Lessons

Sponsored l’illuy nishmas

Avraham Mordechai ben Yosef

Lesson #12

Please verbalize or
have in mind that you are studying this material as a merit for a specific
single and/or Jewish singles throughout the world.

Halachah

Deceptive Loshon
Horah

#1

1. If someone speaks loshon horah casually, as if he doesn’t
   know that what he’s saying is loshon horah, is that considered loshon
   horah?

1. It most certainly is.  This form of loshon horah is dubbed
   by our sages as “deceptive loshon horah”.  An example of this would be the
   Gemora Yerushalmi that we mentioned in yesterday’s lesson (see appendix
   below).

Loshon Horah
that’s derogatory but causes no harm

#2

1. My brother relayed to me some negative information about a
   sibling, but I didn’t believe him.  I’m wondering if that would be
   considered a violation of loshon horah on his part, since his words ended
   up causing no harm.

1. It would still be considered loshon horah.  As mentioned
   previously, loshon horah is defined as any form of communication that causes
   harm, even if it’s not derogatory; or, any form of communication that
   is derogatory, even if it causes no harm.  As a matter of fact, even
   if your brother knew from the outset that you would not believe him, he
   would still be in violation of loshon horah, since he spoke derogatory
   words against a fellow Jew.

Aggadah

This section is
formatted as a conversation between Oded and Menaseh.   Oded is encouraging his
friend Menaseh to be more careful in guarding his tongue from evil speech.  The
thoughts in this section are primarily based on the sefer, Shmiras Haloshon.

Menaseh:  You explained the posuk that commands us to
remember what happened to Miriam, so beautifully.  I’m wondering if you would
be able to briefly summarize the posuk with your insights.

Oded:  Absolutely!  The posuk states the following:

“Remember what Hashem your G-d did to Miriam
on the way when you left Egypt”.

There are 4 things that we need to zero in on, to have a
deeper understanding of the posuk.  They are as follows:

1. What:  Hashem smote Miriam with tzoras which is a
   very severe form of impurity that cannot be cured naturally.  One who has
   tzoras must leave civilization and is considered dead.
2. Who:  This severe punishment was brought upon
   Miriam who was a prophetess and a very righteous woman.  Her intentions
   were only for Moshe’s good and she revealed the loshon horah only to her
   very modest brother, Aharon.
3. Where:  This terrible punishment was brought upon
   Miriam while the Jewish nation was traveling.  This was a source of great
   embarrassment to her, as the entire nation had to stop and wait for 7 days
   until she was healed.
4. When:  This incident occurred shortly after the
   Jewish people left Egypt.  They had not yet learned about the severity of
   the sin of loshon horah.

Menaseh:  And what’s the point of all these insights?

Oded:  The point is that despite all the mitigating
factors, Hashem punished Miriam so severely.  It provides us with an added
insight into just how much Hashem despises the sin of loshon horah.  All of
Miriam’s tremendous merits could not save here from the awful punishment which
she received for her ever so small infraction.

If you have any
questions regarding these lessons, feel free to contact Rabbi Faivel Adelman by
hitting the reply button.

For information
about sponsorship opportunities, send a message to the following email
address:  lessonaday@yahoo.com

If you know others
who would appreciate this program, please encourage them to join.  The more
people participating, the greater the zechus!  In addition, you will have a
share in the merit of anyone who improves their speech as a result of you
signing them onto this program!!

Sources

Halachah

1) Sefer Chofetz Chaim Sec. 1 Chap. 3 Par.
5

2) Sefer Chofetz Chaim Sec. 1 Chap. 3 Par. 6

Agaddah

Sefer Shmiras Haloshon Sha’ar Hatevunah Chap. 12

Appendix

The Gemora Yerushalmi (Meseches Peah Chap. 1 Hal.1) relates
the following:  There was once a workforce setting out to work.  One of the
workers, a fellow named Bar Chovetz, didn’t show up that day.  His coworkers,
in an attempt to surreptitiously bring this to the attention of the taskmaster,
began asking each other: “what shall we eat today?”  One of them responded:
“let’s eat chuvtzah”, a type of legume.  When the taskmaster heard this he
exclaimed: “hey, that reminds me, where is Bar Chovetz”.  This, said Rebbi
Yochanan, is considered underhanded loshon horah.