Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of the month, is a special day, or two. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 417) sites the custom for women to refrain from strenuous work, like laundry on Rosh Chodesh. There are those who don’t shave, get haircuts, or cut their nails, based on a decree of Rebbe Yehuda HaChasid. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 419) says there is a mitzvah to enhance one’s meal on Rosh Chodesh. In many high school yeshivos they have a special Rosh Chodesh breakfast. From all this we find that the Jewish people treat the beginning of the month in an extra special manner.
In fact, according to the Sforno in this week’s Torah portion of Pinchas there is a special reason of why this is so. The Torah, discussing the Musaf offering brought for Rosh Chodesh, states: “On your New Moons, you shall bring a burnt offering to Hashem: two young bulls, one ram, seven male lambs in their first year, unblemished” (Bamidbar 28:11). The Sforno points out “that there used to be a Jewish custom on Rosh Chodesh that made it considered extra holy in some way, as the pasuk in Shmuel Alef (20:19) testifies, ‘Where you hid yourself on the day of the deed.’ This pasuk was referring to the fact that they did not go into work on Rosh Chodesh. This is why the pasuk here associated Rosh Chodesh with the Jews, ‘your head of the months’. We don’t find this by the festivals. It doesn’t say by Shabbos, your Shabbos or by Shavuos, your Day of Bikkurim, or by Sukkos, your Sukkos. The reason for this custom is because it would seem that the success of the Jewish people in this world is in some way similar to the moon, which by itself does not have light accept from what it gets from something else, i.e. the sun.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
We see from this Sforno that the concept of treating Rosh Chodesh as a special time or day for the Jewish people is a custom that dates back at least to the times of David and Yonatan, son of King Shaul, which the pasuk in Shmuel was referring to; but most definitely even before that. But what was so special about them not working on Rosh Chodesh? They didn’t work on the festivals and Shabbos either, as Hashem commanded, and doesn’t Chaza”l say greater is one who is commanded to do something and fulfills the command then one who is not commanded? Furthermore, we see throughout history how each Yom Tov was treated with extra care, with people going out of their way to get the best lulav and esrog set, beautifying their Sukkah, having elaborate seders on Pesach, etc. etc. So why in fact is Rosh Chodesh so special that Hashem and His Torah, which is not time-bound, foresaw that the Jewish People would decide not to work on Rosh Chodesh and treat it as a special day, any more than Shabbos and all the Yom Tovim, so that the Torah calls it “Your New Months”?
It is true that one who performs mitzvos because Hashem commanded him to is better than one who voluntarily performs mitzvos, because the one commanded is showing more dedication in following what he was told to do. However, that is not in contradiction with this, because no one was commanded to do anything by Rosh chodesh besides bring a Mussaf sacrifice. Hashem foresaw that because they all personally related to this time and made it very special for themselves to the extent that they chose to take a day or two off from work, depending on how many days Rosh Chodesh was that month and they made it festive and even sang partial Hallel to Hashem then they owned it and it’s called ראשי חדשיכם, “your New Months” in the Torah.
We can glean from here a very important lesson, for Klal Yisrael as a whole was commended for taking to heart and treating with extra care the time of Rosh Chodesh. It makes sense that on a personal level, of course everyone should treat all mitzvos with the utmost importance and beautify them, but an individual has the ability and should try to find one mitzvah which he can relate to more than any other and make it his, own, make that mitzvah extra extra special, then it will be yours!
(Parenthetically, in many editions of the Sforno this text is found as a reason why the Jews related personally to Rosh Chodesh more than any other time: “Although prior to the sin of the golden calf the Jewish people’s fate was totally independent of any foreign domination, described as חרות על הלוחות, a kind of absolute independence, freedom engraved on the Tablets (the first set no doubt), (compare Exodus 32,16) as well as Eyruvin 54 and Tanchuma, Ki Sisa 16), once they had sinned they (divested themselves of this privilege, (and) no longer made use of this “Royal crown” at all times as did the other nations, so that they did no longer appear to enjoy this advantage over the other nations of the world.
