Lesson #73: Take 2
The bells rings, and the boys look at each other in relief, and then dart out the door up to the gym to play basketball. But when they arrive, they look around and are surprised to see that one of the kids – Yehuda – is missing.
Reuven, one of the boys, turns to two of his classmates – Shimon and Levi – with a smile, and says, “Yeah, I know what happened. When we were running out of class, the principal went over to Yehuda and called him into his office. Oh my, is he in trouble! You remember what happened yesterday in English class? He is getting it right now!”
Later during recess, Yehuda comes into the gym. Shimon sees him and immediately runs over to him.
“Reuven told me that you were called to the principal’s office!” Shimon says. “He said it was about what happened yesterday. How did it go?”
Then Levi comes over to Yehuda, and says, “Hey, Reuven told us you’re in trouble with the principal because of what you did in English class. He really gave it to you, didn’t he?”
When Reuven told Shimon and Levi that Yehuda was in trouble for misbehaving, he violated the prohibition of Lashon Ha’ra, because he shared negative information about Yehuda. And when Shimon then told Yehuda that Reuven spoke about him, Shimon violated the prohibition of Rechilut, because he aroused Yehuda’s resentment towards Reuven, by informing him that Reuven shared unflattering news about him. Interestingly, Levi, too, violated the prohibition of Rechilut by telling Yehuda again that Reuven spoke about him. Even though he is telling something to Yehuda which Yehuda already knows, having heard this information just moments earlier, nevertheless, Levi is in violation of Rechilut, because by repeating this information to Yehuda, he makes Yehuda angrier at Reuven. This additional anger aroused by Levi’s repeating this information to Yehuda suffices to violate this prohibition. Telling somebody about how somebody else wronged him constitutes Rechilut even if the person is already well aware of the incident, because every time he hears about it, his anger is intensified, however slightly.
In any situation we find ourselves in, it is important to pick up the vibes, to get a sense of what is happening beneath the surface. If we see that negative feelings are being triggered, we must not add wood to the fire. We are meant to be the firefighters of the world, to do our best to put out the fires that are ignited. To that end, we must avoid saying anything to somebody which will add even a single “log” to the fire of animosity toward his fellow Jew.