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.)
The Gemara
(Arachin) teaches us that everyone who speaks Loshon Hora amplifies their
sins and enlarges them until they reach Shomayim. Moreover, as we learn in the Tanna De’Vei
Eliyahu, the (actual) Loshon Hora spoken by a person ascends to the
Heavens, to Hashem’s Holy Throne of Glory.
In his Preface
to Sefer Chofetz Chaim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, who is universally known as
the Chofetz Chaim after his sefer, opens our eyes in regard to the atmospheric
fallout engendered by the speaking of Loshon Hora.
For starters, he
tells us that the reason that the Torah was so strict with the sin of Loshon
Hora is because the very speaking of Loshon Hora causes the Satan, who is the
Prosecutor against Klal Yisroel, to gain strength and grow in power against us
all. He then brings the Zohar
HaKodesh to let 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.
And that’s only
his warm up act.
The Chofetz
Chaim goes on to tell us that Loshon Hora triggers the attribute of mida
keneged mida (measure for measure) which is one of the modes by which Hashem
brings justice to the world. He once
again cites the Zohar HaKodesh to point out that from this impure power/evil
spirit that we referenced above evolves other forces of strict unmerciful justice.
You sent a pekel
of some serious Loshon Hora in Hashem’s direction?!
That’s really
unfortunate because the bad news is that in the same way that man defiles
his speech with language that is forbidden, he also prevents all of his
subsequent words of holiness (all of his Torah learning and mitzvahs) from
ascending to Heaven. The conclusion
of the Zohar is that all of the good things you have done are suspended in
mid-air.
They do not
ascend, period.
The Chofetz
Chaim then impresses upon us the seriousness of this state of affairs by
asking:
How will we
merit the coming of Moshiach?
The good news,
however is that the Chofetz Chaim has an answer.
At the end of
the Preface, after an exhaustive explanation of both the destructiveness of
Loshon Hora and the merits of learning his sefer in order to uproot this great
sin from our midst, the Chofetz Chaim states that if people study these laws
carefully, the Yetzer Hora will not have such great power to control society
into committing this sin. Automatically,
if one backs away from this sin, even a little bit, then as time goes by he
will wash his hands completely of it because this sin is so caught up in the routine
of our everyday lives. The implication
being that if we get a running start vis รก vis the sin of Loshon Hora, in due
time we’ll be able to flip the switch on the cruise control.
The Chofetz
Chaim then hits the high note as he concludes the Preface by letting us hear
that someone who wants to be purified of this sin will have Siyata D’Shemaya
(Divine Assistance), and in the merit of both learning these laws and not
speaking Loshon Hora, Moshiach will come soon, speedily in our days.
