Lesson 30: The Ears
There is a popular saying that “seeing is believing” – implying that once we see something, we can then believe what we saw with certainty. But the truth is that in our world of darkness, in our current state of exile, even seeing is not believing. So often, we see an incident which we interpret one way, but turns out to be something completely different than what we assumed. Hence, even after we see something, we cannot necessarily believe our intuitive assumptions about what we saw.
All the more so, then, listening is not believing. Even if we heard the same piece of Lashon Ha’ra from several people, which would lead us to the conclusion that the information must be correct, nevertheless, we cannot believe what we heard. No matter how many people related to us this information, we cannot believe it. We are allowed to suspect that the information might be true, given that so many people are reporting it, if our wellbeing is at stake, if we need to protect ourselves. But even then, it is forbidden to firmly believe what was said.
Therefore, when rumors spread about somebody, that he did something wrong, we may not believe the rumors, and we are allowed only to exercise caution if the information being told is relevant to us. But we may not believe rumors unless they have been conclusively confirmed.
Our Sages teach that Lashon Ha’ra first reaches the ears, and then, if one believes the words that entered his ears, they spread to his heart. Therefore, in Gehinam, the first part of the body that will be punished is the ears. It follows, then, that the converse must also be true. If one closes his ears, walking away from people who are speaking Lashon Ha’ra, or ending the conversation before the Lashon Ha’ra could be communicated, thereby protecting his ears from forbidden speech, then his ears will be the first to be blessed in Gan Eden. Of course, we cannot know how precisely the ears will be blessed. Perhaps, they will hear a favorable judgment issued in the heavens. We do not really know, but we can be certain that Hashem will bestow great blessings upon the ears which were guarded against words of Lashon Ha’ra.