The Chofetz Chaim enumerated 31 Torah Commandments which may be violated when a person speaks or listens to loshon hora. There are 17 prohibitions and 14 positive Commandments - a total of 31 Commandments.
Prohibition number 14: The posuk in Vayikra 19:17 says:
"You shall rebuke your neighbor and you shall not bear sin because of him"
This posuk prohibits us from embarrassing others even when privately delivering rebuke (Archin 16b). Rebuke must be delivered in a tactful manner that will not cause shame. If you speak loshon hora about a person in his presence and cause him shame, you violate this prohibition.
If you shame someone in public, the crime is so severe that it is punishable by the loss of Olam Haboh (Baba Metzia 59a).
Prohibition number 15: The posuk in Shemos 22:21 says:
"Any widow or orphan shall you not afflict" If you speak loshon hora about widows or orphans in their presence, no matter what their social or financial position, you violate this prohibition.
(Guard Your Tongue - Rabbi Zelig Pliskin)
A One Minute a Day Torah Thought !
The Midrash says, "in the merit of three things, the Jews were redeemed from Egypt:
They did not alter their names, their language, and the style of their clothing.".
If the Jews in Egypt were so careful to resist the moderate style of dress while living in the most impure and immodest society in the world, how much more must we, in our own day and age, not allow the pervasiveness of the "street" and all that it embodies to determine our modest and pure lifestyle.
(Parshas Shemos - Sefer Torah Tavlin)
The Power of Prayer!
In the time of Mordechai, the Jews were saved only through prayer. The Rambam, in his introduction to the listing of the mitzvahs at the beginning of the Mishneh Torah, writes the following wonderful words:
"The sages commanded us to read the Megillah Esther in its proper time on Purim in order to remember the praises of G-d and the salvations that He performed for us, and that He was close to us when we cried out.".
(Pathway to Prayer, Rabbi Meyer Birnbaum) |