Ever since that spiritual disaster, the Jewish people could enjoy their original privilege of independence from the restrictions imposed by the fact that one is part of the “laws of nature” only on rare occasions in their history, whereas most of the time they were dependent on “light”, i.e. good fortune, from external sources not under their control. To that extent, their history reflects the situation of the moon with its periods of ascent and decline month after month. When the moon is not directly exposed to the light of the sun it becomes invisible. The expression אין מזל לישראל, (Shabbat 126) means that the Jewish people do not generate light of their own, do not work at being masters of their own fate, but rely entirely on Hashem to guide their fates. They receive this Divinely emanated light when their deeds are pleasing to Hashem.
This is why in the parlance of our prophets Hashem Himself is referred to as: “אור ישראל” Israel’s source of light. (compare Isaiah 10,16 as well as Psalms 27,1 where David refers to Hashem. as אורי וישעי, “my light and my salvation.”)
Whenever the Jewish people are in a state of sin, their sins act as a barrier between them and their G-D so that they are deprived of their source of light. When Isaiah describes their state of being when sinful, he speaks of their G-D hiding His face from them, as Israel walking in darkness harassed by the gentile nations. (Isaiah 59,2).
Whenever the Jewish people’s fortunes are at low ebb this represents a desecration of Hashem’s name, i.e. His reputation, as the gentiles refer to us sneeringly as עם ה’ אלה “are these the ones who describe themselves as Hashem’s special nation?” We can understand what our sages have said in Gittin 58 that whenever the Jewish people are in trouble, Hashem is automatically forced to share their troubles. Having linked His honor to the honor and glory of the Jewish people, He suffers with us, (allegorically speaking). Whenever we suffer, whenever we are in a state of being oppressed, Hashem is described as saying that “the pirate has attacked Me and you simultaneously.”
Seeing that the sin offering presented on Rosh Chodesh/New Moon’s day is an atonement for the Jewish people who are the cause of preventing the light of the moon to shine, or the reason it shines so weakly when it does shine, the sages in our prayers on that day referred to that sin offering as לכפר בעדם זכרון לכולם יהיו תשועת נפשם מיד שונא, “to obtain atonement for themselves. They were to be a memorial for them all, and a salvation for their soul from the hand of the enemy.” This is the reason that this is the only sin offering described as חטאת לה’, “a sin offering on behalf of Hashem.” Presentation of this offering is also in respect of the damage the sinful behavior of the Jewish people has inflicted on Hashem’s image among the gentile nations.
When we read about the dialogue described between the moon and Hashem in Chulin 60, where Hashem is eventually described as saying to the Jewish people “bring a sin offering on My behalf,” (in expiation for My diminishing the light of the moon) what the sage (Rabbi Shimon ben Pezzi) wanted to explain by putting such strange sounding words in ‘Hashem’s mouth’ is that ultimately the reason why the moon was diminished was because seeing it has a kinship with the Jewish people and they did not always live up to their lofty destiny, the moon [as a celestial representative of Hashem Himself, Ed.] therefore has to suffer alongside with them for their shortcomings. Seeing this may not sound quite fair, Hashem allegorically ordered a sin offering to be brought by the Jewish people on Rosh Chodesh/New Moon’s day in order appease the moon.)”
Sefer Chofetz Chaim hilchos rechilus chapter 5 halachos 5-7
There is a terrible habit that people have that they feel the need to know what other people did to them or said about them and if they ask and the person refuses to tell them he badgers the guys until he divulges the information. This is certainly rechilus if there is no purpose to knowing, meaning there is no threat against him and even there is potential threat we learned you can’t believe what you here, only take precautions. There are many prohibitions that could be transgressed and mitzvos not fulfilled if one is not careful in this matter. Also, one has to be very careful not to jump to the conclusion all the time that there might be threat against him and he is allowed to listen and inquire about what someone did or said about him. There is a fine line between being cautious and sensing a hunch of a threat and constantly overreacting and that line must be balanced.
The way to find that balance is to be adherent to the positive mitzvah of “with righteousness you shall judge your nation,” which includes judging your fellow favorably. Now this doesn’t only apply to someone who most probably meant you know harm, but the Chofetz Chaim says that if the Torah went out of the way to make a mitzvah for this it must unexclusive, or rather inclusive of many situations including especially if it would seem the person was trying to be malicious, still there is a mitzvah to judge him or her favorably until it is apparent with clear proof and no other choice that he or she is guilty. But if you just know what you heard was true, ley say you even can confirm it on video, still there is a mitzvah to judge favorably, that maybe something was overlooked which could change the whole story. Even if the story could go 50/50 either according to what you heard who are you to make the judgment that what you heard can go either way, if the All-Knowing Hashem makes a mitzvah to judge favorably why should you decide well
that’s only someone who might deserve to be judged favorably but under the circumstances that in my mind this person doesn’t deserve to be judged favorably, how does one have a right to just make that decision, maybe it wasn’t as bad as it it’s made out to be?! Why pick a fight and blow out if proportion a situation that does not have to be blown out of proportion? Therefore, it must the mitzvah if judging favorably even applies in situations where it can go 50/50 either or even if it looks worse than good. It’s not just a nice thing to judge favorably it’s a Torah obligation until it is unequivocally clear what happened.
