Parshat Tazria-Metzora: Leah
Rachel Herzberg
The main focus of this week's double Parsha is the importance of maintaining pure speech, and what can happen if we don't. The importance of being conscious of what comes out of our mouths cannot be stressed enough. Shemiras HaLoshon is one of those fundamental qualities that either can enhance a person's entire essence, or spread a cloud of hypocrisy upon an otherwise spiritual person. No matter how many mitzvos a person does, and no matter with how much sincere intent, when a person speaks negatively about someone else, the quality and authenticity of the person's spiritual level is automatically minimized. Lashon Hara simply cannot exist in an environment of connection to Hashem and the people around us.
There is a Gemara (Arachin 15b) that says what can serve as a cure for Lashon Hara. If a person is a Torah Scholar, he should occupy himself with learning Torah. If the person is a common person, then he should humble himself. The holy and pure words of Torah can counteract the impure words of Lashon Hara, and if a person humbles themselves, they can avoid the jealousy and arrogance that lead to speaking negatively about others.
Even more so, when a person speaks Lashon Hara, it is as if they are rejecting the Tzelem Elokim in the other person. In essence, the are using the power of speech, the "Ruach Mimalela" that Hashem implanted in humans alone, to reject Hashem Himself, the tzelem Elokim in the other person. When a person has humility, they would never dare to think that have the authority to be the judge of another person, and therefore will not come to speak negatively about someone else.
These parshiyos about Lashon Hara and Tzoraas usualy fall out in the calendar during Sefira, when we remember that the talmidim of Rabbi Akiva died because they did not treat each other with respect. In my class of special ed kids (who are mamesh something special!!), the students got together in groups of two or three and put on skits depicting a situation in which someone could have judged someone unfavorably, but instead found a positive reason for the person's seeming misbehavior. At the end, I suggested that the whole class make a skit together and the Morahs would be the audience. It took about 30 seconds until the whole class was fighting about who would have which part. I stopped the chaos and told them that if they wanted to put on a skit, they had to treat each other nicely, or they were totally missing the point. We were trying to learn good middos from putting on the skits, not use bad middos!
How often do we "miss the point?" Yes, we are all trying to "put on a skit" for HaKadosh Baruch Hu. We are all trying to be the best people we can be and maximize our Nitzchiyus in the next world. But how often do we see other people as "getting in the way" or an obstacle to our spiritual growth? The key is to remember that no matter what, other people are a Tzelem Elokim and there is not a single person that is in our life that is not there for a reason. When we have a perspective of humility, that there is something to learn from everyone, it is more likely that we will value and appreciate each person instead of feeling a need to speak negatively about them. This applies also to people who we may see as threat - that they are more spiritual than us in some way and we feel the need to put them down so we can feel like we are in a good place. When we have humility, we are students, and we are always learning - we don't feel like we need to be on top of someone else. We know our place. May Hashem give us the Siyata Dishmaya we so desperately need to maximize this time of spiritual and personal growth and become humble people ready to receive the gift of Torah!
(adapted from Dvar Torah by Rabbi Ari Kahn from Aish.com)