Musar על במדבר 12:10

And they also expounded (in Vayikra Rabbah 16) the verse (Koheleth 5:5): "Do not allow your mouth to cause sin to your flesh" — do not speak lashon hara with your mouth to punish all of your flesh with this sin. The Rabbis applied this verse to Miriam: "Do not allow your mouth" — you, Miriam, as it is written (Numbers 12:10): "And, behold, Miriam was leprous, [white] as snow." (Koheleth, Ibid.): "that it was an error" — as it is written (Numbers 12:11): "wherein we [(Aaron and Miriam)] have erred and wherein we have sinned." (Koheleth, Ibid.): "Why should G-d be angry at your voice?" — at the lashon hara you have spoken against Moses, as it is written (Numbers 12:9): "and the anger of the L-rd burned against them, and He departed." (Koheleth, Ibid.): "and [He shall] destroy the work of your hands." R. Yochanan said: "With her mouth she sinned, and all her limbs were smitten, as it is written (Numbers 12:10): 'And the cloud departed from the tent, and, behold, Miriam was leprous, [white] as snow.' This is the intent of: "Do not allow your mouth to cause sin to [destroy] your flesh" … (Mishlei 21:33): 'He who guards his mouth and his tongue guards his soul from troubles.'"

והנה מרים מצורעת כשלג . Here we see the severity of the sin of gossiping. Look at what happened to the prophetess Miriam who had indulged in an ordinary conversation with her brother Aaron, making some remark about her brother Moses! We are reminded to recite the verse זכור את אשר עשה ה' אלוקיך למרים בדרך בצאתכם ממצרים, "Remember what the Lord your G–d has done to Miriam on the way when you had come out of Egypt" (Deut. 24,8). It is one of the six זכירות, commemorations, a person is to recite daily.

The person suffering from צרעת, however, is afflicted with the essence of the impurity, and there is no way for him to avoid it. Hence he has to leave all three camps as long as he is afflicted. Such impurity in any Jew is of the kind that infects even the נפש, i.e. part of the camp of the Israelites. This is in accordance with Proverbs 21,23 שומר פיו ולשונו שומר מצרת נפשו – that "he who guards his mouth and tongue, keeps his soul from troubles." The Zohar suggests that the reading of מצרת is equivalent to מצרעת, i.e. from that skin eczema. Our sages are agreed that evil gossip is a principal cause of this affliction. Classic examples are Miriam (Numbers 12,10), and Moses (Exodus 4,6), both of whom were punished for having made inappropriate comments about Moses or Israel respectively. We observe many slanderers in our day who are never afflicted with this disease; this makes the matter even worse for them, since they have already forfeited the part of the נפש that would be stricken, and they are therefore no longer capable of being rehabilitated through that disease and the subsequent purification process. The מצורע, at any rate, has to leave all three camps.

There are numerous references to this in our Midrashic literature. Shemot Rabbah 30,11, quoting Job 23,3-4, "would that I could find Him, reach His dwelling place, I would set out my case, משפט, before Him, fill my mouth with arguments," explains this in the following parable. A drunken prison guard rebelled, opened the gates to let the prisoners escape, cursed the picture of the ruler, and demanded to see the king, threatening that he would tell the king to his face what he thought true justice should be. He even went as far as stoning the king's image. He was shown the ruler sitting on a platform, dispensing punishment to a lady of aristocratic bearing, he observed the king handing down a verdict against his provincial governor, etc. At that point the palace guard became frightened and apologised, explaining that his drunken stupor had been the reason for his outrageous conduct, which included not recognising his king when he saw him. Similarly Job 23,4. When Job cursed the day he was born (Job 3,3/4) he in fact cursed the angel in charge of who will be born when and under what mazzal. This angel is called לילה. Later on Job reflected how G–d had punished Miriam for speaking out against Moses (Numbers 12,10); he further observed how G–d had punished Moses not allowing him to enter the Holy Land because he had struck the rock instead of merely speaking to it (Numbers 20,12). He also noted that G–d had blinded Isaac (for having loved the wicked Esau), see Genesis 27,1. He realised moreover that G–d had punished Abraham for having asked: "how do I know that I will inherit?" (Genesis 15,8) G–d had responded by telling Abraham that his descendants would be slaves in a foreign land for four hundred years before being liberated (Genesis 15,13). G–d had also קרב קיסין, struck at Jacob with a piece of wood, causing the latter to limp as a result of the nocturnal encounter with the שרו של עשו, the guardian angel of Esau, to use the words of the Midrash. When Job had reflected on all this, he begged G–d's forgiveness for having spoken out rebelliously, and he excused himself by having been drunk. This is why it says in Job 19,4: “ואף אמנם שגיתי, אתי תלין משוגתי,” If indeed I have erred, my error stays with me overnight." All of this, because he did not realise the power of דין. So far the Midrash.