Presented by Al Kohn on 04/16/2016

This week’s Torah portion is Metzora (מצורע), a word that means “leper.” or “one being diseased.” The word appears in the second verse of the reading, which says, “This is the law concerning the leper when he is purified and placed under the jurisdiction of the priest.” (Leviticus 14:2). This week’s reading, Metzora, discusses the purification process for one who contracts “tzara’at” (skin maladies as a result of engaging in forbidden gossip ).This leprosy is the punishment for l’shon harah, harmful language.

Leviticus 14 spells out the complex purification rituals for the cleansing of a leper and a leprous home. Leviticus 15 briefly covers the laws regarding ritual unfitness stemming from bodily emissions.

When Miriam spoke negatively about her brother, Moses in Numbers 12:1, she was rebuked by G‑d and afflicted with the skin disease of tzaraat as a punishment. Due to Moses’ prayers, she was cured soon after, but still needed to remain outside of the camp for seven days. Aaron, who had listened to her negative speech without protesting, was also punished, but not as severely.

In fact, we find that lashon hara, slanderous talk, is a sin that has caused numerous tragedies for the Jewish people, and indeed the world, since the very beginning of history.

Some examples of this are:

• The Midrash tells us that the snake slandered G‑d to Eve when convincing her to eat of the Tree of Knowledge.
• Joseph spoke negatively to his father, Jacob, about his brothers, causing them to hate him. This led to their selling him, and ultimately caused the Egyptian exile.
• At first Moses wondered why the Jews deserved their difficult slavery in Egypt. When he heard that there were talebearers amongst them, he said that he then understood why they deserved this fate.
• The slander of  Doeg, King Saul’s chief shepherd and the head of the Sanhedrin, caused the massacre of nearly an entire city of kohanim. In fact, the armies of King Saul lost their battles with the Philistines as a result of the slander that people spoke against (then future) King David.
  (On the other hand, the armies of the notorious King Ahab were successful in their battles, despite the fact that they were idolatrous, because they did not have the sin of lashon hara.)
• According to the Talmud, it was the slander of Jews by Jews that actually brought about the destruction of the Second Temple.

The laws of lashon hara are too lengthy to include in this drash. In fact, Rabbi Israel Meir Hakohen of Radin wrote an entire book about these laws. The book is called Chafetz Chaim . The name is inspired by the verse in Psalms, “Whoever of you desires life (chafetz chaim) . . . guard your tongue from evil . . .” Here  are  a few of these laws:

1. Lashon hara literally means “bad talk.” This means that it is forbidden to speak negatively about someone else, even if it is true.
2. It is also forbidden to repeat anything about another, even if it is not a negative thing. This is called rechilut.
3. It is also forbidden to listen to lashon hara. One should either reprimand the speaker, or, if that is not possible, one should extricate oneself from that situation.

from:etiquette.about.com

Personal Gossip

When one of your friends does something you don’t like, there are two proper ways to handle it: Confront him or her and state your case, or leave it alone and let the issue fade. If there is an ongoing issue, you are probably better off discussing it with the person, but whatever you do, never take it to someone else. Remember that no one is perfect, including you, and you need to treat all your friends with respect by honoring the Golden Rule.

Gossiping is such an easy habit to fall into, we often don’t even realize we’re doing it. We start out saying something benign, and then the other person may make a comment that initiates a full-blown discussion. The brief comment may wind up taking on a life of its own and turn into something that isn’t 100 percent factual.

When the rumor gets back to the subject of the gossip, he or she is likely to be angry. If you were told something in confidence, your friend will never be able to trust you again.

Tips on how to prevent gossip:

• Stop and change the subject. As soon as someone starts to gossip, intentionally discuss another topic. If the original person tries to go back to gossiping, give him or her a firm look and switch again.
• Defend the subject. Even if what is being said is true, defend the person in the most logical way possible. If you know that the gossip is a lie, call it that. If there is a grain of truth or you’re not sure, say that you don’t know the circumstances behind whatever it is being said, and you don’t want to continue with this discussion.
• Leave. If the gossip continues, simply walk away. The people doing all the malicious chatting will get the message. Just be warned, though, that you might be the subject of the next gossip session.

SO WORDS  AND ACTIONS DO HAVE CONSEQUENCES. IT PROBABLY WOULD BE BENEFICIAL TO THINK AND BE POSITIVE BEFORE WE ACT AND SPEAK.

SHABBAT SHALOM.