The Holiness of Speech
In order to understand the halachos of shmiras halashon, we must understand the reason behind it: the holiness of speech.
Nowadays, the sanctity of speech is often overlooked and ignored. Using vulgar language and saying lashon hara have become the norm. In fact, many Jews are unaware of the fact that swearing and gossiping is a very corrupt habit according to the Torah. But why is it so? Is using vulgar language an actual prohibition?
(7) the LORD God formed man from the dust of the earth. He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.
(ד) לנפש חיה אַף בְּהֵמָה וְחַיָּה נִקְרְאוּ נֶפֶשׁ חַיָּה, אַךְ זוּ שֶׁל אָדָם חַיָּה שֶׁבְּכוּלָן, שֶׁנִתּוֹסֵף בּוֹ דֵעַה וְדִבּוּר:
(4) לנפש חיה A LIVING SOUL — Also cattle and beasts are called נפש חיה (1:20, 22, 24), but the נפש of man is the most highly developed of all of them, because to him was granted understanding and speech.
We know that every living creature has a nefesh behamit - an animalistic nefesh. So what's the difference between the animalistic nefesh of humans and the animalistic nefesh of animals?? Rashi answers, speech and understanding. When Hashem blew into us the "nishmat chaim", he transformed our nefesh behamit into a "nefesh chayah". The ability of speech is one of the most important aspects of humans that make us different from animals. Speech is an important aspect of our nefesh; subsequently, speech is a very holy ability. Judaism believes that we can make every action into a holy action. This pasuk here teaches us that speech is an expression of our nefesh, and Rav Kook exapnds on this topic:
Olat Re’iyah vol. II, pp. 60-61
In qualitative terms, the heart’s inner holiness transcends entire worlds. But quantitatively, it may be overwhelmed and stifled by the rush of everyday life. Therefore, God provided us with a second, external gift: the power of holy speech. When we verbalize God’s holy words in Torah study and prayer, we are able to revive the dormant holiness of the inner heart. The lofty kernel, our true essence, is like a princess who was kidnapped against her will. We may rescue her by employing our faculty of holy speech. This is the secret power of speech when it articulates the hidden treasures residing in the soul. (Rav Kook)
Because speech is an expression of our true self (nefesh), it is extremely powerful as well as holy. As it says in Mishlei 18:21,
מָ֣וֶת וְ֭חַיִּים בְּיַד־לָשׁ֑וֹן וְ֝אֹהֲבֶ֗יהָ יֹאכַ֥ל פִּרְיָֽהּ׃
Death and life are in the power of the tongue; Those who love it will eat its fruit. Speech is what makes us human, and it empowers us to serve Hashem. Since speech is such a holy expression of our nefesh, we must preserve its sanctity:
משלי יח: מות וחיים ביד לשון.
תרגום עקילס: מיצטרא מכירין מות מכאן וחיים מכאן.
בר סירא אמר: היתה לפניו גחלת ונפח בה וביערה רקק בה וכבת.
"Death and life are in the power [literally, hand] of the tongue." (Proverbs 18:21) Onqelos translated this: You recognize it by its [two] sides — death here, life there. Bar Sira says: If there is a glowing coal and you blow on it, it ignites; if you spit on it, it goes out.
English
There is a certain spirit appointed over all these speakers of lashon hara, which, when men are aroused to lashon hara, there is likewise aroused that malevolent, unclean spirit above, which is called Contention. Presiding over that arousal of lashon hara initiated by men, it rises on high and causes —by that arousal of lashon hara —death, sword, and slaughter in the world. Woe unto those who arouse this malevolent force by not guarding their mouth and their tongue, giving no thought to it.
If you translate the Zohar’s mystical language about what happens in the divine realm into a symbolic language about what happens among human beings, what is it saying?
What themes do you see these three texts having in common? Why, according to these texts, is evil speech dangerous?
Rabbi David Gross on Parshas Mattos:
Bilaam, a spiritual mercenary hired by Balak to curse the Jewish people, was en route to carry out his mission when suddenly, the donkey he was riding miraculously began to speak and rebuke him. I often wondered why G-d would see fit to grant a donkey the power of speech under these circumstances. Perhaps G-d was trying to send a not-so-subtle message to Bilaam that anyone who uses the G-d-given power of speech, which has such potential for holiness, in a harmful, detrimental or illegitimate way, is essentially no better than a talking donkey.
