Rabbi Frand on Parshas Shemos
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: Tape # 356 - Turning
Offender Over to the Secular Authorities. Good Shabbos!
Now The Matter Is Known
Following the incident when Moshe smote the Egyptian who was hitting a
Jewish slave, Moshe tried to break up a fight between two Jews. The
combatants taunted Moshe, "Are you going to kill us like you killed the
Egyptian?" The pasuk [verse] then says, "And Moshe feared and he said,
behold the matter is known" [Shmos 2:14]. According to the simple reading of
the pasuk, the matter that was known was Moshe's act of killing the
Egyptian.
The Medrash, however, sees this in a different light. Moshe had been
wondering why the people of Israel were enslaved more than any other
nation. What was their sin that caused all this suffering? At this
juncture, after having heard the comment of the two Jews who were
fighting, Moshe's reaction was "now I understand it!" Once he heard those
words of accusation, he had discovered the reason for their fate: they had
amongst them people who gossip, who speak Lashon HaRah. If so, how will
they ever be worthy of redemption?
The Chofetz Chaim elaborates on this Medrash, in his Sefer Shmiras HaLashon.
In Egypt, the Jewish people were pagan worshippers, just like the rest of
society (halalu ovdei Avodah Zarah, v'halalu ovdei Avodah Zarah). They
committed others sins in Egypt, as well. Eventually they sunk to the 49th
out of 50 levels of impurity on the spiritual scale. One does not need a
magnifying glass or a flashlight to discover their iniquities while in
Egypt.
And yet, Moshe Rabbeinu had been stumped. He could not understand what sin
they were committing that was so wrong that it caused them to suffer so,
until he finally came to the conclusion that it must be the fact that they
spoke Lashon Harah. The Chofetz Chaim explains that we learn from this
Medrash that a person or a people can have a whole bundle of sins on their
shoulders but the catalyst that brings punishment to the fore is the sin of
gossiping.
The Chofetz Chaim quotes a Zohar that explains that a person who speaks
Lashon Harah sets in motion a force in Heaven that instigates against the
perpetrators. Such is the power of Lashon Harah. When all other sins lie
dormant, as it were, in Heaven, Lashon Harah "says" to G-d "You can't let
them get away with this sin".
The logic behind this phenomenon is that gossip "forces G-d's Hand," so to
speak. Normally, G-d has the option of either ignoring our faults or
noticing them. However, when a person speaks Lashon Harah, he is, in effect,
saying, "Look at the bad part of that person." The measure for measure
aspect of Divine Justice, perforce, must then look at his actions in a
negative light, as well. G-d will respond in kind. "If you focus on the
negative, I will focus on the negative as well."
The Chofetz Chaim concludes that a person who continuously speaks Lashon
Harah and arouses this instigation ('kitrug') in Heaven is responsible for
bringing great misfortune upon himself. "Who knows how many people lost
their wealth and how many people have died or been killed as a result of
this type of chain-reaction."
This is very frightening. When a person speaks Lashon Harah he must take
into account that he is not only hurting himself and not only hurting the
person about whom he is speaking, but he can arouse Heavenly instigation
against the entire community.
Unfortunately, there is no community today in America that is not
distressed, shocked, and shaken to the core by tragedies that are becoming
all too common. People are beside themselves. What does it mean? What is it
all about? Why did it happen?
We do not have prophets among us to give us clear-cut guidance. But the
Chofetz Chaim clearly states that it is the sin of tale bearing and gossip
that arouses instigation in Heaven against us for our sins.
The irony is that it should not have to be like that. I am not a historian.
I cannot quote numbers of how many people were learning in Yeshivos in
Europe a hundred years ago. Nor do I know the numbers that were in the great
Academies in Sura and Pumbedita or other Jewish communities in Talmudic
times. But I venture to say, if we look at the number -- bli ayin hara -- of
Jews that are sitting learning Torah today, all over the world -- our
generation would fare very well, in historical terms. If you walk into the
large Beis Medrash of the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, you can literally not be
able to find a place to stand! In the Yeshiva in Lakewood, New Jersey, there
are people sitting and learning in every nook and cranny. In our own city,
one is very hard pressed to find an empty seat in the Beis Medrash in Ner
Yisrael. It is like this all over the world. Mexico City has twelve
different Kollelim. People are learning at unprecedented levels, not only in
Yeshivas, but also in synagogues and in Batei Medrash all over the country.
