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40 Days Of Teshuvah To Yom Kippur |
Create In Me A Clean Heart Oh Adonai and Renew a Right Spirit Within Me
Psalm 51
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Day 5
Al Chet Prayer
The Goal Of Al Chet Is To Get To The Root Of The Problem. To become more like Yeshua and to become conformed to His Image and Torah is a process, it does not happen over night. The key is never to give up, because He does not give up on us. We are all under construction and a work in process.
#4 And for the sin that we have sinned before You with the utterance of our lips.
*AKA - LaShon Hara - The Evil Tonque- In the Al Chet prayer there are at least 9 referneces to sin committed by our Words. This is the first one regarding the utterance of our lips.
LashonHora (lit. evil talk) is defined as information which is either drogatory' or potentially harmful'to another individual. A derogatory statement about someone is Lashon Hara, even if it will definitely not cause that person any harm. To focus on the shortcomings of another person is in itself wrong. A statement that could potentially bring harm to someone-be it financially, physical, psychological or otherwise-is Lashon Hara.
A wise man once said "You don't have to say everything you think" - The Talmud says that when we speak, our lips and teeth should act as "gate", controlling whatever flows out.
We love to give people "A piece of our mind" so the saying goes when they rub us the wrong way. However once the words have slipped through the gates, there is NO taking them back.
"The harm done by speech is even worse than the harm done by stealing or by cheating someone financially, because amends can be made for monetary harms, but the harm done by speech can never be repaired.
Speech has been compared to an arrow: once the words are released, like an arrow, they cannot be recalled, the harm they do cannot be stopped, and the harm they do cannot always be predicted, for words like arrows often go astray"
We are especially guilty of this with our spouses and family members. How many arguments or fights could have been stopped, how many emotional wounds been avoided by controlling the words that came out of our mouth.
Leviticus 25:17 - "You shall not wrong one another" This has traditionally been interpreted as wronging a person with speech. It includes any statement that will embarrass, insult or deceive a person, or cause a person emotional pain or distress.
Pro 13:3 He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life: but he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction
Pro 21:23 Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. *Journal - Food For Thought
Do I think before I speak? Am I prone to thoughtless outbursts?
Have my words caused others emotional pain or embarrasment in front of others?
Do I enjoy critizing others to make myself feel better?
* Quotes from Chofetz Chaim "The Laws Of Proper Speech" |
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New Moon Report regarding Month of Elul
On Saturday August 22, 2009 the new moon was sighted from Jerusalem by Devorah Gordon at 7:02, by Johan Schutte at 7:10, and by Dina Marcus at 7:22pm. We are still waiting to hear from some observers whether or not they sighted it from
Israel on Friday night. Nehemiah Gordon |
