GuardYourSpeak
Because of
the great love Hashem Yisborach has for his Jewish People and because He
desires only good for us to the point where He calls us His children, that we
are His possession and other names of endearment that demonstrate the great
love He has for us….He therefore separated us from all of the bad qualities
that exist in the world and in particular Loshon Hora and Rechilus (gossip).
So begins the
introduction to Sefer Chofetz Chaim.
It seems,
however, that as careful as the Chofetz Chaim was with his words he somehow
managed to lose two of them in the introduction. Would it not have been more correct to write
that He therefore ATTEMTED TO separate us from all of the bad qualities….?
After all, had
we been actually separated from Loshon Hora and Rechilus I wouldn’t be writing
these words in New York, a.k.a. golus because
as the Chofetz Chaim teaches us further on in the introduction to his sefer, the
essential reason today for our golus is because of the actions of the spies
sent to survey the Land
of Israel.
And as we know
from Chazal, the fundamental sin of these spies was Loshon Hora in that they
brought back an evil report about Eretz Yisroel concerning which our ancestors
cried needlessly. And the Chofetz Chaim
tells us that because the Ribbono Shel Olam is not a big fan of needless crying
it was decreed against us that the crying would continue for generations.
So here we are
thousands of years down the road and the Chofetz Chaim reminds us that we are
still crying due to the endless calamities that have befallen us
because of this bitter sin. A decree
is most certainly a decree but it could have been discharged with an occasional
whimper. That it translates into a
steady stream of crying from one generation to the next is only because that
which was for the spies a once in a lifetime mistake has become for us a
lifestyle.
And calamities include
those that threaten to befall us in the not so distant future.
When a certain
demagogue threatens to annihilate us with nuclear weapons it’s imperative that
we know that his ability to make good on the threat, chas v’shalom, is not
inherent in his thousands of centrifuges or other technological menaces.
Everything that
comes our way is by way of a boomerang effect that originates in our mouths,
for as we said in GuardYourSpeak:
Someone Who Wants To Be Purified, the
Zohar HaKodesh lets us know that
there is a force in the world that is nourished by those who speak Loshon
Hora. Its name is Sachsuchah and with the impure power that is his by
virtue of all of the Loshon Hora that is spoken, he ascends to the Heavens and
spreads death, war, and catastrophe throughout the world.
The Chofetz
Chaim tells us, that this ability of Loshon Hora to bring devastation in its
wake was set in motion from day one when the Serpent spoke Loshon Hora
against HaKodesh Boruch Hu in his conversation with Chava. And as Chazal have taught, the Serpent
corrupted her by introducing into her a spirit of impurity which the
Chofetz Chaim says caused adultery and illicit relations to come into the
world. And if that wasn’t enough, for
good measure the Serpent also caused murder and death to come knocking on our
door.
So fuggedabout
about all the threats and the piles of enriched uranium because it’s only a
smoke screen.
It’s the one who
speaks Loshon Hora, says the Chofetz Chaim, that seizes a quality that
annihilates the universe.
