Musar su Amos 4:78

Chazal have said (Sanhedrin 26b) that the Holy One Blessed be He said to Doeg, the wicked one: "When you reach the section concerning the speakers of lashon hara, what do you expound?" The meaning is: When a man commits a transgression, by nature he is ashamed and aggrieved to come upon the relevant section in the Torah. Because of this Eliyahu Rabbah writes (end of 138): "One who is blind or lame should not be called to the Torah for the section [that discusses these defects]. Similarly, one who is suspect of illicit relations should not be called for that section, or the like." If so, in our instance, we have demonstrated above that a great portion of the Torah speaks of these things [(lashon hara)] and a man who broadens his lips and abandons his speech in whichever direction his yetzer desires, will certainly in the course of his life transgress each thing many tens of times, and how his soul will storm when they show him in time to come that in the few days of his life he has transgressed many tens of sections in the Torah. It is known what Chazal (Chagigah 5b) have said on the verse (Amos 4:13): "For He that forms the mountains and creates the winds and tells a man what his speech is"— "even a man's lightest converse is related to him at the time of his judgment." How much more so will he be reproved for these grave forbidden matters [of lashon hara] and have them laid before his eyes, as it is written in Psalms 50:20: "You sit and speak against your brother. Against your mother's son you utter slander …but I will reprove you and set it in order before your eyes." And it is known what the GRA has written, that for every utterance of forbidden speech (such as lashon hara and rechiluth and the like) one must descend to the very depths of Sheol, and it is impossible to visualize the throes and afflictions one suffers for one such utterance.

Likewise our Sages of blessed memory said on the verse: "Who declares to man his speech" (Amos 4:13) - "even casual talk between a man and his wife is related to a man at the time of judgment" (Chagiga 5b).

We have already pointed out that this is the most essential of all things for the acquiring of watchfulness, as the Beraitha of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair states: "Torah brings to watchfulness". Without Torah, one will not reach it at all. This is what our sages said "an ignorant man cannot be pious" (Avot 2:5).

To what can this be likened? To the case of a sick person who consulted the doctors. They recognized his illness, and prescribed for him the healing medication. But he, without any prior knowledge of medicine, disregards their medication and instead takes whatever medicine that occurs to him. Will not this sick person certainly die?

They further said (Shabbat 10a): "Rava would don a cloak and pray, saying: 'prepare to meet your G-d, O Israel' (Amos 4:12)".

But, here too one needs to discern and make distinctions, for all this was said regarding the mitzvot themselves which we are completely obligated in. In those one should "set his face like flint" (Isaiah 50:7).

These things can only be evaluated by one of understanding heart and sound intellect since it is impossible to clarify all their endless details, and "G-d gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding" (Mishlei 2:6).

(Devarim 22:19): "And they shall fine him a hundred (shekels of) silver… for he has given out an evil name about a virgin of Israel." (Arachin 15a, Mishnah): "We find that one who speaks [(lashon hara)] with his mouth is worse than one who commits the act." [For one who ravishes or seduces must give only fifty shekels and, also, is not liable to stripes, as opposed to one who gives out an evil name (motzi shem ra).] And this may be the intent of (Amos 4:13): "For He forms the mountains and creates the wind and tells a man what his converse is." That is, a man, when he reflects sometimes about his affairs, thinks only of his deeds, and not at all of his words, saying to himself: "What harm can my words do? Are they not insubstantial?" But, in truth, it is not so. For the effect of his words on high can be much worse than that of his deeds. And this is the intent of "He tells a man what his converse is." That is, at the time of judgment they will set out before him and show him to his eyes [(as it is written (Psalms 50:21): "I will reprove you and set it out before your eyes")] what damage he had done with his converse. It is not written "what his speech is," but "what his converse is," "converse" connoting light, simple talk. As our sages of blessed memory have said (Chagigah 5a): "Even slight converse between a man and his wife is related to him at the time of judgment." Not even one word is lost that is not written down, as Scripture states (Koheleth 10:20): "For the bird of heaven will carry the voice, and the winged one will tell the thing." As it is known, "the winged one" is the angel Gavriel, who proclaims above, everything that is done in this world. As to "will carry the voice," this is as the naturalists write, that every article of speech — the voice, with every letter that issues from his mouth — is found in the air, not even one letter being lost. And this is what happens when a man speaks with his friend. The voice and all of its letters reach the ears of his friend. And along these lines they said (Bava Metzia 58b): "R. Yochanan said in the name of R. Shimon b. Yochai 'More severe is verbal wronging than monetary wronging (i.e., cheating)' [even though monetary wronging is by deed and verbal wronging only by speech]; for of the latter it is written (Vayikra 25:17): 'And you shall fear your G-d,' and of the former it is not written 'And you shall fear your G-d.'" R. Elazar said: "This [(verbal wronging)] is with his body; the other is [only] with his money." R. Shmuel b. Nachmani said: "This [(monetary wronging)] is subject to restitution; that [(verbal wronging)' is not subject to restitution." And if he caused his face to "whiten" [with shame] thereby, his sin is too great to bear. As we find there: "If one causes his friend's face to whiten in public, it is as if he has spilled blood."

Great is repentance, for it brings man near to the Divine Presence, as it is said, "Return, O Israel, unto the Lord thy God" (Hos. 14:2; and see Yoma 86a). And it is said, "Yet have ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord God" (Amos 4:6). And it is said, "If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, Yea, return unto Me" (Jer. 4:1), that is to say, "If you will return with repentance, you will cleave to me." Repentance brings near those who are far off. Last night this man was hated before God, Blessed be He, — defiled, far removed, an abomination — but today he is loved and precious and near and dear. And so you find this clearly shown in the language with which the Holy One, Blessed be He, thrusts away the sinners and the language with which He receives those who are repentant, whether it be one person or whether it be many, as it is said, "And it shall come to pass that instead of that which was said, unto them 'Ye are not my people', it shall be said unto them 'Ye are the children of the living God' " (Hos. 2:1).

And, in general, in the instance of other transgressions, regret and repentance obtain, as opposed to sins of speech, where they do not obtain. And even though he says in Confession: "We have spoken lashon hara," it does not occur to him that what he spoke is lashon hara, and that he must take it upon himself not to repeat it in the future. He does not think at all about this. Where, then, is his repentance? And where there is no repentance from below, there is no forgiveness from above. And sin is added to sin almost without number. [And even on Yom Kippur, when he says; ("Forgive us) for the sin that we sinned before You with lashon hara," it does not occur to him to think: "What will be the end, with the multitude of 'prosecutors' that arise against me through my faculty of speech, which I was not careful with until now and because I did not seek counsel to strengthen myself against recurrences of these things?" And, in truth, not one word has been lost. As our sages of blessed memory say on Amos 4:13: "He relates to a man what his converse is" — "Even the light talk between a man and his wife is related to him at the time of din."] And this is (the intent of) what our sages of blessed memory have said: "All who speak lashon hara magnify sin until the heavens."