Category — Tazria

1. Why? Who cares why! It makes you feel good. And like the famous ‘American dream’ slogan goes: “I’m not hurting anybody” – ye sure. 

2. Because we’re all one big happy family, and there are no secrets in family… And for the learned amongst us; aren’t we taught that “what is yours is mine…”, and all the other ‘we are all one big family…’ slogans? Why be selfish? Share it with the world!

3. The media and tabloids have shown the world that it is a moral obligation to bring to light everyone’s dirty laundry. No, there is no such a thing as privacy; your life is my life, and your mistake is my appetizer.

Not to mention new inventions like ‘Google earth’, where all sense of privacy has been thrown back to the dark ages, before the days of newspapers, phones (that’s a big one), and the whole media business.

4. Because you are G-d’s warrior. And just as G-d cannot tolerate falsehood, so too, you as His fighter, have a moral obligation to search, find and spread the neighbors’ secrets so that he should not ‘heaven forbid’ receive false respect and feel haughty.

It’s all in the name of G-d.

5. It is a custom amongst families and communities from way back when, that on many an occasion, especially around the dinner table, we put a human sacrifice on the altar, and slaughter him/her with verbal knifes and daggers. And who is gonna change the family custom?

Ah, don’t you remember grandma sitting on the porches sipping homemade ‘Borscht’ (beet juice), and screaming on top of her lungs, across a six lane avenue, the greasy details of the newest slice of gossip?

6. Because you never heard this story;

Rabbi Shmuel, the fourth Rebbe of Chabad, was once sitting in his office studying, while his two sons, Zalman and Sholom, were playing in the yard. His studies were suddenly disrupted by loud cries and screams coming from outside. He rushed outside, and saw his younger son, Sholom, lying helplessly in a pit.

He quickly pulled the boy out of the pit, then turned to Zalman and asked: “What is the meaning of this?”

Zalman angrily responded: “It’s not fair; I am the older brother, so I should be the taller one, but Sholom is taller than me. So I threw him into a pit, so now I’m taller!”

“My son, said the sage, if you want to be higher than your brother, don’t put him down in a pit. The solution is: Climb on a ladder! Pick yourself up.”

So reason number 6 is: Why feel guilty that you’re not the best you should be? Just point out the negative of everyone else and then let the guilt disappear; after all, you’re the best.

Thought of more reasons why to gossip? Feel free to post on the blog.

“I’m nervous,” the patient tells the doctor. “It’s my first surgery!”

“Don’t worry,” the doctor replies. “It’s also my first surgery!”

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In Mezhibuzh, the hometown of Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov (founder of Chassidism, 1698-1760), two local residents were involved in a bitter dispute. One day, they were angrily shouting at each other in the local synagogue when one of them cried out, “I’ll rip you up like a fish with my bare hands!”

The Baal Shem Tov, who was in the synagogue at the time, told his disciples to form a circle, each taking the hand of his neighbor, and to close their eyes. Rabbi Israel himself closed the circle by placing his hands upon the shoulders of the two disciples who stood to his right and his left. Suddenly, the disciples cried out in fright: behind their closed eyelids they saw the angry man actually tearing his fellow apart, just as he had threatened!

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Words have extreme power. They can build or destroy; they may sow love or hate. King Solomon even writes that “life and death are in the hands of the tongue.”

How many friendships could have been salvaged and how many wars avoided if thought would have come before speech and action?

In a moment of anger you might scream, “I’ll kill you!” Not for a moment do you plan on doing it for real. But as the story above powerfully demonstrates, the words take on immediate effect, and in some way, by uttering those words you become a murderer.

Words get thrown around too easily: “You’re such a…”, “I hate you”, “I wish I never met you”, and “Leave me alone” are thoughtless yet awfully common remarks. Not always are they meant literally, yet the damage is done. Once words leave the mouth, they cannot be retracted.

You may never have meant to speak negative about your friend; it just happened in the course of casual conversation. But then he found out and will not forgive. Because of loose speech, the relationship is over.

But enough with the negative; let us focus on the positive! Telling someone a compliment or affirming how much he means to you can make a world of a difference in his life and in yours.

Use the power of words to inspire, to teach and to grow. Remember: each word creates life or causes death. Make sure it’s a good one.

So let’s all cry out Moshiach now – it will become a reality!