Now if one has committed the sin of accepting rechilus the way to repent is to first remove from your heart the belief that what you heard is true. If that is hard to do, then just convince yourself that you are missing a part of the story. Maybe something was taken out or was added or the way it was said came out more negative than it really is, including the way his voice sounded might have changed the story if it was said over in a different tone of voice and he skipped up saying it. You should also accept upon yourself in the future to not ever accept lashon hara or rechilus about any Jew again, and say vidui, meaning admit to your sin. This will fix the sin transgressed as long as you have not spread what you heard to anyone else, which is a different story, not impossible to fix, because teshuva is always possible but not for this discussion right now.
Balak – Destroying the Root of Evil by Storm
At the end of this week’s Torah portion of Balak, after Bilaam failed to curse the Jewish people, he instead blessed them. Bilaam then tried to destroy them by seducing them to sin. The Torah reports, “Israel became attached to baal-peor, and the wrath of Hashem flared up against Israel. Hashem said to Moshe, ‘Take all the leaders of the people. Hang them before Hashem against the sun and the flaring wrath of Hashem will withdraw from Israel.’ Moshe said to the judges of Israel, ‘Let each man kill his men who were attached to baal-peor'” (Bamidbar 25:3-5).
A lesson the Ralbag learns from this episode is that as soon as evil begins to sprout it is worthwhile to put in efforts to immediately remove it, without any laziness, so that nothing more will sprout. For this reason, Hashem commanded Moshe to gather together the judges of Israel to immediately kill all those attached to the idol of baal-peor, so that His wrath would rest from among the Jews. He also commanded to do this in broad daylight so that all of Israel will suffer and they will remove the bad from amongst them in totality. (Click here for Hebrew text.)
We see from here that the Torah advocates for the annihilation of evil with speed and alacrity even if it means killing human beings and causing psychological trauma. It is acceptable in order to wipe out the evil among us. But killing is not required; any method that gets rid of the evil, while convincing others to not follow the bad ways is enough to ensure proper success.
But why should stopping the evil come to violence? Isn’t that extreme and sending the opposite message? Especially if it is necessary to be done in broad daylight in front of others. Can’t it cause too much trauma potentially? Isn’t it better to teach morals with proper civility? What about criminal justice reform?
It is true that Hashem is absolutely and only good, and He advocates for peace at all times. Indeed, one of His names is Shalom, peace. However, Hashem also stands for truth, His signature is אמת, and truth cannot bear within its proximity evil; something which is not good is the opposite of truth, it is a lie. For this reason, anything which is evil should be nipped in the bud and removed as quickly as possible, as soon as it starts, if it can’t be avoided altogether.
However, this logic can easily be misinterpreted and taken into the wrong hands, and evil can use it as an excuse; that they are killing and destroying for the sake of good; so how can this be accepted? For this reason, the Ralbag points out that the Torah emphasizes that Moshe appointed judges, people who are sages, that knew and understood the letter of the law They had higher standards and morals and knew when and how to wipe out evil in the most appropriate way. When having these checks and balances, evil can be removed from among Klal Yisrael and we will have the chance to serve Hashem in the ideal peaceful and honest way which Hashem desires.
