Musar su Salmi 52:78

And this is the thing about the group of slanderers:
Our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Arakhin 15b), “Anyone who speaks evil speech is as though he denied a fundamental principle [of faith] - as it is stated (Psalms 12:5), ‘Who have said, “we will make our tongue mighty; our lips are with us; who is lord over us?”’” Therefore, they considered him as if he denied a fundamental principle. For he causes and brings about great damage and much evil to his fellows by making them foul in the eyes of people or by other ways of [causing them] loss. And it is not likely that a man would prepare a mechanism of destruction and damage that is more bitter than death without it benefitting himself monetarily, unless it is to have his [evil] impulse honor himself and remove the yoke of the Heavens from upon him - to remove ethical constraints - as it is stated in the Psalm, “when the Ziphites came and told Saul, etc., O God, arrogant men have risen against me; a band of ruthless men seek my life; they are not mindful of You.” (This is a scribal error, as there is some difference between the verse brought down by the author, may his memory be blessed, [and his source]. As [in the source], it is written, “For strangers have risen against me, etc.” And the verse that he wrote here is found in Psalms 86:14; but it needs to be corrected and replaced with the verse as it is written there in Psalms 54:5.) And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, explained (Midrash Tehillim 54) that they intended that Saul would bless them, as he said to them (I Samuel 23:21), “May you be blessed of the Lord for the compassion you have shown me!” But they did not place God in front of them - as it is written in His Torah (Deuteronomy 27:24), “Cursed be he who strikes down his neighbor in secret.” And it is written (Ecclesiastes 10:11), “no advantage is gained by the master of the tongue!” And it is stated about Doeg (Psalms 52:4-5), “Your tongue devises mischief… You prefer evil to good; the lie, to speaking truthfully. Selah.” And they explained in Midrash Tehillim 52, “What do you benefit and what do you gain when you say evil speech? Is it not that you did not need money, for you had [already] become wealthy - as it is stated about him (I Samuel 21:8), ‘Saul’s chief herdsman.’ It was only because you preferred the evil to the good, and ‘the lie, to speaking truthfully’ - as you have removed His yoke.” And it is stated (Proverbs 6:30), “A thief is not held in contempt for stealing [to fill his hunger]; and it is written after it (Proverbs 6:32), “He who commits adultery is devoid of sense, etc.” This is meaning to say that he is worse than a thief, for [the former] needs to “fill his hunger.” Our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Midrash Tehillim 120) that one involved in evil speech is worse than both of them. For he does a great sin without benefit, as it is stated (Psalms 120:3), “What can you profit, what can you gain, O deceitful tongue?”

The second is because the repentance of one involved in evil speech is difficult, since he has taught his tongue to speak falsehood, and sent his mouth to evil. From so much habit, he does not control his spirit, and it is as if his mouth causes the thought - like the matter that is stated (Psalms 52:4), “Your tongue devises mischief”; and it is stated (Ecclesiastes 10:12), “but a fool’s lips will swallow him up”; and it is stated.(Proverbs 18:7), “The fool’s speech is his ruin (mechitah).” And mechitah is an expression of fear and trepidation. It means to say that the fool is afraid and in trepidation from the rage of his tongue, lest he be ensnared - like he fears from his enemy - as his lips are not in his control.

How great is the power of lashon hara, which is over and against three grave transgressions, as stated in Arachin 15b. And in Midrash Shocher Tov: "The school of R. Yishmael taught: 'All who speak lashon hara mount iniquity over and against three transgressions: idolatry, illicit relations, and the spilling of blood, it being written here (Psalms 12:4): 'the tongue that speaks "great" [i.e., slanderous] things'; but, in respect to idolatry (Shemoth 32:31): 'I pray you — this people has sinned a great sin'; in respect to illicit relations (Bereshith 39:9): 'And how shall I do this great evil?'; in respect to the spilling of blood (Ibid. 4:13): 'My sin is too great to bear'" — whence [("things" - plural)] it is derived that lashon hara is severer than these three sins." Another explanation: One who kills a man kills only one soul; but one who speaks lashon hara kills three: the speaker, the accepter, and the one spoken about. Whence do you derive this? From Doeg, who spoke lashon hara about Achimelech before Saul, and the three of them were killed: Saul, who accepted it; Achimelech, who was spoken about; and Doeg, who spoke it. Saul, who accepted it, viz. (I Samuel 31:6): "And Saul died, etc."; Achimelech, who was spoken about, viz. (Ibid. 22:16): "Die, shall you die, Achimelech"; and Doeg, who spoke it, who was driven out of the world [to come], viz. (Psalms 52:7): "G-d also will destroy you forever" from life in the world [to come]. And what caused this? Lashon hara.

