheleth, Ibid.): "Why should G-d be angry at your voice?" — at the lashon hara you have spoken against Moses, as it is written (Numbers 12:9): "and the anger of the L-rd burned against them, and He departed." (Koheleth, Ibid.): "and [He shall] destroy the work of your hands." R. Yochanan said: "With her mouth she sinned, and all her limbs were smitten, as it is written (Numbers 12:10): 'And the cloud departed from the tent, and, behold, Miriam was leprous, [white] as snow.' This is the intent of: "Do not allow your mouth to cause sin to [destroy] your flesh" … (Mishlei 21:33): 'He who guards his mouth and his tongue guards his soul from troubles.'"

And we learn in Devarim Rabbah: "R. Chaggai said: Plague-spots come only for lashon hara. The Rabbis said: Know this to be true, for Miriam the tzaddeketh, because she spoke lashon hara against Moses her brother, plague-spots came upon her, as it is written (Devarim 24:9): 'Remember what the L-rd your G-d did to Miriam on the way when you went out of Egypt.' And this is the intent of the verse (Psalms 50:20): 'You sit and speak against your brother; against your mother's son you utter slander.' R. Yehoshua b. Levi explained: "If you have taught your tongue to speak against your brother from your father, but not from your mother, in the end, "against [even] your mother's son you will utter slander." For whoever presumes to speak [slander] against him who is greater than he, causes evil to himself, plague-spots drawing near to him. And if you do not believe this, Miriam the tzaddeketh is the paradigm for all the speakers of lashon hara — 'Remember what the L-rd your G-d did to Miriam, etc.' R. Shimon said: Now if with Miriam the tzaddeketh, who did not intend to speak lashon hara, but who spoke for the good of her brother, this [was the result], then those evildoers, whose intent it is to speak lashon hara against their neighbors to cut off their lives, how much more so will the Holy One Blessed be He cut off their tongues, as it is written (Psalms 12:4): 'The L-rd will cut off all the slippery [i.e., slanderous]lips.'"

We also find that the spies, because of the sin of lashon hara, died an unnatural death, as it is written (Sotah 35a) (Bamidbar 14:37): "And they died, the men who had uttered an evil report of the land, etc." R. Shimon b. Lakish said: "They died an unnatural death." And it is stated there in the Gemara: "We are hereby taught that their tongues descended to their navels, and worms left their mouths onto their tongues, and from their tongues they descended to their navels."

And, in Arachin 15a: "Come and see how great is the power of motzi shem ra. Whence is this derived? From the spies, viz.: Now if when one utters a false report about trees and stones, this [is the result], then if one utters a false report about his friend, how much more so!"

From all this we can learn the greatness of the punishment [for lashon hara], one being punished for it by plague-spots and by other [dire] punishments. And, G-d's measure of reward being [proportionately] greater than his measure of punishment, we can understand how great is the reward of him who guards himself against this sin.