This should give us an entirely different perspective on our power of speech. If speech is associated with our higher level of spirituality, then speech is an instrument of sanctity, potentially imbuing holiness into every word that we utter. This being the case, it’s no wonder that the Torah could find no better expression to describe the failure to honor one’s word than a desecration of one’s speech.
Shmiras Halashon - Guarding One's Speech
(א) כְּתִיב (משלי כ"א, כ"ג): "שֹׁמֵר פִּיו וּלְשׁוֹנוֹ שֹׁמֵר מִצָּרוֹת נַפְשׁוֹ". וּלְהָבִין הָעִנְיָן מַה שֶּׁפֵּרֵט הַכָּתוּב שְׁמִירַת הַפֶּה וְהַלָּשׁוֹן לִמְנִיעַת צָרָה מֵהַנֶּפֶשׁ, יוֹתֵר מִכָּל הָעִנְיָנִים, אֲשֶׁר צָרִיךְ הָאָדָם הַשָּׁלֵם לִשְׁמֹר בִּימֵי חַיָּיו, עַיֵּן בִּמְפָרְשֵׁי הַפְּשָׁט. וְגַם אֲנִי אֶעֱנֶה אֶת חֶלְקִי אֲשֶׁר חַנַּנִי ה', וּבָזֶה נָבִין גַּם כֵּן מַה שֶּׁכָּתוּב (תהילים ל"ד י"ג): "מִי הָאִישׁ הֶחָפֵץ חַיִּים אֹהֵב יָמִים לִרְאוֹת טוֹב, נְצֹר לְשׁוֹנְךָ מֵרָע" וְגוֹ'.
(1) It is written (Proverbs 21:23): "Whoever watches his mouth and tongue, protects his soul from harm." Explained above.
(14) Guard your tongue from evil, your lips from deceitful speech.
(א) נצור - אמר לקדושים היראה בלב, כי מעלתם גבוהה להשמר בלשון ובמעשה.
Guard - He said of the holy ones, those who fear [of Hashem] in the heart, it is considered to be of a higher level to guard your speech and actions
This pasuk is one of the many that teach us to be careful of anything bad, that the yetzer hara might tempt us with. Most commentaries (and the Talmud Bavli in many places) write that this specific pasuk refers to the sin of seminal emissions because of its juxtaposition to the halachot of a zav. However, there a few sources that write that this pasuk also applies shmiras halashon:
From anything bad - This refers to a repulsive mouth.
(א) ונשמרת מכל דבר רע. . ודרשו רז"ל, מכל דבר רע אלו עריות ולשון הרע. עריות, ממה שכתוב ולא יראה בך ערות דבר, וזהו שאמר מכל דבר רע. לשון הרע הוא שאמר מכל דבר רע כלומר דבור רע, וזהו לשון הרע. ורצה הכתוב להזהיר על שתים אלה לפי שהן עבירות חמורות והשכינה מסתלקת בשבילן. מכאן אמר רבי פנחס בן יאיר זהירות מביאה לידי זריזות, זריזות מביאה לידי נקיות, נקיות מביאה לידי פרישות, פרישות מביאה לידי טהרה, טהרה מביאה לידי קדושה, קדושה מביאה לידי יראת חטא, יראת חטא מביאה לידי ענוה, ענוה מביאה לידי חסידות, חסידות מביאה לידי רוח הקודש. הזכיר החכם ז"ל בכאן עשר מדות, חמש גופניות וחמש שכליות, וכלן מביאות אל העשירית שהיא רוח הקודש.
(1) ונשמרת מכל דבר רע, ”you shall guard against anything evil.”
Another meaning of דבר רע, is “using one’s tongue loosely, irresponsibly, לשון הרע, badmouthing others.” ... The connection with לשון הרע is based on the word רע in our verse. Instead of דבר רע, assume the spelling would have been dibbur ra, “wicked talk.” The reason this verse warns specifically against these two sins is that each one is an extremely serious sin and the Presence of G’d, the Shechinah is apt to withdraw from the camp on its account.
Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair (the epitome of piety) derives from the sequence of our verses here that care not to violate a negative commandment will lead to a person becoming eager in striving to fulfill positive commandments. This is turn will lead to one becoming ritually pure of body. The next stage of one’s spiritual ascent will be פרישות, suppression of sinful thoughts. This in turn will lead to a state of purity of spirit followed by the attainment of a level of sanctity. Having attained that level one will graduate to יראת חטא, an abhorrence of sin, which in turn will lead to the virtue of humility. Once a person has acquired this virtue he will progress to the virtue of piety which in turn will enable him to acquire holy spirit. In the foregoing the venerable Rabbi listed ten virtues, five of which involving one’s body, the other five involving one’s spirit, one’s mind. All of them are leading up to the tenth attribute, i.e. holy spirit.
אזהרה למוציא שם רע מנלן ר' אלעזר אמר (ויקרא יט, טז) מלא תלך רכיל רבי נתן אומר (דברים כג, י) מונשמרת מכל דבר רע
(א) שומר פיו ולשונו - שניהם שותפים בדבור והענין שישמרם מדבר גנות, אז ישמור נפשו מכל דבר רע.
Guarding his mouth and tongue - both are equal when it comes to speech. And whoever protects themselves from disgraceful speech, protects their nefesh from anything bad.
Using bad language does negatively impact your nefesh, since speech is one of the abilities that Hashem granted humanity when he transformed our nefesh behamit to a nefesh chayah (rashi above, in Bereishit).
Rabeinu Bachya's commentary on this pasuk teaches many things about shmiras lashon -
1) The reason why the Jewish soldiers had to be careful concerning their language, is because the sh'chinah would depart from the macheneh if they were careless. This shows the severity of lashon hara - badmouthing others - and dibur ra - wicked speech.
2) The progression that one goes through to get Ruach Hakodesh starts with adhering to negative commandments, such as lashon hara and dibur ra. So what is lashon hara and what is dibur rah?
Lashon Harah
Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan wrote extensively on the topic of Lashon Hara. Many of the sources in this section come from either his book Chafetz Chaim (on the halachot of lashon hara) or the complimentary text Shemriat Halashon (the mussar aspect of lashon hara).
So now we know what lashon hara is, how severe it is, and how important it is, but what are the halachot of lashon hara?
There are many halachot of lashon hara and if you wish to study them all, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (The Chofetz Chaim) wrote a whole book on it: The Chofetz Chaim.
Here are the main halachot/guidelines on determining what is/is not lashon hara:
אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים שָׁלֹשׁ עֲבֵרוֹת נִפְרָעִין מִן הָאָדָם בָּעוֹלָם הַזֶּה וְאֵין לוֹ חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא. עֲבוֹדַת כּוֹכָבִים וְגִלּוּי עֲרָיוֹת וּשְׁפִיכוּת דָּמִים. וְלָשׁוֹן הָרַע כְּנֶגֶד כֻּלָּם. וְעוֹד אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים כָּל הַמְסַפֵּר בְּלָשׁוֹן הָרַע כְּאִלּוּ כּוֹפֵר בָּעִקָּר. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (תהילים יב ה) "אֲשֶׁר אָמְרוּ לִלְשֹׁנֵנוּ נַגְבִּיר שְׂפָתֵינוּ אִתָּנוּ מִי אָדוֹן לָנוּ". וְעוֹד אָמְרוּ חֲכָמִים שְׁלֹשָׁה לָשׁוֹן הָרַע הוֹרֶגֶת. הָאוֹמְרוֹ. וְהַמְקַבְּלוֹ. וְזֶה שֶׁאוֹמֵר עָלָיו. וְהַמְקַבְּלוֹ יוֹתֵר מִן הָאוֹמְרוֹ:
The sages said (Yerushalmi Peah 1:1) there are three sins [for which] people are punished in this world and have no share in the world to come: Idolatry, forbidden sexual relations and bloodshed. And evil speech is equal to them all. And the sages also said (Yerushalmi Peah 1:1) that anyone who speaks evil speech is a heretic, as it states (Psalms 12:5), "They say, 'By our tongues we shall prevail; with lips such as ours, who can be our master?'” And the sages also said (Arakhin 15b) [that] evil speech kills three people: The person who said it, the person who hears it, and the person who it was said about. And the person who hears it more so than the person who says it.
