Good evening. The following is tonight's Shemirat HaLashon broadcast. It is Le'ilui Nishmat (for the elevation of the soul) for Luz, Elizabeth Henriette, and her children, who passed with her in the fire. Ruach Hashem, Tenichena B'Gan Eden (a memorial blessing for the deceased in Gan Eden). Amen (so be it). There is also an anonymous sponsorship.
Did you ever think about it? Lashon Hara (speaking bad about that person) is actually one of the only sins that has its own direct punishment. We all know that a person who speaks Lashon Hara breaks out in Tzara'at, leprosy. When a person performs all different types of Aveirot (sins), like stealing or lying, they're going to get punished. However, he won't get to see the connection between the sin that he did and the punishment he's going to receive as clearly as in Metzora. Why is it that Lashon Hara is so different? Why is it that it needs a direct and miraculous type of punishment?
The answer is that Lashon Hara is so dangerous for our Neshamot (souls) that Hashem sends a very frightening message. It's like shaking us up, a wake-up call. We should really wake up and realize that immediately we've got to stop doing this because this is really destroying our Neshamot. As a matter of fact, the Torah warns us about this in a specific Pasuk (verse): Hishamer b'nega hatzara'at lishmor me'od vela'asot (Be careful regarding the tzara'at affliction, observe very carefully and do [what is required]). Torah tells us to be very careful. To avoid the punishment of Tzara'at, don't do anything that will bring this terrible punishment on you. Stay far away from Lashon Hara.
So here's a practical halacha (Jewish law). Talking Lashon Hara is absolutely forbidden, even if you say it in the presence of the person that you're talking about. So here's an example. You and your friend always joke around about how stingy he is. And you tell him all the time that he's stingy and he doesn't put out a penny for nothing. That's okay. It doesn't bother him. You joke around. It's all good. Nevertheless, if you go now and you say to somebody else that your friend is stingy, now that is Lashon Hara.
“But what do you mean? All the time, me and him joke around that he's stingy and it doesn't bother him. So why, all of a sudden, when I tell somebody else that he's stingy, is it a problem?” And the answer is that between friends, a lot of things can slide. We understand each other. We're good with each other. But the minute we stop bringing other people into the conversation, the minute other people are present, that friend might not feel the same way about you anymore. They might actually be hurt in front of somebody else. They might get embarrassed in front of somebody else.
So now, not only are you over on Lashon Hara for speaking bad about that person in the ears of someone else, but also you might actually be over on another Aveira, which means embarrassing your friend in the face and the presence of other people.
Now listen to this, Chidush (novel insight). Even if your friend did not become embarrassed when you told someone else that he's stingy, nonetheless, no humiliation came out of it, no shame came out of it, no financial loss came out of it, and it's still forbidden. Because saying something derogatory about your friend, regardless if they're there or not, to somebody else, and everyone understands that typically that is something that's not nice to say about someone else, already is classified as Lashon Hara. Even if no harm came out of what you said.
We've got to train our mouths to speak well about other people. We've got to look to build people up. There are so many broken people out there. We've got to start figuring out how to put them back together. Have a good week, and have a good night.