And likewise should he put fasts, tears and abstaining himself from delights in the place of afflictions - as it is stated (Psalms 109:24), “My knees give way from fasting; my flesh is lean, has lost its fat.” And it is stated (Joel 2:12), “Turn back to Me with all your hearts, and with fasting, weeping, and lamenting.” And he should always sigh from the bitterness of his heart, as we mentioned in the first Gate about repentance. And he will place the abundance of bitterness in the place of afflictions, as it is stated (Proverbs 18:14), “A man’s spirit can sustain (yekhalkel) him through illness; but low spirits - who can bear them?” The explanation is that when the body becomes sick, the soul will sustain it [during ] its sickness - from the usage (in Malachi 3:2),“But who can bear (mekhalkel) the day of his coming?” [Here] it means to say - help the body and sustain it by speaking to its heart and comforting it to accept [difficulties] and to carry [them]. But when the soul is sick and low from grief and worry, who will console the soul, and who will hold it up and sustain it? Behold, worry and bitterness of the heart are heavier than sickness of the body - for the soul sustains the body in its sickness; whereas when the soul is sick and low from its grief, the body will not sustain it.
So if you find the sinner suffering, [with] troubles happening to him, justifying his judgement and accepting the rebuke with love - this will be a shield for him from the many afflictions that would be fit to come upon him. [It is] as it is stated (Psalms 76:11), “The rage of men shall acknowledge You, when You gird on the remnant of fury.” Its explanation is, when the pain of a man acknowledges You - meaning that a man acknowledges You at the time of his pain. It is from the usage (Job 6:2), “If my anger were surely weighed” - the meaning [of anger, like rage in Psalms 76:11,] is pain. “The remnant of fury” that had been opened to come upon the man - like the content of (I Kings 20:11), “Let not him who girds on his sword boast like him who opens it!” - gird and hold them back and do not bring them upon him. And this is by way of a comparison to one who opens his sword, but [then] returns it to its sheath. And it is stated (Isaiah 12:1), “Although You were wroth with me, Your wrath has turned back and You comfort me.” And likewise about the matter of acknowledgement for the good, it is stated (Psalms 52:11), “I praise You forever, for You have acted; I will hope in Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your faithful ones.” Its explanation is - I will praise You for the good that You have done with me; and because of this, I will hope for the constancy of Your goodness. And it is stated (Psalms 116:13), “I will raise the cup of slavations and call out in the name of the Lord”; (Psalms 116:3-4) “I came upon trouble and sorrow. And I invoked the name of the Lord.”
And our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Midrash Tehillim 79) about the matter of that which is written (Psalms 3:1), “A song of David, when he fled,” “‘Justice done is a joy to the righteous’ (Proverbs 21:15) - the trait of the righteous is to pay their debts and to sing to the Holy One, blessed be He. [There is a relevant] parable about a housholder that had a sharecropper, and that sharecropper was in debt to him. That sharecropper [then] made a threshing floor [from his produce], gathered it together and made a pile. The householder came and took the pile, and the sharecropper entered his house empty-handed. But he was happy that he entered empty-handed. They said to him, ‘You left your threshing floor with your hands on your head (empty), and you are happy?’ He said to them, ‘Even so, the bill is [now] cancelled; I have paid my debt.’”

In sum, let a man see to it to habituate himself in his traits to be of "the good ones" and not of "the wicked ones." And it is the trait of "a good one" to help his friend with all his power and to "cover up" for his faults as for his own. And if he sees that another harbors anger against his friend, he will remove it from him with defenses and excuses. And this is wisdom and strength in truth. And "the wicked one" does exactly the opposite. He does evil to his friend and rejoices in his downfall, and he reveals his unwitting faults in public and makes them malicious ones. And he stirs up strife among men, inciting one against the other and vaunting himself in this as having exhibited wisdom and strength thereby. And, in truth, this is not so. As we find in Midrash Shocher Tov 52, which speaks of Doeg, who spoke lashon hara against David and Achimelech before Saul: "(Psalms 52:3): 'Why do you [Doeg] pride yourself in evil, O mighty one!' David said to him: 'Is this strength? Seeing one's friend at the edge of a pit and pushing him into it? Or seeing him on top of a roof and pushing him off it? But who is the mighty one? One who saw his friend about to fall and pulls him by the hand to save him from falling. Or one who sees his friend fallen in the pit and pulls him out of it. And you saw Saul raging at me and you 'passed water on my limbs'? Is this what a man does?'"