Lashon Hara - General Guidelines (from Halachipedia)
- It’s forbidden to speak about anything negative about a fellow Jew even if it’s true. This prohibition is called Lashon Hara. When communicating something false about another person, an even more severe sin is committed, that of Motzei Shem Ra (lit. producing a bad name for someone else). [3]
- Rechilus / רכילות, comes from the Torah commandment "לא תלך רכיל בעמיך" / "don't be a talebearer in your nation" (Vayikra 19:16); the word "רכיל", literally "peddlar", refers to one who "carries stories" and 'peddles' them from one person to another, and says: "such and such ___ said", "such and such I heard about ___" [4]. Even if this is true, and there is no denigration, this speech violates a negative commandment, is a severe sin, and causes souls of Jews to be killed [5].
- It’s equally forbidden whether one volunteered or if one was asked for information where one will come to say Lashon Hara or Avak Lashon Hara. One should not listen to one’s father or Rabbi to say Lashon Hara or Avak Lashon Hara. (See circumstances where it is permitted in section Toelet). [6]
- Even if taking upon oneself not to speak Lashon Hara will cause one to sustain financial loss such as the loss of one’s job (such as where the employer is very immoral and irreligious and considers one who is careful about this prohibition to be a fool and he’ll fire that person), nonetheless, it is forbidden to speak Lashon Hara. [7]
- Even if it will cause one embarrassment not to say Lashon Hara one may not say Lashon Hara. [8] Needless to say, such a heroic moral stance is rewarded exponentially, in line with the rabbinic dictum "Reward is in proportion to the effort."[9]
- This prohibition includes any communication that is verbalized, written, or simply implied even in a silent manner.[10]
- Even if while saying Lashon Hara one also degrades oneself it’s still forbidden. [11]
Dibur Rah - vulgar language
מאי ועוד ידו נטויה? אמר רב חנן בר רב, הכל יודעין כלה למה נכנסה לחופה. אלא, כל המנבל פיו ומוציא דבר נבלה מפיו אפילו נחתם לו גזר דינו של שבעים שנה לטובה נהפך עליו לרעה
What is the meaning of the phrase “And His hand is still outstretched”? Rav Ḥanan bar Rav said: Everyone knows why a bride enters the wedding canopy. It is the step before consummation of the marriage. However, one should not speak about it unnecessarily, as anyone who profanes his mouth and issues a matter of profanity from his mouth, even if a positive decree of seventy years was sealed for him, nevertheless, it is transformed for him into an evil decree.
(16) That is why my Lord Will not spare their youths, Nor show compassion To their orphans and widows; For all are ungodly and wicked, And every mouth speaks impiety.
(יג) והקללה הם הקללות והגדופים והחרפות שמזכירים בהם שם שמים לבטלה והוא גנאי גדול למאמין. וכבר התירו עמי הארץ לעצמם זה עד שהגיעו בו אל תכלית הגנות והם מכונים בזה להפליא ולהפליג בגדופיהם ולהגדיל ולפאר חרפותם. והם דומים בזה למה שאמר החכם (משלי י) כשחוק לכסיל עשות זמה.
(13) In a curse: They are the curses, insults, blasphemies, in which the name of G-d is uttered. This is a great disgrace for a believer. Common people already permitted themselves on this until they have reached the ultimate in disgrace, and their intent in this is to emphasize their provocations and increase and aggrandize their insults, and they are similar in this to what the wise man said: "It is as sport to a fool to do wickedness" (Mishlei 10:23), and "on his orphans and his widows He shall not have mercy, for all of them are hypocrites and evil doers, and every mouth speaks obscene language" (Yeshaya 9:16), and "The tongue of the righteous is choice silver" (Mishlei 10:20).
