Israel Without Lashon Hara 

If only we could live in a world without evil speech.  

• No profanity 
• No slander 
• No gossip 

There are over 10 million species in this world, and we are the only ones Hashem gives the gift of speech. It’s as if Hashem gave everyone in New York City a lottery ticket and He gave you the winning number.  

Every time we misuse this gift, tragedy ensues.  

On the 9th of Av while still in the desert, we engaged in lashon hara about the Land of Israel by listening to the slander of the spies. For thousands of years since then, the 9th of Av has been marked with tragedy. 

We spoke lashon hara all throughout 2023. Fortunately, Iran, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Authority didn’t bother to listen. But Yahya Sinwar knew Hebrew. He listened to Israeli news stations day and night. Like an animal that senses weakness in its prey, he knew our vile speech towards one another rendered us lambs to the slaughter.  

If we could eliminate lashon hara, we could eliminate baseless hatred. If we could eliminate baseless hatred and lashon hara, we could merit Hashem’s blessing in eliminating any future tragedy we might be vulnerable to. 

Does this sound impossible?  

There is a solution.  

The Plight of the Metzora 

What used to happen to someone who spoke slander or gossip? 

It wasn’t pretty.  

A baal lashon hara (one who habitually speaks slander or gossip) is someone who wants to make someone else look like a fool. In doing so, the baal lashon hara exiles this poor soul from the community, making him appear like a pariah before his friends and family.  

People lose friends, relationships, jobs, business opportunities, a marriage, and even family members due to others’ nonchalant comments. To prevent such behavior, the punishment should be as severe as the consequences.  

That’s the way it was when Moshe led us in the desert. That’s what parshat Tazria and Metzora is all about.  

Back then, if you spoke ill about your brother, you broke out in blisters. Tazria is a physical affliction that has a spiritual root cause. So, no medicine can cure it. Everybody who sees him knows exactly why he has blemishes on his flesh. 

That alone would be enough to make sure we all gave a few seconds of thought before we spoke.  

It gets worse.  

The speaker of lashon hara (the metzora) must go into exile. He leaves his family, his friends, and his livelihood for a place outside the community. It’s not a jail sentence. Jail terms are fixed. You can even get time off for good behavior.  

This sentence of exile is open-ended.  The metzora stays in exile until he makes repentance for lashon hara. This can take a month, six months, or much longer.  

When he does make repentance, the lesions on his flesh go away. The Kohen proclaims him pure. But even after making repentance, it’s not over.  

Before he returns to the community, he must shave off all his hair.  

• He is bald.  
• His arms are smooth as a baby’s cheeks.  
• He has no beard.  

For as long as it takes for his hair to grow back, everyone who sees him knows why he has no hair . . . anywhere.  

He tried to humiliate another, so now he is humiliated.  In the time it takes for everything to grow back, the metzora can encounter hundreds of family members, friends, people in synagogue, and co-workers.  

If you went through this just once, would you ever speak harshly against anyone again? 

Life Without Hate 

Imagine Israel without lashon hara.  

Think of the wars we fought since Hashem instituted these laws:  

• Sichon and Og? They had far superior military forces, and we made minced meat out of them, conquering Jordan in the process.  
• Midianites? We destroyed them without suffering a single casualty on our way to conquering the Holy Land.   
• Bilaam tried to use his mouth to curse us into defeat. Instead, Hashem told him that there is no sin in Israel. This prophet, as powerful as Moshe and undefeated in destroying enemies with his words, became speechless and powerless. In the end, this greatest of enemies began to use his words to praise us with blessings so powerful that to this day, we use our words to recite them in our morning prayers.   

This is the miracle Hashem gives us! The chance to be pure with our words. The chance to live undeterred by any adversary.  

We have Iran to contend with. We have Arab Palestinians to contend with. We have Edomite Europe to contend with. We have Hamite China and their allies to contend with.  

As I write these words, sirens are blaring throughout Afula due to incoming missiles from Yemen. 

Can we fight seven armies and their trillion dollar backers forever? Is it possible to combat this global octopus forever?  

We don’t need to! This is the Hashem’s gift to Israel.  

Without lashon hara, God will fight our enemies! Hashem will protect us with miracles and wonders. The world will recognize the greatness of our Master and King – and leave His children to serve Him.  

We inch closer to this great merit every time we work on refining our speech. With every proper word spoken, and every improper word withheld, we serve each other in meriting Hashem’s continuing miraculous protection.  

May Hashem bless us with the return of the metzora so we will be too terrified to ever speak against one another again.  

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David Ben Horin lives in the Jezreel Valley with his family, Afula’s famous sunflowers, and the local camel, Matilda. David loves to write about Judaism, Torah, Israel, and personal happiness.