This week's parshiyos deal with the laws of
tzora'as, the particular condition that comes as a
punishment for slanderous speech, a sin whose penalty is
mighty indeed. "And the diseased man in whom this plague is,
his clothes shall be rent, and the hair of his head shall
grow long, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip,
and shall cry: Unclean, unclean." He is isolated from society
in a debasing manner for an unlimited period until the
illness leaves, even if it takes several years.
This period of isolation is designed to teach him a lesson.
It is a yardstick for the sin. The gemora states:
"Said Reish Lokish: Why is it written, `This shall be the
laws of the metzora'? This shall be the law of the one
who slanders (a homiletic `play' on the word metzora
produces the explanation of motzi shem ra)'." This
period of confinement is a period of introspection, a living
lesson to highlight to him the gravity of his sin.
"Said Reish Lokish: Why is it written, `Just as if a snake
shall bite you without venom, so is there no advantage to be
gained by one who speaks evilly? (Koheles 10)' In the
days to come, all the wild animals will converge upon the
snake and argue: A lion preys but eats his victim; a wolf
preys and devours its victim (that is, they have both
pleasure and benefit from their hunting, from their evil
drive), but you, the snake, what pleasure do you derive from
biting your victim (when you do not eat him)? (It is known
that the snake does not taste the food it eats, all the less
so does he have pleasure from biting.) And the snake will
answer: And what pleasure does one who slanders, derive from
his evil words?"
The snake was the first creature that spoke loshon
hora, when he told Chava that "Hashem knows that on the
day you eat from it, you will be like gods, knowing good and
evil." Rashi comments that the snake implied, "Every
craftsman despises his fellow craftsmen," meaning that by
eating from the Tree of Knowledge, the level of their Free
Choice would be elevated, and their choosing good would be
ever so much greater in value. Indeed, when man chooses Good,
he is capable of creating spiritual spheres and worlds that
no other creature can match, not even the angels. The snake
injected the element of loshon hora, however, by
saying that Hashem begrudged man, as it were, an added
measure of intelligence, as if "every craftsman is envious of
his fellow craftsmen."
What was his punishment for this? That he, himself, would
serve as a living testimonial to warn man against this
weakness. And this is equally his rehabilitation, to serve as
a perennial lesson of the useless bite of the tongue being
comparable to the bite of the snake. Just as we wonder what
advantage the snake has in biting, so must we ask what
benefit and pleasure can the slander monger have from wagging
an evil tongue.
Let us attempt to understand. We cannot help but witness what
a strong inclination man has to speak evilly of others to the
extent that he finds it extremely difficult to wean himself
of this evil practice. How, then, can we categorically state
that the slanderer has no pleasure in evil speech?
The answer can be found in Sha'ar Haknia, Chovos
Halevovos: "It was told that an upright man was once
maligned by another. When he learned of it, he sent his
slanderer a basket laden with lush fruit, with a note
attached, `I learned that you enriched me with a gift of your
merits, and I hereby show my appreciation accordingly.' [This
man actually felt obliged to thank his maligner, for by
speaking evil of him, the latter had caused his merits to
transfer to the credit of the subject of his evil talk.]
"Another upright person said: Many people will come to their
final reckoning, only to find that many merits which they had
not earned themselves are now credited to them. Upon denying
having performed those good acts, they will be informed that
these were credited to them as a transfer from others who
spoke evil of them. Similarly, merits which they expected to
be on their ledger will be missing since, they will be told,
these were forfeited when they spoke evil against another and
were assigned to the latter."
Marpe Lanefesh, a commentator on Chovos
Halevovos, brings the words of the Maggid who
appeared to the Beis Yosef and said to him, "When a person
speaks loshon hora against his neighbor, his merits
are deducted and transferred to the subject of his slander.
And this is true and substantiated, it is justified. If
people only knew this, they would rejoice to learn that
others were speaking ill of them to the extent of feeling
that like they had been given a gift of gold or silver."
We must attempt to understand the implication
of this punishment. What is the justification or rationale
behind this transfer of merits from the speaker to the
subject of his slander? We certainly find no parallel to this
in any other mitzva! Why here, in a sin involving speech?
Rav Dessler zt'l explains that the inclination to
speak against others derives from an innate evil trait. It is
a tendency to judge -- not by intrinsic worth, objectively,
but only comparatively. People do not measure their merits
and weaknesses according to absolute standards but according
to what they see by others. It is in the context of society
that they weigh their movements, acts, attire and speech
according to the value of `What will others say? How will I
be judged? What will appeal to my environment and what will
be disapproved of?' It is this thought that directs a
person's every act, consciously or subconsciously. As the
Mesilas Yeshorim notes, every pursuit of material
happiness, of material acquisition in this world, is a result
of what one sees by others and one's desire to `keep up.' If
a person were to live in total isolation, a recluse on a
desert island, he would suffice with the very bare essentials
of survival.
This attitude certainly stems from misguided thinking that
something is worthwhile only if it is recognized as such by
others. If it is downgraded, than it is not worth his
attention. This false premise brings people to bask in
flattery even when they know those sung praises to be far
from the truth. This is a spurious yardstick since it is
relative, not absolute.
It is this deceptive inclination to do what society favors
that also develops into a propensity towards loshon
hora. In telling of another's faults or misdeeds, one
shows superiority by comparison. One does not ostensibly
relate the failings of others in areas where he, himself, is
found wanting. Consequently, he is showing his advantage in
this area.
One who speaks evil of others seeks to elevate himself at the
other's expense, not by highlighting his merits, but by
lowering the other in people's sights. Even if this is not
stated in so many words, the intent lurks in the background.
The slanderer is glorying at the other person's expense.
This self-glorification is fallacious, unjustified, because a
person's merits must stand on a solid foundation, on his own
worth, and not in comparison to others. His personal
spiritual acquisitions must be absolute, not relative or
subjective. It is an illusion to grade oneself according to
how much better he is than his neighbor.
This is the meaning of "There is no advantage to the tale
bearer." He may derive pleasure, but this is not genuine; it
is meaningless. It is a deception to think that by
denigrating a fellow man, one elevates oneself accordingly,
by contrast. There is no gain, here, only loss. Slander does
no one any good, only harm. The same type of harm is
inflicted by the bite of a snake, which brings no benefit to
the snake itself, only harm to his victim.
And since the tale monger exploits his position in society
for evil purposes it is necessary to isolate him, as with a
menace to society who is put behind bars even if his crime is
not so terrible as to warrant the drastic punishment of
denying him liberty. He constitutes a threat and must be
quarantined, isolated from family and from the society which
he is liable to harm, since his aim is to build himself up on
the ruins of his fellow man, to rise upon the crushed back of
his neighbor.
His punishment is commensurate: his fellow man will be
reinstituted upon his back! At his expense. His merits will
transfer to the account of his victim, while the latter's
faults and sins will be credited to his own disadvantage.
This will purify the gossiper from his sin, measure for
measure. What he sought to accomplish through loshon
hora will revert to him. "And `unclean, unclean' shall he
cry." His punishment is his very restitution, his penance. He
will become the guardian of society against impurity and
damage from evil speech.
(Based on a talk by Hagaon Hatzaddik R' Chaim Friedlander
zt'l given in Yeshivas Ponevezh, 5741).