(1) A person should not utter anything from his mouth unless he knows that this is favorable to his Creator, and if this is so: "You will decide and this will be granted you" (Iyov 22:28)
Conclusion - How to preserve Lashon Naki
In terms of dibur ra, the simplest way to avoid it is by not using vulgar language.
However in terms of lashon hara, which is a human drive that the yetzer hara uses against us, it is very hard to avoid.
The Chofetz Chaim explains the three biggest reasons as to why people say lashon hara:
(ז) וּבֶאֱמֶת כָּל אֶחָד וְאֶחָד מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל רוֹצֶה לִשְׁמֹר אֶת הַתּוֹרָה בִּשְׁלֵמוּת וְשֶׁלֹּא לִגְרֹעַ מִמֶּנָּה כְּלָל כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב (ישעיה ס' כ"א): "וְעַמֵּךְ כֻּלָּם צַדִּיקִים", אַךְ הַסִּבּוֹת הַמַּגִּיעוֹת לְכַמָּה אֲנָשִׁים לְהִתְרַפּוֹת מִמִּדָּה הַקְּדוֹשָׁה שֵׁל שְׁמִירַת הַלָּשׁוֹן רַבּוֹת הֵנָה, וּנְבָאֲרֵם אִם יִרְצֶה ה' לְקַּמָּן בִּפְנִים בְּהַרְחָבָה. אַךְ הַסִּבּוֹת הָרָאשִׁיּוֹת הֵן שְׁלֹשָה.
(7) And, in truth, every Jew wishes to observe the Torah in perfection and to omit nothing of it, as it is written (Isaiah 60:21): "And Your people are all righteous." But the reasons which cause people to be lax in the holy trait of guarding one's tongue are many. We shall explain them, G-d willing, below at length; but the chief reasons are three:
(ח) א. סִבַּת חֶסְרוֹן יְדִיעָה, שֶׁאֵינוֹ יוֹדֵעַ אֵיזֶה מֵהַדִּבּוּרִים יִפֹּל תַּחַת סוּג לָשׁוֹן הָרָע, וְלָזֶה חִבַּרְנוּ שְׁנֵי הַחֲלָקִים הָרִאשׁוֹנִים שֶׁבְּסֵפֶר "חָפֵץ חַיִּים".
(8) a) deficiency of knowledge — not knowing which speech is in the category of lashon hara, wherefore we wrote the first two parts of the book Chafetz Chaim.
(ט) ב. סִבַּת הִתְגַּבְּרוּת הַיֵּצֶר, שֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּעִנְיָן הַזֶּה, שֶׁבָּזֶה יִהְיֶה לוֹ כֹּחַ לְקַטְרֵג עָלֵינוּ וְלֹא תְּקֻבַּל תְּפִלָּתֵנוּ לְמַעְלָה, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַבְנוּ בִּפְנִים בְּשֵׁם הַזֹּהַר הַקָדוֹשׁ.
(9) b) Intensification of the yetzer [the evil inclination] in this area [of lashon hara], whereby it gathers the power to "prosecute" us, so that our prayers are not accepted above (as we have written below, citing the holy Zohar.)
(י) ג. שֶׁנֶּעְלָם מֵאִתָּנוּ הַתַּחְבּוּלוֹת, שֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּזֶה כְּדֵי לְהִמָּלֵט מִיַּד הַיֵּצֶר, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב (משלי כ"ד ו'): "כִּי בְתַחְבֻּלוֹת תַּעֲשֶׂה לְּךָ מִלְחָמָה".
(10) c) lacking the stratagems to escape the yetzer, viz. (Mishlei 24:6): "For with stratagems shall you make war for yourself [against the yetzer]."
(כו) עבור אשר הרבה דברים תלויים בלשון, צריך לשמור לשונו מאוד. ועל כן אמר דוד (תהלים לד יד): "נצור לשונך מרע". ואמרו רבותינו זיכרונם לברכה (ויקרא רבה טז ב): מעשה באדם אחד שקרא ברחוב: "מי רוצה לקנות סם חיים?" באו כל העולם לקנות, והוציא ספר תהלים והראה להם מה שכתוב בו: "מי האיש החפץ חיים, אהב ימים לראות טוב, נצור לשונך מרע". וכשראה זה רבי ינאי הכניסו בביתו, והאכילהו והשקהו ונתן לו מעות. באו תלמידיו ואמרו לו: "עד עתה לא ידעת זה הפסוק?" אמר להם: "ידעתי, אבל לא שמתי על לבי להיזהר בדבר זה. וכשהייתי קורא זה הפסוק עברתי עליו ולא חשתי, ובא זה וקיימו בידי, ומעתה אזהר יותר בלשוני".
