Parshat Tazria
April 4t-5th, 2003
3 Nisan, 5763

One aspect of Jewish ethics that has become quite well known in recent years is the Torah’s prohibition of loshon ha’ra (literally, "evil tongue")--a commandment to avoid engaging in slander and hurtful gossip, even if the information is 100% true. Thanks to the "public relations" campaign of various educational groups in the Jewish world, awareness of loshon ha’ra (and of its spiritual dangers) may well be at an all-time peak, with books, cassettes and other educational materials galore to help us understand, and battle against, this serious transgression. [To find out more, a good place to start is with a volume entitled, Chafetz Chaim: A Lesson A Day, which is available from Jewish bookstores.]

A person could reasonably ask: What is so gosh-awful terrible about a little juicy gossip here and there…especially if I think the person in question is a real jerk?!

Well, besides being a violation of the great Rabbi Hillel’s dictum ("Don’t treat somebody else in a way that you would not like being treated"), I guess it ultimately comes down to what kind of people we want to be in this world. Do we want to be destroyers…or creators? Do we desire to use our G-d-given power of speech, which (our Sages tell us) is one of the unique characteristics that distinguishes us from the animals, to deride and damage our fellow human beings, and to debase our own tzelem Elokim (divine image) in the process? Or, alternatively, do we want to find ways to use the (powerful) power of speech to uplift, inspire, give hope and add to the amount of holiness in the world?

This week’s Torah portion discusses in detail a strange and unsightly disease, tzara’as (usually mistranslated as, "leprosy") that, in ancient times, could afflict someone’s clothing, household or skin. Our Sages explain that this was no illness caused by a bacterium or a virus, but rather, the physical manifestation of a spiritual problem. And just guess which problem caused it. You got it: loshon ha’ra--that destructive use of our power of speech to hurt and defame others!

Remember that the Torah teaches (in Genesis) that G-d created this glorious universe through His power of speech. ("Let there be light…," etc.) Since the Torah never tells us anything unless it will help us understand our own mission and responsibility in life, we humans can conclude that speech, in its essence, contains the capacity to create and to give life! Perhaps we cannot give birth to black holes, planets, or new animal species through what we say, but the Jewish mystical sources say that the words we use do create spiritual worlds and energies, whether positive or negative. So the question becomes: In every utterance we make, do we want to be CREATORS or DESTROYERS?!

The Midrash on this parsha beautifully portrays the true (and awesome) nature of this choice we face. King David writes in Psalm 139: "Back and front You [G-d] have formed me…" On a deeper level, this part of the verse could be understood: "After and before, You formed me." The Midrash explains that on the one hand, man’s soul was formed (on the first day of Creation) BEFORE all the animals appeared. On the other hand, he did not appear on the scene as a full human being until AFTER the animals were created (on the sixth day). "If he [man] is worthy," the Midrash concludes, "we say to him, ‘You were the first of all the acts of Creation!’ But if not, we say to him, ‘A mosquito preceded you, an earthworm preceded you!’

If we act in accordance with the loftiness of our human soul (neshama), created in the image of G-d, then we are the "first," the greatest, of all of Hashem’s works. If we serve our yetzer ha’ra (evil inclination) though, and debase our soul through transgressions in thought, word and deed, then we are the most degraded of G-d’s creations--less worthy than the lowliest gnat, who was never created with our supreme potential in the first place. (And living in Savannah, I know about gnats—trust me!)

Loshon ha’ra desecrates our humanity. Rather than being the princely steward of the King’s Creation, as G-d intended, we become the (blabber-mouthed) disgrace of Creation!

We don’t get the affliction of tzara’as nowadays, since the requisite repentance process requires that the Temple in Jerusalem be standing (as detailed in next week’s parsha). But the transgression that was its cause is still with us. If no blemish appears on our skin anymore, loshon ha’ra nonetheless can leave a permanent stain on the soul (not to mention the damage it causes to others). Before we speak, we really should consider the awesome power we have…and the possible consequences of the words we say. As with every gift that G-d has bestowed on us, we can use our speech to become more elevated and spiritually refined…or just the opposite. I’m quite sure He’s hoping we’ll choose wisely.

GOOD SHABBOS!!!

My e-mail address is yosefe@comcast.net

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Rabbi Yosef Edelstein, Savannah Kollel. Phone: 912-351-0469; fax: 354-9923