Erev M'tzora 5770 Sticks and Stones Stephen Herman 16 April 2010

It’s really hard to appreciate the worldview of Judaism without having some familiarity with the concept of lashon hara, literally "evil speech."

In English, lashon hara is loosely translated as "gossip"; but this misses all the nuances of the concept. Gossiping can occasionally quite fun if no one is hurt and the worst you can say is that it really not very nice but I am sure no one would term it evil. But according to the Torah, saying anything derogatory about anyone, whether true or false is forbidden as lashon hara, literally 'evil speech,' except in very exceptional circumstances.

For the Talmud, the sin of speaking lashon hara is regarded as the equal of the sins of idolatry and murder combined in the degree of its evil. And traditionally the sin of lashon hara was responsible for bringing about the destruction of the Second Temple.

Lashon hara is also considered to be the main cause of contracting tzara'at - a particularly vile skin disease somewhat akin to leprosy - the illness dealt with in this week's Torah portion. Tzaraat is a sort of supra-natural plague, which can afflict people as well as clothing and houses and is said to be one of the consequences of lashon hara, so it’s sort of self-inflicted.

(Unusually, when the metzora ("leper") heals, he or she is purified by the Cohen with a special procedure involving two birds, spring water in an earthen vessel, a piece of cedar wood, a scarlet thread and a bundle of hyssop (don’t ask). It’s most unusual for the Priest to be required to make physical contact in this way but it shows just how this self-inflicted illness is different from other sorts of illness.)

Indeed, Moses sister Miriam was inflicted with leprosy when she attacked Moses choice of a wife and allowed herself to be overcome by feelings of resentment.

So when people talk about how hard it is to be an observant Jews, they are usually talking about observing Shabbat or keeping kosher or other similarly detailed rituals. Yet the laws that are most difficult to keep, that are most commonly violated even by observant Jews, are the laws regarding lashon hara. Judaism is so intensely aware of the power of speech and of the harm that can be done through it that, of the 43 sins enumerated in the Al Cheit confession recited on Yom Kippur, 11 are sins committed through speech (there’s something to keep you alert over Yom Kippur).

The harm done by speech can sometimes be even worse than the harm done by stealing or by cheating someone financially: money can be repaid, but the harm done by speech or by e-mail or blog is very hard to repair. And of course there’s always a Chasidic tale to illustrate the danger:

A man went about the community telling malicious lies about the rabbi. Later, he realized the wrong he had done, and began to feel remorse. He went to the rabbi and begged his forgiveness, saying he would do anything he could to make amends. The rabbi told the man, "Take a feather pillow, cut it open, and scatter the feathers to the winds." The man thought this was a strange request, but it was a simple enough task, and he did it gladly. When he returned to tell the rabbi that he had done it, the rabbi said, "Now, go and gather the feathers. Because you can no more make amends for the damage your words have done than you can re-collect the feathers."

Speech has been compared to an arrow: once the words are released, like an arrow, they cannot be recalled, the harm they do cannot be stopped, and the harm they do cannot always be predicted, for words like arrows often go astray. There’s a very interesting concept in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) that the meaning of your communication is the response you get – in other words, what you say actually means what other people think it means, not what you may have intended.

There are two mitzvot in the Torah that specifically address improper speech: Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer among thy people (Lev. 19:16), and ye shall not wrong one another (Lev. 25:17), which according to tradition refers to wronging a person with speech. Tale-bearing is, essentially, any gossip. The Hebrew word for tale-bearer is "rakhil" which is related to a word meaning trader or merchant. The idea is that a tale-bearer is like a merchant, but he deals in information instead of goods. In our modern "Information Age," the idea of information as a product has become more clear than ever before, yet here it is in the Torah.

It is considered a violation of this mitzvah to say anything about another person, even it is true, even if it is not negative, even if it is not secret, even if it hurts no one, even if the person himself would tell the same thing if asked! Here’s a biblical illustration but I am sure your can think of a more contemporary instance and much closer to home:

The story of Do'eig the Edomite (I Samuel Chs. 21-22) is often used to illustrate the harm that can be done by tale-bearing. Do'eig saw Achimelekh give David bread and a sword, a completely innocent act intended to aid a leading member of Saul's court. Do'eig reported this to Saul. Do'eig's story was completely true, not negative, not secret, and Achimelekh would have told Saul exactly the same thing if asked (in fact, he did so later). Yet Saul misinterpreted this tale as proof that Achimelekh was supporting David in a rebellion, and proceeded to slaughter all but one of the Cohanim.

In some ways, the person who listens to gossip is even worse than the person who tells it, because no harm could be done by gossip if no one listened to it. The Talmud says that lashon hara kills three: the person who speaks it, the person who hears it, and the person about whom it is told.  Here’s part of a Talmudic list of what’s not permitted:

• You may not call a person by a derogatory nickname, or by any other embarrassing name, even if he is used to it.
• You may not ask an uneducated person for an opinion on a scholarly matter (that would draw attention to his lack of knowledge or education).
• You may not ask a merchant how much he would sell something for if you have no intention of buying.
• You may not refer someone to another person for assistance when you know the other person cannot help (in other words, it's a violation of Jewish law to give someone the run-around!).
• You may not deceive a person, even if no harm is done by the deception; for example, you may not sell non-kosher meat to a non-Jew telling him that it is kosher, even though no harm is done to the non-Jew by this deception.
• You may not sell a person damaged goods without identifying the damage, even if the price you give is fair for the goods in their damaged condition.
• You may not offer a person a gift or invite a person to dinner if you know that the person will not accept.
• You may not compliment a person if you do not mean it.

As always, there’s the Rabbinical free pass as it is generally not a sin to repeat things that have been told "in the presence of three persons." The idea is that if it is told in the presence of three persons, it is already public knowledge, and no harm can come of retelling it.

So there were three Rabbis on a boat far from land. They decide they are going to confess their shortcomings.  One asks another, 'What is something that you have a problem with?'  The first one says, 'Well, I have a problem with alcohol. I like to take to the bottle sometimes.' The second one says, 'Well, I have a problem with lust. I desire every woman I see.' One of the others asks the third one, 'Well, what is something that you have a problem with?' The third Rabbi replies, 'Gossip, and I can't wait to get back to shore and tell everyone!'

Now the current election campaign is already starting to throw up examples of lashon hara, here dressed as defamation or character assassination or plain just 'bad mouthing’. I guess it may be impossible to run a campaign without it and, to some extent, lashon hara might just be permissible as the character and judgment of those running for Parliamentary or local office is a legitimate issue. But at the very least what is said should be true, particularly if it is personal rather than on policy. And another guideline here might be not to appeal to fear and anger, particularly by dividing people and labelling the other as the enemy or the outsider (as Jews know only too well).

So let’s end with a version of the prayer we read after the Torah reading on Shabbat:

Eternal God we ask your blessing for all those who govern and seek to govern our country nationally and locally and all who influence the quality of its national life, whether by word (spoken or printed) or deed. Make them conscious of their responsibility to the whole of our society and teach them to exercise it in accordance with your will, along with proper awareness of lashon hara.  May we all help to fashion in this country a society that excels in freedom and justice, tolerance and compassion,  so that it may be a force for righteousness and peace in the life of all our citizens.