Because so many things depend upon the tongue, it is necessary to guard the tongue very much. And therefore David said, "Keep thy tongue from evil" (Ps. 34:14). And our Sages, of blessed memory, recounted a story about a certain man who cried out in the streets, "Who wants to purchase the elixir of life?" Everybody came to buy. He then took out the Book of Psalms and showed them what was written in it: "Who is the man that desireth life and loveth days, that he may see good therein? Keep thy tongue from evil" (Ps. 34:13—14). And when Rabbi Yannai saw this, he took this man into his house and he fed him and he gave him (26)drink and money. The pupils of Rabbi Yannai came to him and said to him, "Did you not know this verse before?" And he said to them, "I did know it — but I never put it in my heart to be careful concerning this. When I used to read this verse I would go over it hastily and did not realize its full meaning. And now this man came and made it mean something to me, and from now on I shall be more careful with my tongue" (Lev. Rabbah 16:2; Shohar Tov, 52b).
(כב) כֵּן הַדָּבָר מַמָּשׁ בְּעִנְיָנֵנוּ, הַיֵּצֶר נִצַּחֲךָ בְּיוֹם זֶה בְּדִבּוּרִים אֲסוּרִים, אַתָּה עֲמֹד וְהִתְחַזֵּק נֶגְדּוֹ לְמָחָר לְנַצְּחוֹ. וַאֲפִלּוּ אִם, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, יִתְּרָמֵי שֶׁיְּנַצַּחֲךָ עוֹד הַפַּעַם, אַף עַל פִּי כֵן חֲזֹר וְהִתְחַזֵּק נֶגְדּוֹ לְהִלָּחֵם אִתּוֹ, וּבְוַדַּאי יַעֲזָרְךָ הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא, שֶׁתִּהְיֶה גַּם כֵּן מֵהַמְנַצְּחִים, כִּי הַבָּא לִטָּהֵר מְסַיְּעִין אוֹתוֹ. כְּלָלוֹ שֶׁל דָּבָר, כָּל יָמָיו שֶׁל אָדָם תִּהְיֶה מִלְחָמָה בֵּינוֹ וּבֵין הַיֵּצֶר, וְזוֹהִי בְּעֶצֶם כַּוָּנַת חֲזַ"ל: לְעוֹלָם יַרְגִּיז אָדָם וְכוּ'. וְזֶה מַה שֶׁאָמַר הַכָּתוּב (קהלת י' ד'): "אִם רוּחַ הַמּוֹשֵׁל תַּעֲלֶה עָלֶיךָ, מְקוֹמְךָ אַל תַּנַּח".
And thus, precisely, is it in our instance. The (22)yetzer bested you today in the area of forbidden speech. Stand up and strengthen yourself against him tomorrow to defeat him. And even if, G-d forbid, he bests you again, notwithstanding this, return and strengthen yourself again against him to wage war with him. And the Holy One Blessed be He will certainly help you, too, to emerge victorious; for "one who comes to purify himself is abetted (from on High.") In sum: A man should spend all of his days warring with his yetzer, this being the intent of Chazal in "Let one always incite, etc." And this, in effect, is the intent of the verse (Koheleth 10:4): "If the spirit of the "ruler" rises up against you, do not abandon your position."
