When Lashon Hara Spreads

"And the exposition [of Torah] is not what is essential, but the action": [This is] saying that one should not expostulate on a commandment to others while he does not do it [himself]. Rather, he should do them first and [then] teach them to others - as the rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Tosefta Yevamot 9:5), "Pleasant are words that come out of the mouth of one who practices them."

Rabbi Yishmael his son says: One who studies Torah in order to teach will be given the opportunity both to study and to teach. One who studies in order to practice will be given the opportunity to study, to teach, to observe, and to practice.

Shimon, his son, says, "All my days I grew up among the Sages, and I did not find anything good for the body except silence. And the exposition [of Torah] is not what is essential, but the action. And whoever increases words brings sin."

Rabbi Akiva says: Joking and lightheartedness acclimate toward promiscuity. Tradition is a safeguarding fence around Torah. Tithes are a safeguarding fence around wealth. Vows are a safeguarding fence around abstinence. A safeguarding fence around wisdom is silence.

Do not go as a rachil among your nation. Do not stand on the blood of your fellow man. I am HaShem.

I say that [one who speaks about others is called a rachil] because all those who sow discord between people and who speak lashon hara go into their friends' houses in order to spy out what evil they can see there, or what evil they can hear there so that they may tell it in the streets —they are called הולכי רכיל which it the same as הולכי רגילה, "people who go about spying"; espiement in old French. A proof of my statement is the fact that we do not find anywhere the term רגיל used in Scripture except in connection with the expression הלך "to go"... For this reason I say that this expression (הולך רכיל) means "going about ומרגל, and spying out” (רגל = רכל), because the כ may interchange with ג... Similarly the רוכל, the trader, is one who goes round and searches for (spies out) all kinds of merchandise... It seems to me that people had the custom to eat a little snack in the house of him who listened to their slanderous words, and this served as the final confirmation that his (the slanderer's) statements were well founded and that he would maintain the truth of them. This "snack” was called אכילת קורצין, the word קורצא being connected in meaning with the root קרץ in (Proverbs 6:13) "He winketh (קורץ) with his eyes”, for it is the manner of all who go about slandering to wink with their eyes and to suggest their slanderous statements by innuendos in order that others who happen to hear them should not understand them.

In Hebrew, the meaning of the phrase holchei rachil is similar to "the powders of the merchant" or "your merchandise", because a merchant goes around all day buying from one place and selling it in other places... And [our pasuk says not to be a merchant] "among your nation", because this person goes [to peddle gossip] among many others...

(1) a talebearer from the word “your merchandise” [Ezekiel 28:16] and also “…with all powders of the merchant” [Song of Songs 3:6]. Here the word denotes a gossiper. Just as a merchant transmits things, buying them here and selling them there, so also does a gossiper transmit things, revealing to one what he heard from another.

(2) Do not stand idle when your fellowman is in danger [literally: Do not stand upon your fellowman’s blood] One must not become involved with men who shed blood. It is well known that many people have been murdered, many people have been killed, because of slander. Doeg the Edomite is a prime example [I Samuel 22:9–19].

(3) I am God Who sees all that you do in private.

Base men in your midst were intent on shedding blood; in you they have eaten upon the mountains; and they have practiced depravity in your midst.

The intention of this slander was that the person about whom it was said would be killed.

(1) He who bears tales against his fellow violates a prohibitive commandment, saying: "Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people" (Lev. 19.16.); and although the punishment of flogging is not inflicted for violating this charge, it is a gross iniquity, and is the cause of the slaughtering of many souls in Israel; it is because thereof, that following this commandment is this Verse: "Neither shalt thou stand idly by the blood of thy neighbor" (Ibid.). Now, go ye and learn of that which happened to Doeg the Edomite.¹First Samuel, 22.9-19. G.

