Hello everybody, welcome to the Chofetz Chaim group. Thank you so much for joining.
B'ezrat Hashem, this should bring us only Beracha (blessings), Parnassah (livelihood), Shalom Bayit (peace in the home), shiduchim (matches), children, healthy children. This should bring only blessings to the whole world. Let’s all change it for the better and try our best to stop speaking lashon hara (evil speech).
Today, we’re going to start, Rabotai (my teachers), with a very, very interesting topic. Chofetz Chaim writes: We know Chazal tell us, the Rabbis tell us, that a person in one of the kat, one of the groups of people who are not going to be mekabel penei Shechinah, is not going to be able to really see the kedushah, see holiness, and is not really going to be zocheh (merit) to taste the kedushah, the closest to Hashem.
In Olam Haba, the next world, after 120 years, when a person passes away, if he speaks lashon hara constantly in this world, they will not be mekabel penei Shechinah. This is a very scary thing, because our whole goal, our whole life, revolves around trying to get close to Hashem and enjoy the awe, enjoy the light of being close to Hashem through Torah and mitzvot (commandments). But Chazal tell us that one who doesn’t stop speaking lashon hara constantly is one of the kat, one of the groups of people in this world who are labeled as not going to be mekabel penei Shechinah, who will not enjoy the light of Hashem, being close to Hashem. Basically, that person is doomed.
But I’m not here to tell you that. I’m here to tell you what the Chofetz Chaim writes on that. The Chofetz Chaim writes that a person who takes it upon himself not to speak lashon hara, even though here and there he may speak it when he doesn’t want to, and is going to stop totally, but really tries to stop, knows lashon hara is a sin and not something forgotten that we have gotten used to, but rather wants to grow and change and stop speaking lashon hara, is not going to be part of that group labeled as not mekabel penei Shechinah. That person could be mekabel penei Shechinah and get close to Hashem. So, any person who is part of this group, we are here to change. We are here to grow, and we’re not scared to say it. We’re going to call it by its name. We are here to take it upon ourselves to stop speaking lashon hara as much as possible. And we want to be mekabel penei Shechinah.