The penalty against gossip

By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal

 

Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal

SAN DIEGO — The combined Parasha Tazria-M’tzora deals with various types of ritual impurities, specifically those that our ancestors connected with skin disease.

Those who contracted the various ailments described in the Torah became ritually impure, were exiled from the Israelite camp, and could only return after they were cured and underwent a purification rite:

“As for the person with a leprous affection, his clothes shall be rent, his head shall be bare, and he shall cover over his upper lip; and he shall call out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ He shall be unclean as long as the disease is on him. Being unclean, he shall dwell apart; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.” (Lev. 13:45-46)

The rabbis identified these skin diseases as physical manifestations of a spiritual ailment, the indulgence in gossip and lashon harah, evil speech. They understood the verses from Leviticus in this context; the Torah says if you gossip and slander, you will be afflicted with diseases of the skin.

Rabbi Shlomo Kluger of Brodi wrote that God provides every human tongue (lashon) with two “guardians”: the teeth and the lips. When one’s teeth and lips remain sealed, it is impossible to indulge in lashon harah. So when people open their mouths and allow their tongues to go unchecked, God insists that a third “guardian” be imposed: the cover over the upper lip referred to in Lev. 13:45, “and he shall cover over his upper lip.”

What’s more, gossipers must proclaim their sins in public, saying “Unclean! Unclean!” This proclamation causes people to avoid them.

Thus the gossiper is punished midah keneged midah, stroke for stroke. That is, the person who uses lashon harah is punished in the same way that he or she has harmed others. Just as victims of gossip are isolated from the community because of the horrible things said about them, so does the gossiper now use their speech to drive others away from them. (Parparot L’Torah, Vayikra, p. 82)

Gossiping about others causes social destruction and turmoil. Rabbi Kluger believed it is only through suffering the same type of isolation and devastation that gossipers bring against their victims that they can fully understand the damage they caused.

Perhaps the next time we are attempted to speak ill of others, we should keep our mouths closed instead!

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Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego.  You may comment to him at leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com, or post your comment on this website provided that the rules below are observed.

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