(2) Who is a sycophant? One who loads himself up with matters, and goes from this one to that one, saying to each, such did that man say, thus and such have I heard concerning that man, even though it be true, behold him, he destroys the universe. There is yet an extremely grosser iniquity, which, too, is included in this prohibitive commandment, and that is, the evil tongue, one who spreads scandal about his fellow even though he be telling truth. If he be lying, he is called a maligner who invents an evil name against his fellow. The owner of an evil tongue, behold him, he sits in company and relates, saying: thus and such did that certain party, thus and such were his parents, and thus and such I did hear about him and of course, he relates scandalous matters. Of him, the Verse says: "May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaketh proud things" (Ps. 12.4).

(3) The wise men said: "There are three transgresssions which call forth retribution from the man who perpetrates in this world, and disinherit him from a share in the world to come. They are: idolatry, adultery, and bloodshed; but the evil tongue outweighs them all" (Arakin, 16b). The wise men, moreover, said:³Arakin, 16b. G. "He who speaks with an evil tongue is like an atheist...

(4)...

(5) Regardless of whether the slander is spoken in the presence of his fellow, or in his absence, or if the slander spread from mouth to mouth cause harm to his fellow, to his body, or property, even to cause him anguish, or fear to his soul, behold this is the iniquity of an evil tongue...

(6) ...The doom against our fathers in the wilderness was not sealed for aught else, save for that of an evil tongue.⁸Ibid. C.

(1) Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married: “He married a Cushite woman!” (2) They said, “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?” The LORD heard it. (3) Now Moses was a very humble man, more so than any other man on earth.

(1) ותדבר מרים במשה, Miriam uttered criticism of Moses, etc. It is possible that Miriam and Aaron spoke in Moses' presence. Logic would dictate that this was indeed the case. Had they only been talking amongst each other, what difference would it have made to Moses? We must assume therefore that they said what they did as a rebuke to Moses, and he heard what they said. I believe Sifri confirms my opinion as the author quotes the words: וישמע ה׳ והאיש משה as belonging together, i.e. Moses too heard what Miriam said.

...In their entire report, the spies spoke the truth and reported what they were commanded [to look for]. It was right for them to say that the nation living [in the land] was strong and that the cities were heavily fortified, because they are supposed to bring back a truthful report to those who sent them. Because that's what [Moshe] had commanded them [to find out]: Are they strong or weak? Are they fortified or open? But their sin was that they used the word "efes", which implies that something is absolutely impossible for a person to accomplish... They said the land was fat [with produce], and flowing with milk and honey, and it has good fruit, but it's impossible to get to those because the nation is strong, the cities are heavily fortified, and we saw the descendants of giants there.

(1) To not spy: That we have been prevented from talebearing, as it is stated (Leviticus 19:16), "You shall not go talebearing (rachil)." And the matter is that if a person hears something bad about his fellow, that he should not go to him and tell him "x" is saying so and so, unless his intention is to remove damages or to stop a quarrel. And our sages, may their memory be blessed, said (Ketuvot 46a) about the meaning of rachil, rach la'zeh ve kashe la'zeh (soft to this one and hard to that one). A different explanation: Do not be like a rochel (peddler), who picks up things and goes [with them to others].

(2) It is from the roots of the commandment that God in His goodness desires the good of the creatures that He created, and commanded them in this so that there will be peace among us, since talebearing leads to quarrel and strife.

The robe of the High Priest atones for malicious speech. From where is this known? Rabbi Ḥanina says: It is logical that an item that produces sound, i.e., the robe, which has bells, shall come and atone for an evil sound...The Gemara asks: Is that so, that the priestly vestments atone for these sins? But doesn’t Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi say: There are two matters that we do not find for them an atonement with offerings, but we find for them an atonement from another place, and they are: Bloodshed and malicious speech...And with regard to malicious speech, its atonement comes from incense, as Rav Ḥananya teaches in a baraita: From where is it derived that the incense effects atonement? As it is stated after the Israelites spoke slanderously against Moses and Aaron and a plague was sent against them: “And he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people” (Numbers 17:12). The Gemara continues: And similarly, the school of Rabbi Yishmael teaches: For what does incense effect atonement? It effects atonement for malicious speech, in order that an item that is offered in private, i.e., the incense, which is offered by a priest acting alone, shall come and atone for an action generally occurring in private, i.e., malicious speech.

