Good morning. I will set you in on proper speech. At the beginning of Shabbat, just 20 days ago, we restarted Sefer Chafetz Chaim. You finish it three times annually. Today is day 20.
When we talk about proper speech, the severity of the violation can depend on what you say. How bad was it? It could be: How much harm did you cause? Financial loss, getting somebody arrested, a marriage breaking up—it’s bad. It could also be: Who are you speaking about? A person with a lowly job, an uneducated person, an officer of the court, or a great rabbi. That can also affect the severity of the transgression.
But what you very often don’t think about is what the Chafetz Chaim brought up today: where you say it. For example, after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, Hashem gave us a gift. Maybe you don’t think of it that way. Maybe you never thought of it, but maybe this will change it. Hashem gave us a place where the Shechinah—His presence, so to speak, concentration of His presence, so to speak—was able to manifest itself or reside. He took out His anger on His house, on Har Habayit, yet He still wanted to live amongst us. So He gave us the Beit Knesset, the K'nis, the synagogue: the place where people congregate to serve Hashem.
So, we’ve outlined a little more clearly the importance of that place: why we have a K'nis, the holiness of the place, and that it says there’s a regular minyan (prayer quorum) in the place. Hashem waits there for us to come, so it’s good to be first. The Chafetz Chaim says, then, that you should be able to realize the gravity of violating His desires and His laws in capital H-I-S, His house.
There are many laws about how we should conduct ourselves in the Beit Knesset: how we should sit, how we should dress, what we should talk about, what’s forbidden, and when we should speak. And what is forbidden? Even if it is kosher speech. It’s important to know that when you’re in Hashem’s house, when you’re in shul, when you look around and see that it’s the Beit Knesset, if you speak in a way that’s not proper, it’s worse than somewhere else because it demonstrates a lack of Yirat Shamayim—a lack of fear of Borei Olam (Creator of the world). When a person communicates with Hashem, it’s called tefillah (prayer). When a person speaks Lashon Hara (evil speech) in the house of Hashem, that Lashon Hara is a hilul Hashem (desecration of God’s name). What gives you the right to violate the king’s law in front of the king, not only when he’s present but in his palace?
He tries to give us a breakdown. A person wants to tell his neighbor in shul a very interesting story. The most convenient time is not when the chazan (cantor) is saying Nishmat or during Keriat Shema, but how about when we’re taking out the Sefer Torah? This was common in his day as well. Good time to get in a few words. By the way, it’s not called the break. It’s called... He starts to tell his story, and naturally, he doesn’t finish. So now he says his Beracha (blessing). Well, you’re not finished, so you keep talking. You’re talking in the name of the Beracha. Beracha is on your behalf. They start to read. Not done yet. You’re talking during the reading of the Sefer Torah. How important is that?
It’s a long story. It’s going to take two people to the Moznayim of Din, the balanced scale of judgment. How many violations might they violate? We have the list at the beginning of the book: 17 and 14. Potentially, 31 different violations are available. “But don’t profane the name of the Lord and be sanctified among the children of Israel.” “You shall not defile my holy name.” It’s a sin that’s terrible. But now, by speaking in shul, you’ve compounded the felony, as they say. You’ve degraded the Torah reading. “Those that abandon Hashem shall perish,” says the prophet Yeshayahu. Devarim Betelim (idle words) are not allowed in the shul, even if nobody’s there but you and another guy. The Vilna Gaon says it’s impossible to know the seriousness of the violation done by the speaker and by the listener.
You know, at the end of the Sefer, there’s a Kaddish. At the end of the prayers, before Aleinu Leshabeach, there’s a Kaddish. We have many violations that come from speaking during Kaddish. Amen, yehei Shemei rabba (Amen, may His great Name be great) is so powerful, so positive. And a person’s telling a story about what happened in the football game or at work. You’ve got to be careful. There’s so much available. Imagine if someone gave you a check for a million dollars. You say, “What do I got to do? Who do I got to kill?” He says, “No, you just have to lift it off the table.” That’s available for answering a Kaddish properly. Many times. Many times, you see a person go into shul. You should know you can’t go into shul just to go into shul. You can’t go into shul to do something personal. You can’t go into shul to pick up your gloves. You can’t use the shul as a shortcut to go from East 5th to East 4th. You can’t use the shul in personal ways to sleep or eat. So, Rabotai (my masters), all the more so, we can’t use the shul for personal conversations that involve speaking improperly. Rabotai, Lashon Hara.