(א) לִפְעָמִים מֻנָּח הַדִּבּוּר וּמוּכָן לָצֵאת, וְאֵינוֹ יוֹצֵא דֶּרֶךְ הַפֶּה, כִּי־אִם דֶּרֶךְ הָעֹרֶף, (וּמַמָּשׁ אֶפְשָׁר לִשְׁמֹעַ כַּמָּה פְּעָמִים שֶׁהַדִּבּוּר אֵינוֹ יוֹצֵא דֶּרֶךְ הַפֶּה רַק דֶּרֶךְ הָעֹרֶף). כִּי יֵשׁ שָׁלֹשׁ קְלִפּוֹת, וְהַקְּלִפּוֹת רוֹצִים תָּמִיד לִתְפֹּס הַדִּבּוּר לְעַצְמָם, בִּפְרָט דִּבּוּר הַקָּדוֹשׁ מֵאָדָם גָּדוֹל, כִּי אֶצְלָם כָּל הַדִּבּוּרִים יָפִים וְנָאִים וַחֲשׁוּבִים, וְרוֹצִים לְתָפְסָם, מִכָּל־שֶׁכֵּן כְּשֶׁהַדִּבּוּר נָאֶה בֶּאֱמֶת,
וְהִנֵּה כְּשֶׁהַדִּבּוּר הוּא דִּבּוּר הַקָּדוֹשׁ, בְּחִינוֹת שָׂרָה, שֶׁהָיָה שְׁכִינָה עִמָּהּ, אַף שֶׁהָיָה צַר לְאַבְרָהָם מְאֹד מְאֹד בְּעֵת שֶׁנִּלְקְחָה, עִם כָּל זֶה יָדַע וּבָטַח בַּה' שֶׁהוּא טוֹבָה גְּדוֹלָה שֶׁנִּתְפְּסָה לְשָׁם, שֶׁנַּעֲשָׂה מִזֶּה נַחַת גָּדוֹל לְהַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ, שֶׁהוּא בְּחִינַת: עֵת אֲשֶׁר שָׁלַט הָאָדָם בָּאָדָם לְרַע לוֹ (קהלת ח), שֶׁלִּקְּטָה מִשָּׁם נִיצוֹצוֹת הַקְּדוֹשִׁים כַּיָּדוּעַ. אֲבָל אִם הוּא דִּבּוּר פָּשׁוּט, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, אֶפְשָׁר שֶׁיִּתְפְּסוּ אוֹתוֹ לְשָׁם, וְכִמְעַט, חַס וְשָׁלוֹם, יִשְׁתַּקַּע שָׁם אִם לֹא שֶׁיָּבוֹא צַדִּיק אֱמֶת, שֶׁיֵּשׁ לוֹ כֹּחַ לְהוֹצִיאוֹ מִשָּׁם.
Sometimes the relaxation of dibur and its readiness to come out, and it does not come out through the mouth, it comes out from the rear. There are three types of spiritual spirits that do bad/impure things (kalifot), and the kalifot want to mess up your speech for themselves [so they can gain power: which is gained from our misdeeds]. All speech is [initially] nice, pleasant, and important, and they [the kalifot] want to mess it up.
If you translate the Zohar’s mystical language about what happens in the divine realm into a symbolic language about what happens among human beings, what is it saying?
What themes do you see these three texts having in common? Why, according to these texts, is evil speech dangerous?
Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, indicates a tall woman walking alongside a short one so that the tall woman would stand out.
And walk with outstretched necks, indicates that they would walk with upright stature and carry themselves in an immodest way.
And wanton eyes, indicates that they would fill their eyes with blue eye shadow in order to draw attention to their eyes.
Walking and mincing as they go, indicates that they would walk in small steps, heel to toe, so onlookers would notice them.
Making a tinkling [te’akasna] with their feet, Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This teaches that they would bring myrrh and balsam and place them in their shoes and would walk in the marketplaces of Jerusalem. And once they approached a place where young Jewish men were congregated, they would stamp their feet on the ground and splash the perfume toward them and instill the evil inclination into them like venom of a viper [ke’eres bikhos]. With regard to bloodshed it is written: “Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another” (II Kings 21:16). However, considering that the people during the Second Temple period were engaged in Torah study, observance of mitzvot, and acts of kindness, and that they did not perform the sinful acts that were performed in the First Temple, why was the Second Temple destroyed? It was destroyed due to the fact that there was wanton hatred during that period. This comes to teach you that the sin of wanton hatred is equivalent to the three severe transgressions: Idol worship, forbidden sexual relations and bloodshed.