Shemirat HaLashon שמירת הלשון

The apothegm of Chazal (Yoma 9b) is well known, that the generation of the second Temple possessed Torah and mitzvoth and its destruction was due to the sin of sinath chinam [vain hatred] and lashon hara. And the Rishonim write that if there was power in this sin to destroy a house that was already built, how much more so would it prevent its rebuilding. And this is intimated in Chazal's apothegm: "Any generation in whose days the Temple is not rebuilt is [like one] in whose days it is destroyed." And if so, we must perforce strengthen ourselves to correct this sin; that is, to take care not to stumble in it. For, how long will we remain in exile?

But, in truth, let us reflect who can correct this sin? The plain person can certainly not do so correctly, since he does not know what lashon hara is and what rechiluth is and what enters into their categories. So that their fundamental correction depends upon one who is a Torah scholar. He can reflect upon their halachoth and take care to fulfill them.

Chazal have said (Yerushalmi Sanhedrin 2:6): "When King Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh, transgressing (Devarim 17:17: 'And he [a king] shall not multiply for himself wives,' the yod of 'and he shall not multiply' [lo yarbeh] ascended before the Blessed L-rd and said: 'A deed of gift which is nullified partially is nullified entirely.' If Solomon nullifies me, who will fulfill me?' [That is, this mitzvah applies only to a king.] The Holy One Blessed be He answered: 'Solomon and a thousand like him will be nullified, but a letter of My Torah will not be nullified!' — whence it is seen that the Holy One Blessed be He is categorically opposed to one letter of the Torah being hefker ["abandoned"] to all. And if we ask ourselves what in the Torah has been abandoned, we find that the sin of lashon hara is hefker [i.e., not considered a sin] in the eyes of those who have not tasted the taste of Torah.

[And in our many sins, even one who can understand the dinim of the Torah does not find this sin as stringent as the others. A proof of this is that if it happened to someone that somehow kosher meat were mixed up with meat that was neveilah [carrion] or treifah [lit., "torn"], and he stumbled in this [i.e., he ate the latter], his heart would be bitter within him, and it would literally pain his soul, and he would fast over it and all his life remember that he had stumbled in the sin of neveilah and treifah — but not with this sin! Even if he had stumbled in verbal wronging or in whitening one's face [with shame] or in lashon hara or rechiluth itself — for all of which there are explicit negative commandments in the Torah — and even if he had done all of them together, if he had instigated a quarrel in which there were verbal wronging and whitening of the face and lashon hara and rechiluth combined, his heart would not be in too much of a turmoil because of this. And even if after the quarrel it dawned upon him that he had caused all this himself, still his soul would not be so troubled by this that he would go to a sage to seek counsel for this as he would for neveiloth and treifoth and the like. Another proof: He would remember it for only a few days, after which it would be forgotten entirely, as if he had never tasted the taste of these sins in all of his days. All of this is clear proof that the yetzer hara prevents even the man of heart from applying his eyes and heart to these things.]

If so, how much must a Torah scholar, at least strengthen himself to be careful of these issurim relating to the faculty of speech [i.e., lashon hara, rechiluth, verbal wronging and whitening of the face] so that the words of the L-rd not be as hefker.

Now according to what we have explained above, there is dependent upon this the building of the future Temple [And the sefarim (the sacred books) have written in the name of the holy Zohar that if [even] one synagogue observed the trait of shalom correctly, we could merit the coming of the Messiah. If so, the coming of the Messiah is in our hands, (but we must first take care to avoid sinath chinam and lashon hara)]. And all who strengthen themselves to correct this sin will have a share in the future Temple; for without them, the Temple would be in ruins forever, G-d forbid.

Now if we were authorized to build the Temple and money were required, it is well known that each Jew would willingly contribute all that he could, so that he, too, would have a share in the Temple. Now, in our case, money is not required at all! Only to strengthen ourselves and to distance ourselves from the grave sin of lashon hara and sinath chinam and to hold onto the trait of shalom. By doing so, the sin will be corrected and we will merit the coming of the Messiah and the building of the Temple.

And how exalted will be the name of that man who was the cause of the rebuilding of the Temple, as we find in Nechemiah (Chapter 3), where are recorded for all time the names of those men who donated a portion of the wall of Jerusalem. How much more so, [one who gives] for the Temple itself!