While traveling
from city to city selling his wares, a peddler approached the city of
Tzipori and called out in a loud voice, “Who wants to buy the potion of
life? Who wants life?” A crowd gathered around him. Rebbe Yani heard the
commotion and stood by watching. When he heard the man’s offer, he said to
him, “I would like to purchase some.” The peddler responded, “It’s not for
you and your type.” Rebbe Yani persisted. Finally the peddler took out a
Tehillim and opened it to the posuk, “Who is the man who wants life? Guard
your tongue from evil.”
Rebbe Yani exclaimed, “All of my life I read that posuk, and never
appreciated how simple it was until this peddler revealed it to me!”
What did the peddler reveal
to Rebbe Yani?
It seems that Rebbe Yani learned a great lesson from this peddler, something
so powerful that it impacted on both his outlook and his actions. The
difficulty with this Medrash is that it doesn’t seem that Rebbe Yanni
learned anything new. He clearly knew the posuk before the peddler said it.
He’d probably reviewed those words hundreds of times before. As he was a
Tanna, he had mastered the entire Torah and understood the meaning, depth,
and implications of those words. What new concept did Rebbe Yani learn from
the peddler?
The answer to this can be best understood with a Moshol. Imagine that a
mother and father are looking for the right yeshiva for their son. After
much investigation, they hit upon the perfect solution. It’s got the right
type of environment, the right type of boys, just the right blend – a
perfect fit. But then they hear the news. The boys in that yeshiva smoke!
“Oh my goodness!” they both exclaim. “Now what? It may be a great yeshiva,
and our son might flourish there, but everyone knows that smoking kills.
It’s a habit that’s very difficult to quit. It’s just not worth it.”
So they decide not to send their son to that
yeshiva.
While you and I may debate whether they made the right choice, no one would
argue that they have a very valid concern. After all, bad habits really are
difficult to break, and smoking does have serious health consequences.
Now let’s play out the same scenario with just one little change: same young
man, same yeshiva, same perfect fit…However, instead of the parents finding
out that the boys smoke, they find out that the boys in that yeshiva speak
Loshon Horah. What would we anticipate the parents’ reaction to be?
“Oh my goodness! The Torah warns us against Lashon Ha’rah! With one
conversation, a person can violate dozens of prohibitions. And worse, it can
easily become a lifelong habit. Lashon Ha’rah kills… It may be a great
yeshiva, but forget it. We can’t take the chance!”
Somehow it doesn’t seem likely that that would be the reaction. More likely,
their attitude would be, “Listen, it’s not something we are happy to hear,
but it isn’t a reason to disqualify a good yeshiva.”
Let’s analyze the difference in their reactions. Assuming that these are
well-educated people, they know that the Torah specifically, clearly, and
definitively tells us that speaking Loshon Harah kills and that guarding
one’s tongue is the Torah’s guarantee to long life. They have heard many
Shmuzin discussing the severity of this issue, and they don’t question it.
On the other hand, they are aware that while smoking has a high correlation
to various diseases, at the end of the day it is only a small percentage of
people who actually die from smoking-related issues.
So smoking which may kill they fear, yet Loshon Harah, which they know
definitely kills, they aren’t that concerned about. How are we to understand
this anomaly?
The answer is that when medical science tells us something, we accept it as
truth. These are the facts; this is reality. Unfortunately, when the Torah
tells us something, it just isn’t real. “Well… you need a lot of emunah to
really accept that….I don’t know if I am on the level to keep that….” And so
in the parents’ minds, “Loshon Horah… well, I mean… a mitzvah it’s not, but
it surely isn’t as dangerous as smoking. Smoking really kills!”
This seems to be the answer to Rebbe Yani. As great as he was and as much as
he accepted every word of the Torah as completely true, on some level it
wasn’t 100 percent real to him. The peddler revealed to Rabbi Yani that the
Torah is teaching us “Loshon Harah kills” in its most simple, direct
meaning. It then became real to him.
The greatest distance on
earth is between the head and the heart
There are two great lessons for us in this. One is simply to understand the
gravity of the words that we utter, their effects on others and on
ourselves. The second lesson is much more broad-based and affects all areas
of our growth. We humans are motivated by that which we consider valuable.
If we live in a culture that uses money and material possessions as the
measure of success, this affects us and becomes part of our reality. It
becomes a goal worth pursuing – something to aspire to and something to use
as a gauge of our achievements. While we are acutely aware that we can’t
take it with us, our value system becomes distorted. This affects our focus
and how we spend our time.
One of the most important aspects of growth is making the Torah’s values
real. Not in theory, not as some remote distant idea, but rather “getting
it,” understanding that every word in the Torah is true. While we may not
feel it now, one day we will. One day, we will understand that every word of
Torah learning is more precious than fine jewels. One day, we will
appreciate that every callous remark that we ever made will come back to
haunt us. And one day, we will recognize that every action, deed, and
thought was being videotaped to be played back to us at the end of our days.
The more that we focus on the value system of the Torah, the more real it
becomes to us, and the more motivated we will be by that which has eternal
value and preciousness.
For more on this topic please listen to
Shmuz #26 Loshon Horah- Squandering our Olam Habbah
