Shabbat and Lashon Ha’ra About Hashem
The prohibition of lashon ha’ra – negative speech about others – applies not only to speaking negatively about other people, but also to speaking negatively about Hashem.
The Rambam makes the following remark in his conclusion to Hilchot Tum’at Tzara’at:
זה דרך ישיבת הלצים הרשעים: בתחילה מרבין בדברי הבאי … ומתוך כך באין לספר בגנות הצדיקים .. ומתוך כך יהיה להן הרגל לדבר בנביאים ….ומתוך כך באין לדבר באלהים וכופרין בעיקר …
This is the path of the evil scoffers – they first indulge in speaking nonsense…and they thereby end up speaking derisively about the righteous…and they thereby grow accustomed to speaking against the prophets…and they thereby end up speaking against G-d and becoming heretics.
The ultimate lashon ha’ra is negative speech spoken about G-d Himself, criticizing His actions and claiming that He wishes us evil.
In fact, the very first instance of lashon ha’ra in the world was negative words spoken about G-d. As the Midrash teaches, the snake in Gan Eden told Havah that the reason why G-d forbade partaking from the Tree of Knowledge was because it would empower Adam and Havah, making them like G-d Himself, and He did not want competition. The truth is that G-d prohibited eating from the tree for Adam and Havah’s benefit, because the tree’s fruit was detrimental to them. The snake, however, turned the command upside-down, claiming that G-d forbade eating its fruit because He did not want Adam and Havah to enjoy its benefits. Havah, unfortunately, believed the snake, as the Torah says, ותרא האשה כי טוב העץ למאכל – she viewed the tree as something beneficial for her. The root of her sin was accepting the snake’s lashon ha’ra about G-d, and believing that He does not want what is best for all people on earth. This is the gravest type of lashon ha’ra, which, the Rambam warns, can easily result from ordinary gossip and cynicism.
The Hovot Ha’levavot writes in the introduction to the Sha’ar Ha’behinah section that Hashem deals kindly with all His creatures, as the pasuk states in Tehillim (145:9), טוב ה' לכל – “Hashem is good to all,” but unfortunately, רובם כעיורים מהכירן ומהבין גודל מעלותן – most people are “blind,” and fail to recognize G-d’s kindnesses. The Rambam similarly writes in his Guide for the Perplexed (3:12) that as Hashem is הטוב הגמור – “the ultimate goodness” – everything He does is unquestionably good, as indicated by the pasuk, טוב ה' לכל. Hashem performs only goodness, and it is only due to our misunderstanding, and because we fall prey to the lashon ha’ra of the snake, that we sometimes think He treats us unkindly. We are misled to accept negative talk about Hashem, and the claims that He works against us and does not have our best interests in mind.
A striking example appears in this week’s parashah, Parashat Devarim (1:27), where Moshe recalls how the people reacted to the scouts’ frightening report about Eretz Yisrael by crying and exclaiming, בשנאת ה' אותנו הוציאנו מארץ מצרים – that G-d took them from Egypt because He “despised” them. Moshe reprimanded the people, noting how throughout their travels in the desert, G-d carried them like a nurse carries an infant – כאשר ישא האומן את היונק. He then said, ובדבר הזה אינכם מאמינים בה' אלוקיכם – they failed to believe that Hashem had only their best interests in mind. Like Havah, they believed that Hashem disliked them and sought to cause them harm, and refused to acknowledge that everything Hashem does is out of genuine love and concern.
Rashi, in his commentary in Sefer Shemot, writes that this was Beneh Yisrael’s mistake when they asked, היש ה' בקרבנו אם אין – “Is G-d in our midst, or not?” Despite seeing all the miracles G-d had performed them, they still questioned whether He was really accompanying and helping them. Rashi draws an analogy to a father carrying a child on his shoulders as they walked, and picking up and giving him everything he wanted. They then passed by another man, and the child asked him, “Have you seen my father?” The boy is riding on his father’s shoulders, and his father gives him everything he asks for; how can he not know where his father is? Similarly, G-d cared for Beneh Yisrael in miraculous fashion, yet they still questioned whether He cared about them. They fell prey to the lure of the snake, which tries to draw our attention to the negative side of everything in life so we think that Hashem does not care about us.
We need to firmly believe that at all times, Hashem is “carrying” us and tenderly caring for us as a mother cares for her beloved infant. The most severe of all forms of lashon ha’ra is the claim of בשנאת ה' אותנו, that Hashem acts out of malice, and we must therefore constantly reaffirm our belief that כאשר ישא האומן את היונק – Hashem always cares for us like a mother caring for her young child.
While this is true seven days a week, Shabbat is especially designated as a time for strengthening our belief in G-d’s absolute goodness, and for reminding ourselves that טוב ה' לכל – Hashem treats all of us kindly. The special chapter of Tehillim composed for Shabbat (מזמור שיר ליום השבת) begins:
טוב להודות לה' ולזמר לשמך עליון, להגיד בבוקר חסדך ואמונתך בלילות.
It is good to thank G-d and to sing praise to Your Name, O Supreme One; to speak in the morning of Your kindness, and of Your faith in the nights.
Shabbat reminds us that even בלילות, during life’s dark periods, we must believe that Hashem is kind and performs only goodness.
This message is especially prescient when Shabbat falls on Tisha B’Av. The 79th chapter of Tehillim speaks about the destruction of the Bet Ha’mikdash, and it begins, מזמור לאסף אלקים באו גויים נחלתיך – “A song of praise by Assaf: G-d, gentile nations have come into Your territory…” The Midrash wonders why this chapter is introduced as a מזמור – a song of praise to Hashem – as opposed to a קינה – a lament, or dirge. The answer, the Midrash explains, is because Assaf was grateful for the fact that G-d expressed His anger by destroying the Mikdash rather than by destroying Am Yisrael. While this event was certainly tragic, even this calamity expressed G-d’s kindness, as by destroying the Mikdash, He spared the Jewish People. This is why on the afternoon of Tisha B’Av we get up from the floor and begin to experience comfort and consolation. We recognize that even the tragedy of the hurban (destruction) was, ultimately, for our benefit, and this brings us solace.
Therefore, particularly when Shabbat falls on Tisha B’Av, we must reinforce our אמונתך בלילות, our belief in Hashem’s goodness even in dark times, that everything He does is done with love and kindness, and with only our very best interests in mind.