Hillel and Shammai received from them. Hillel says, "Be of the disciples of Aharon, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving the creatures and bringing them closer to Torah."

They traveled from Rephidim, and they entered the wilderness of Sinai and encamped in the wilderness. Israel encamped there in front of the mountain.

Look at how many repetitions are written here. What would be missing in the [meaning of the] text if it would have just said, "They traveled from Rephidim and they encamped in the Sinai wilderness opposite the mountain"? Any why does it first say "they camped" [in plural] and then afterward "he camped" [in singular]? First it says, "in the Sinai wilderness," and then it just says, "in the wilderness." And first it refers to the mountain using the name Sinai, and after it just calls it a mountain. And it seems that all of this is proving to us that Bnei Yisrael are not worthy of receiving the Torah until there is peace among them. "The owners of collections that are all stemming from one shepherd." (Ecclesiastes 12:11 - see pshat and parshanut there) All of the paths of Torah are paths of peace. And the result of separation of hearts, where one forbids something and another permits it, is that the Torah becomes 2 Torahs. That is why the [previous] pasuk specifies that that it was in the third month on this day that they came to the Sinai wilderness. It is teaching that this month [of Sivan], which has the astrological sign of twins, is instructing us about attachment and love, that together [the Jews] should be perfect[ly connected] to each other like twins. And then there will be great peace among those who love Torah. And there is also a hint to this in the fact that there are 2 luchot which are like twins to each other, with 5 commandments [on one] parallel to 5 [on the other].

Shimon the Righteous was from the remnants of the Great Assembly. He would say, "On three things the world stands: on the Torah, on the service and on acts of lovingkindness."

(2) O LORD, save me from treacherous lips, from a deceitful tongue! (3) What can you profit, what can you gain, O deceitful tongue? (4) A warrior’s sharp arrows, with hot coals of juniper wood.

(1) You are like sharp arrows in the warrior's hands, because he kills with them from a distance. So too you, who are speaking lashon hara and you will kill the one who is standing at a distance. (2) You are like coals made from rotem (juniper) wood, because although they seem to be extinguished on the outside, they are still burning on the inside. So too you, who [externally] speak smoothly to a person, but privately you are speaking lashon hara about him.

And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them.

'ושכנתי בתוכם ככל אשר אני מראה אותך וגו, “I will dwell among them permanently in order to receive their prayers and their sacrificial offerings in a manner similar to the way I displayed My presence at the mountain.” Henceforth My presence will be manifest between the two cherubs on the lid of the Holy Ark as part of the overall structure called the Tabernacle. [The following is paraphrased by a Sefaria contributor:] ...The levels of sanctity in the Tabernacle, beginning already with the courtyard around it, were not sealed off from one another, but, on the contrary, were connected to one another all the way to the innermost sanctuary to demonstrate that sanctity is attainable progressively. On top of the physical box containing the spiritual teaching, the Torah, there was placed a lid also made from pure gold which symbolised the image of G’d. [in the sense that man was created in the image of G.d.]...The description of the cherubs on top of the כפורת facing each other (verse 20) symbolises the interaction of the spiritual message contained in the Torah and its transmission to the human being studying it. The cherubs themselves are described as facing the lid, i.e. facing the Torah that is beneath that lid. As a result of such an attitude to Torah, i.e. looking to it for inspiration, the cherubs are then described as spreading their wings in an upward direction, as if reflecting that they had received spiritual inspiration enabling them to fly. This description of the cherubs’ posture reflects what Solomon described in Proverbs 15,24 אורח חיים למעלה למשכיל, “for an intelligent man the path of life is upward.” As a result of our relating to Torah in the manner described, we will merit what Isaiah 66,2 describes as ואל זה אביט, when he refers to the prerequisite character traits necessary to merit Divine inspiration.