Shemirat HaLashon שמירת הלשון

We find in the Torah that when a man commits a sin whose intentional transgression requires a sin-offering, that the blood of the sin-offering is sprinkled on the outer alter and that if the anointed priest committed the sin, its sprinkling must be on the inner alter and the holy parocheth [(the curtain separating the Holy from the Holy of Holies)]. The reason is as follows: For every sin that a man commits, the "blemish" rises on high in the holy world according to the greatness of his soul. And it is known (see Ta'anith 5a) that everything we see in this world has its counterpart above. There is a Jerusalem below and there is a Jerusalem above. There is a mountain of the L-rd, the Temple Mount, below and a "mountain of the L-rd" above. There is a place called the "camp of the Shechinah," the court of the tent of meeting, below, and also, above, concerning which Scripture says (Psalms 29:3): "And who will stand in His holy place?" When a man sins, he brings uncleanliness above into the holy place, the court of the tent of meeting above. Therefore, here he must sprinkle on the outer altar, whereby the uncleanliness above is removed. But the blemish of the anointed priest, whose level of holiness is extremely great, reaches the highest place, the tent of meeting above, wherefore, here, too, he must sprinkle on the tent of meeting.

Now we sometimes find, even with a plain person, that because of the greatness of his misdeed, his sin reaches on high in the holy, awesome place, opposite the holy of holies, wherefore the Torah commanded to sprinkle for him opposite that place. We find this in the instance of [the cleansing of] a leper, as it is written in the Torah (Vayikra 14:16): "And the Cohein shall dip… and he shall sprinkle of the oil with his finger seven times before the L-rd." And we find in Torath Cohanim (and in Rashi): "opposite the holy of holies." The reason: Because of the greatness of his misdeed [(lashon hara)], his sin reached above, into the holy of holies, wherefore the sprinkling must be, likewise, opposite that place, in order to cleanse him.

How much must a man shudder when he remembers that his sins have reached until the holy of holies. And, in truth, we find the likes of this in Tanna d'bei Eliyahu, that the lashon hara that a man speaks rises until the throne of glory, as it is written (Psalms 73:9): "They have set their mouth in the heavens, and their tongue walks the earth."

More than this, we can see something wondrous and awesome. When the high-priest entered once a year into the holy of holies, his first service, prior to receiving the blood of the bullock and its sprinkling was the smoking of the incense, as written in the Torah. And we find (Yoma 49a) that the incense atoned for the sin of lashon hara, as they say there: "Let a thing done in silence [(the smoking of the incense)] come and atone for an act [(lashon hara)] done in silence." From here we can understand the greatness of the harm of the tongue, which reaches until the holy of holies, completely within. And this (service) requires the high-priest, the holiest man in all of Israel, and he must atone there "before the L-rd."

And reflect further, my brother, that even though the high-priest was permitted to enter completely within, once a year, he was permitted to do so only with the incense cloud, to remove the sin of lashon hara. (Without it, he was liable to death.) And, afterwards, the sprinkling of the blood. It is seen, then, that this sin holds up all the atonement of the inner service. "'Chukah' [a statute] is written in that respect." (Yoma 40a)

All of us can also learn proper conduct from this: that when one comes to amend his actions and to repent before the L-rd for his sins, he should first see to it to correct this sin of lashon hara, after which his repentance will be accepted. As we see with the high-priest, that before he came to atone for the sin of defiling the sanctuary and its holy things, though it, too, is punishable by kareth, the Torah still commanded him to atone for the sin of lashon hara by means of the incense.