GuardYourSpeak
(In June 2012 we launched GuardYourSpeak which, as its name implies, was dedicated to focusing on all aspects of Shmiras HaLoshon. In short order it became burdensome to maintain both sites, so in recognition of the fact that the material posted on GuardYourSpeak was a natural fit for EmunahSpeak, it was decided to discontinue GuardYourSpeak and repost all of those pieces on EmunahSpeak over the course of the next few months.)
Most of us are
well aware that the bottom line of Loshon Hora is that the Torah forbids
us even to speak the truth about someone if it is denigrating or will cause him
damage.
But what if you
kept your lip halakhically zipped? Then we are told that the Satan will not
have reshus to speak the truth about you.
Say what?
Say what?
Rabbi Mendel
Kessin does yeoman’s service by laying out for us the mechanics of how Loshon
Hora impacts procedurally on the Beis Din shel Maala.
Din (judgment),
he says, is a cause and effect concept.
A person does A
and gets B in return. And except for special occasions, Hashem
stays out of the picture and lets the Beis Din shel Maala judge us.
The fact is that
a Jew can commit multiple sins in the course of a week or even a day, and the
Beis Din doesn’t even so much as throw a glance in his direction.
Why not?
It’s not as
hefker as it appears because the truth is that this would be considered normal
procedure in any criminal court in the United States. After all, what court is going to concern
itself with the various crimes that abound within its jurisdiction unless and until
they are brought to its attention by the prosecuting attorney representing the
governmental authority?
The Beis Din
shel Maala works pretty much the same way, and that’s why it doesn’t give your
sins the time of day UNLESS the Satan, in his role as the prosecuting attorney,
brings an accusation against you, because without an accusation there can be no
court case. And Loshon Hora is the only
thing that can point the Satan’s accusative finger in your direction.
Moreover, Rabbi
Kessin explains that the entire nature of the prosecution is built solely on Loshon
Hora because the Satan is doing nothing less than speaking Loshon Hora about
you. Hashem, in classic mida keneged
mida mode, gave the Satan the power to condemn you based on your condemnation
of other Jews.
Interestingly, there
are also privacy laws in Shomayim but when you speak Loshon Hora they're suspended, and the Satan is
given access to what heretofore was legally out of his reach, and as a
consequence your file of sins is directly laid before him, and he can now immediately
prosecute you. It’s as if you wrote your
own indictment with your tongue for the Satan to sign. It therefore follows that if you don’t speak
Loshon Hora then the Satan can’t speak Loshon Hora about you.
Rabbi Kessin
tells us that even if you discipline your tongue you’ll still be judged,
however, for whatever it was that you either shouldn’t have done or neglected
to do, but the Beis Din shel Maala won’t be able to touch you because if your
tongue is squeaky clean Hashem Himself will judge you. He will give you time to do Teshuva, and even
if you mess that up He will spread out, over a long period of time, whatever
punishment is coming your way.
And when you’re
one with Hashem there are no rules because He’s all Rachamim and can do
whatever He wants.
So it all comes
down to this. In relation to the Beis
Din shel Maala, you are nothing more than a ventriloquist because the Satan
can’t open his mouth unless you first open yours, and give him what to
say. And if you don’t, you stroll out of
court past a mute Satan who sits there like a dummy.
And once you’re
out of there it’s only between you and Hashem.