Remember that Abraham's principal attribute was his characteristic of חסד. The mystical element of חסד is found in the מים העליונים, pure unpolluted waters of the Celestial Regions. The attribute of חסד is also the mystical domain of אהבה, love, as we shall explain. Once Abraham had acquired the virtue of חסד he could enter the domain of אהבה, love, and that is why G–d called him אוהבי. We are told in Song of Songs 8,7 that even מים רבים, many waters, cannot extinguish love. The waters referred to are the מקור מים חיים, the source of truly life-giving waters. There are, however, many cisterns, broken and yet filled, which cannot retain the waters in them. In Kabbalistic jargon these are called קליפות; they are alluded to in Genesis 37,24 as והבור רק אין בו מים, "the pit was empty it did not contain any water." We know from Psalms 52,3: חסד אל כל היום, that "G–d's חסד lasts all day long," though we also have a verse in Psalms 7,12 which appears to contradict this, namely א-ל זועם בכל יום, "G–d pronounces doom each day." The answer is simply that G–d pronounces doom over these קליפות, negative forces, reducing them to impotence. This is the חסד G–d performs all day long. Ezekiel 36,25 may have alluded to this when he says: וזרקתי עליכם מים טהורים וטהרתם מכל טמאותיכם, "I shall sprinkle on you pure waters and you will be cleansed from all your impurities. These waters wash off the accumulated pollution known as קליפות, the result of sins. It is these waters which are called מעטים, little. The reason that "a little water" is sufficient is that קליפות do not increase or multiply naturally, as opposed to קדושה, which increases and multiplies naturally; that is why מים רבים, many waters, are unable to extinguish the "fire" of love, and love continues forever. The principal aspect of the virtue of kindness is deeply rooted in the mystical domain of those מים רבים discussed above On occasion some of these waters have to be used in order to rinse off the קליפות and to "humble" such outgrowths due to sins. This is why Abraham spoke about "a little water to be taken."

This same idea is also reflected in the three different names given to the monument Jacob erected on the site of his dream. He called it בית אלוקים, בית א-ל, and יש י-ה-ו-ה במקום הזה. The reason he called the site בית אלוקים was undoubtedly because in the dream the four-lettered Ineffable Name of G–d appeared to him. The three names reflect the three outstanding characteristics of the three patriarchs. The name א-ל alludes to חסד, the name אלוקים to גבורה, and the four-lettered name corresponds to the attribute תפארת. Whenever G–d is reported as speaking to man, the message emanates in one of the three above-mentioned ספירות. It makes an impact first in the ארץ העליונה, the spiritual equivalent of physical earth, before it reaches the domain of our universe. Only then does this "call" from G–d manifest itself in our world. The very term ויקרא, He called, used by the Torah, means that G–d's message was revealed outside the Heavenly Regions.

And Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Yose wept. While they were sitting there a bird flew by and whispered that they should leave that spot. Rabbi Chiya said, “Let us move on, for undoubtedly there are mountain men in the vicinity.” So they got up and left and when they looked back they saw that bandits were indeed pursuing them. Miraculously they found a cave before them concealed within a boulder, so they entered and remained there for a day and a night. When nightfall came, the cave was illuminated by the moon. Eventually two merchants passed by with donkeys laden with wine and provisions. They said, “Let us stop here, for we have food and drink both for ourselves and our donkeys. And let us take shelter in this cave.” Then one of them said to the other, “Do not go in until you have explained to me the meaning of the verse, ‘I will thank You forever for what You have done and I will put hope in Your Name, for [You are] good to Your devoted ones’ (Tehillim 52:11)? Is His name not good before others [besides pious ones] as well?” When his companion was unable to answer he said to him, “Woe to the merchant who abandoned the Holy One Blessed is He to engage in trade!”