So what is going on? What about the 'power of Torah'? Why isn't it
protecting us? Why do we encounter so much suffering? The answer is because
the power of Lashon Harah can undermine the power of Torah! If the same
mouth that one uses to speak words of Torah and to utter words of prayer is
used to speak Lashon Harah, the mouth becomes defiled. The words of Torah
and prayer that come out of the mouth are contaminated. The power of Torah
and prayer become diluted.
At the beginning of the second section of Shmiras HaLashon, the Chofetz
Chaim quotes a pasuk from Proverbs: "A person can become rich and he has
nothing (left)" [Mishlei 13:7]. The Chofetz Chaim interprets this to mean
that a person can be in business, making big sales. He can be raking in the
money, so to speak, making deposit after deposit in the bank. But when it
comes time to make an accounting and his expenses and his debits are taken
into account, the bottom line may be that he has nothing left. "Yes I had a
great year, but all the profits were wiped out."
The book of Mishlei consists entirely of parables. The Choftez Chaim applies
that pasuk to spiritual matters. A person can engage in performing mitzvos
and good deeds his entire life. He can spend his days and night sitting and
learning. But that same person might possesses an evil tendency to speak bad
about people. When such a person arrives in Heaven, he will see that he has
nothing in his account! "What happened? I sat and learned my entire life. I
finished Shas 4 times! I was honest. I gave charity. Where are my good
deeds?" The Chofetz Chaim explained that Lashon Harah can do that.
This is why we beseech every day in our prayers, "G-d, save my tongue from
evil and my lips from speaking calumny." It is only after requesting help
regarding Loshon Harah that we request "Open my heart to your Torah." If a
person will not guard his mouth, his Torah will not count! It is as simple
as that.
I just would like to conclude with the following modern parable. This is a
true story.
A few years ago, shortly after the Frand family entered the 'computer
age,' my daughter was writing a term paper on Edgar Allan Poe. She was
working on this term paper for six or eight weeks. It was her first major
project using our word processor. One night, she was putting the finishing
touches on the report. The report was due the next day. All of a sudden
she rushed up from downstairs and with a petrified expression on her face
said, "It's gone! It's gone!"
I asked, "What is gone?" She answered, "The report is gone! It is due
tomorrow. It is eleven p.m. and it is gone!" I said, "It can't be."
We went downstairs and stood in front of the screen. She pushed this button.
She pushed that button. The report did not appear. It was gone.
The panic and terror were unforgettable. The disappointment -- eight weeks
of work just disappeared! The screen was blank!
Thank G-d, I had a friend who helped set up the computer. It was after
eleven o'clock, but this was an emergency so I called him. I said, "You'll
please excuse me, but my daughter is in a panic." He told her how to get out
of Windows and into DOS. He told her what to do, step by step. The whole
family was standing there in front of the screen. Finally, the report was
recovered.
After 120, we will go to the Heavenly Court. It will be time to make our
final accounting. We will say to G-d, "Okay bring up the record. Bring up
all the years that I spent learning. Bring up all the time that I spent
learning Torah and performing mitzvos. Bring it up, G-d. Let's see it on the
screen."
The person who would always gossip will give out a shriek. He will yell,
"IT'S GONE! IT'S NOT THERE! WHAT HAPPENED TO IT?" Multiply my daughter's
reaction by the biggest multiple that exists. "The whole life, the whole
Torah, all our prayers, all our good deeds -- they are gone!" And no one
will be able to bring them back for us.
"There are those who become rich, but have nothing left." We are rich. We
are accomplishing in learning. Look at the crowds in classes and study
groups all over America. We are learning. But let us not lose it. All we
must do is learn to close our mouths.
This is the intent of the statement of the Vilna Gaon: The main way to merit
the World To Come is through guarding the mouth. This is more important than
all of the Torah and other accomplishments. The mouth is Holy of Holies.
This write-up was adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tape series on the weekly Torah portion.
The complete list of halachic topics covered in this series for Parshas
Shmos are provided below:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection
of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
and is available through your local Hebrew book store or from
Project Genesis, 1-410-654-1799.
