Throughout Sefer Devarim, Moshe Rabbeinu gives over directions and guidance for the Bnei Yisrael as they prepare to enter Eretz Yisrael without him. Parshas Ki Seitzei includes many laws dealing with personal relationships, such as marriage, divorce, and inheritance. There are also many laws dealing with interpersonal relationships such as kidnapping, runaway servants, personal hygiene, and our topic this week, Lashon Hara.
While we don’t need the Torah to tell us
that a culture that engages in gossip or worse is not good for anyone, in
Judaism, it’s actually the law that you are not allowed to speak bad about
someone else. (There are of course circumstances where it would be necessary to
say something unflattering about someone else, but those cases are certainly
not the majority and definitely don’t include simple gossip.) Amazingly, one of
the ironclad laws that we are required to follow from the Torah prohibits
gossip. Can you imagine a culture where you were actually punished for gossip
by the law? That’s what we have.
It is a well-known idea that the
punishment for speaking lashon hara is tzara’as, a sickness similar to leprosy
except that it is completely controlled by your spiritual state of being.
Getting and recovering from tzara’as has nothing to do with bacteria, it is
completely determined by your evil speech and subsequent repentance for it. The
Torah discusses at length in various places the laws of what you should do when you have tzara’as,
and Moshe reminds Bnei Yisrael in our parsha to follow those laws (See Devarim
24:8).
He then follows it up with what seems like
a warning, but actually says even more. “זָכ֕וֹר אֵ֧ת
אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֛ה יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ לְמִרְיָ֑ם בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְ בְּצֵֽאתְכֶ֥ם
מִמִּצְרָֽיִם” “Remember that which
Hashem, your God, did to Miriam, when you left Egypt” (9). If we look back
in Parshas Beha’aloscha, we have the story of when Miriam got tzara’as for
speaking ill of Moshe (See Bamidbar 12). Honestly, what she said wasn’t even
that bad, it may not even have been lashon hara! Chazal teach us that since she
was one of the greatest people of the generation, Miriam was held to a higher
standard. Therefore, she got tzara’as for something which for someone else may
have been overlooked. For the rest of the nation though, it was an important
event; even the leaders of the generation were not exempt from anything. If
Miriam could get tzara’as, anyone could. On a simple level, this is what Moshe
is reminding the people by mentioning this here.
The Ramban takes this idea a little
further. The use of the word ‘zachor’ here in the pasuk is intriguing. While
the simple translation of this word is to ‘remember’, there are many instances
where the Torah uses it to mean something more. For example, the Aseres
Hadibros famously say, “זָכוֹר֩ אֶת־י֨וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֜ת
לְקַדְּשׁ֗וֹ” “Remember the day of
Sabbath to make it holy” (Shemos 20:8); later on in this week’s parsha, we
are given the famous edict to wipe out Amalek which begins with, “זָכ֕וֹר אֵ֛ת
אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה לְךָ֖ עֲמָלֵ֑ק” “Remember that which
Amalek did to you” (Devarim 25:17). These examples are not just reminders
that we should keep Shabbos or wipe out Amalek, they are actual commandments to
do so! The Ramban explains that this example of Miriam is also not meant as a
reminder not to speak Lashon Hara, but an actual commandment not to.
What exactly is the framework of this
type of commandment? The actual wording of the Torah says to remember, seems
simple enough. But if the Ramban is correct that it actually means not just to
remember but to actually do it, then our understanding of the word ‘zachor’,
and consequently, the meaning of this commandment, is not completely clear.
The Ramban looks back at our example of
Shabbos. While the first reading of the Aseres Hadibros in Sefer Shemos says “זָכוֹר֩
אֶת־י֨וֹם הַשַּׁבָּ֜ת”, the second reading,
found earlier in Sefer Devarim reads, “שָׁמ֛וֹר אֶת־י֥וֹם
הַשַּׁבָּ֖ת לְקַדְּשׁ֑וֹ” “Keep the day of
Sabbath and make it holy” (Devarim 5:12). Shamor means to actually keep the
mitzvah, what does zachor add to this? The Ramban explains that shamor means
that you are keeping the mitzvah in your soul and in your actions, while zachor
means that it’s something always being mentioned.
One of the truest statements in life is
actions speak louder than words. If you do what you are supposed to do in the
proper manner, you are on the path to a good life. But even doing proper
actions does not compare to someone who supplements those actions with words as
well. Someone who feels an enthusiasm and passion for what he does will
inevitably end up bringing those things up again and again. Whether it’s for
others or even just for himself, if it’s something meaningful, it will find its
way into his mouth and out into his conversations.
This is the obligation of zachor. Don’t
just keep Shabbos, get excited for Shabbos! Don’t just remember what Amalek
did, make sure you understand what evil is and why Amalek fits that
description, and eradicate that evil from yourself. And don’t just try not to
say lashon hara, make an effort to say nice things, promote kindness and
acceptance. Even the smallest slights can cause damage, just look at the story
of Miriam.
And it’s not just Shabbos where we see
zachor and shamor in tandem. Right here by tzara’as we see the same thing. When
the pasuk here says to be sure to keep all the laws of tzara’as, the phrasing
it uses is, “הִשָּׁ֧מֶר
בְּנֶֽגַע־הַצָּרַ֛עַת” “Be cautious
regarding the lesion of tzara’as” (24:8). The Shamor root appears here too,
reminding us that this obligation is not just about not speaking evil, it’s
about being a force for good.
Shabbat Shalom!
