One of the reasons we have difficulty controlling our speech is that we don’t see it as truly damaging. “What is the big deal if I tell an interesting story or two?” we say. While I would never dream of physically harming you, when it comes to ruining your reputation, damaging your business, or causing you harm in the way people perceive you, then I am much less concerned. The Torah is teaching us that lashon hara is forbidden because of the power of the words and the damage they can cause. That is why they are forbidden.
The Power of Speech
The answer to the question on the meraglim seems to be that they should have seen what happened to Miriam and learned one lesson from it – the power of speech. Why did Hashem act so harshly with her? It must be that what she did was far more egregious than we realized. It must be that her words – while merely speech – are a powerful force.
Had the meraglim learned this lesson, they would have been far more careful in their speech. They would have thought many times about the consequences of their words, and that would have made them stop and think to themselves, “Before we bring back this report, are we sure? Are we a hundred percent certain the Jewish people will die trying to conquer this land? Didn’t Hashem bring us out of Mitzrayim? Didn’t Hashem split the sea for us?”
Understanding the power of speech would have caused them to think about the consequences, and the results might well have been very different.
This concept has great relevance in our lives. Most of the damage we do through speech isn’t malicious or with bad intent. We speak without thinking about the consequences, without contemplating the results. The Torah is teaching us the power of those words and how careful we have to be with what we say, not because the Torah is machmir when it comes to sins of speech, but because of the power speech has to help or to harm.
To view Rabbi Shafier’s parsha video click here.