Psalmów 38:14 Kabała: Sha'arei Kedusha

Our sages, of blessed memory, stated,⁵⁶⁷Mishnah Sotah 9:15; Also see Tanchuma Vayeitze 6; Tzava’at HaRivash, translated as The Way of The Baal Shem Tov, Ch. 49. “One’s silence leads to humility,” and humility the chief quality that leads to fear of Heaven.⁵⁶⁸Talmud Bavli, Avodah Zarah 20b Thus, when engaging in the study of Torah, he should be silent and glue his lips together, like two millstones that sit upon each other. This is because all the righteousness and meritoriousness a person accrues are insufficient from saving him from what comes out of his lips. Happy is he who makes himself as if mute and like a deaf person, like a cripple and one who is blind! Why is it imperative to take such great care? So that he should not come to sin and obligate himself and his limbs, thus condemning himself to purgatory (Gehinnom). Similarly, King David said,⁵⁶⁹Psalms 38:14 “I am like a deaf man, I do not hear, like a mute who does not open his mouth.”

Distance yourself from idle chatter, falsehood, flattery, jesting and speaking badly of others (Lashon HaRa), for whoever engages in these will not greet the face of the Shechinah – the Indwelling Presence of HaShem-יהו"ה – in the coming world. Rather, take hold of humility, which brings one to receiving the Holy Spirit and be like a threshold that is stepped on by young and old. Block your ears from listening to gossip, the evil tongue and idle chatter, and make yourself like a deaf person who cannot hear.²⁸⁴Isaiah 42:19; Psalms 38:14 Moreover, make yourself as if you are mute²⁸⁵Psalms 38:14 and do not speak except in matters of Torah, mitzvot and necessary business matters. Greet everyone with a smile and soft words. Do not boast about your good deeds to others, for by doing so you lose the reward and moreover, you will be punished for boasting.