Sefer Chofetz Chaim hilchos rechilus chapter 5 halachos 3-4
If there is a possible threat to you physically or monetarily then you are allowed to listen and even inquire with others if what you heard is true in order to take proper precautions for your safety. Even if it is just a feeling you have that something is wrong, like someone looked at you the wrong way or you have any inkling he hates you and want to harm you, you have a right to investigate and even inquire to see if you or your property are in danger and take proper precautions. This is not considered speaking rechilus even if it sounds like you are making someone look bad, but you have every right to protect yourself. But that is all you are allowed to do. You can’t accept anything you hear as truth and act upon it even if you hear the same thing from many people. He should be treated as any other Jew you are just allowed to protect yourself and property from harm’s way. For example, you can’t hate him in your heart and if he asks for a loan or tzedaka you must give it to him. If you don’t then you will be transgressing don’t take revenge or bear grudge especially since he has not done anything to you yet. You also can’t embarrass or treat him any less than any other Jew besides taking precautions to be sure you don’t get hurt. Even if there are rumors that he told on you to the government and they might now be after you, which in that case he is not considered part of “your nation” and you can withhold things from him bit until you know for sure he did it you have to treat him as any other Jew and just protect yourself. The Chofetz Chaim bring a gemara on Shabbos 56a as proof that you can listen and inquire of people to protect yourself from the story of the prophet Shmuel telling King David that he is allowed to listen to and cross check Tzova who was a known enemy of Mefiboshes about whether Mefiboshes, a relative of Shaul, was rebelling against the king and deserves to be caught and sentenced to death. King David only had a slight indication of a rebellion from the fact that Mefibishes didn’t attend a feast King David invited him to, but that was enough to be allowed to inquire about his motives and the potential threat. Those this might have been a more serious matter, a threat to life, but the Chofetz Chaim felt this was a good enough example to prove that any threat physically or monetarily can be researched, inquired into with taking proper precautions as long as you don’t accept it as truth until knowing for sure on your own, with accepting it from other that there is a problem.
Chukas – Microscopic Focus
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In this week’s Torah portion of Chukas, Moshe Rabbeinu commits the sin of hitting the rock which was the ultimate cause for him not being allowed to enter the land of Israel. However, the pasuk says, “Hashem said to Moshe and Aharon, ‘Because you did not imbue belief in Me in the eyes of the Jews, therefore you will not bring this congregation to the Land I have given them’” (Bamidbar 20:12). Why is Aharon also mentioned and blamed? What did he do wrong?
The Medrish Rabba, quoting this pasuk, gives an insight as to why Aharon was punished. “This is what the pasuk says, ‘There is futility that takes place on earth: Sometimes there are righteous men who are treated as if they had done the deeds of the wicked; and there are wicked men who are treated as if they have done the deeds of the righteous. I declare this too is vanity’ (Koheles 8:14). You find that when the snake was cursed, and He said you shall be cursed etc. He didn’t allow him to claim anything, for the snake could have said before Hashem, ‘You told man not to eat and I told him to eat, why should you curse me?’ He did not allow him to claim anything. And Aharon should have claimed, ‘I did not go against Your words why should I die'” (Medrish Rabba Chukas 19:11)? (Click here for Hebrew text.) The Maharz”u sights a Medrish Tanchuma in this parsha (10) which elaborates more on this very matter. The Anaf Yosef on the Medrish Tanchuma asks a basic question in belief in Hashem related to why Hashem didn’t allow the snake to make his claim or didn’t claim for him. This is even though there is a concept in Jewish courts called טענינן ליה that the court will make the claim for the litigant, if justified. The question is, that if the all-knowing Hashem knows the snake’s claim, which would make him innocent in court, then why was he guilty? How can the Judge of the world not exact proper justice? The Anaf Yosef gives two answers. One is based on a Yefeh Toar on Breishis Rabba (20), that says that he really deserved to be punished, but he gave some excuse to wiggle himself out of punishment. However Hashem didn’t let him give that excuse, because if He would then Adam and Chava would be punished and he, the perpetrator, the seducer, would not have been punished. Therefore, Hashem didn’t make the excuse for him, since he really deserved punishment for causing the mortality of man. The second answer is based on a gemara in Sanhedrin 29a. We learn from the snake that we don’t make any claims of innocence for one who was proven to be a masis, one who convinces others to sin. So Hashem did not make any excuse for the snake because he convinced Chava to sin, but in order not to allow the snake to make an excuse for himself, which according to halacha would have to be accepted so Hashem immediately sentenced him to his deserved punishment. Normally even if one is sentenced to death, if there is any claim that can reverse the sentence we listen to it. But we learn from this episode that for a masis, one who purposefully causes others to sin, we don’t have any mercy, and don’t allow anyone to claim for him once he is sentenced to death. (Click here for Hebrew text.)
The Maharz”u on the Medrish Rabba, when explaining the medrish, says that the snake’s claim would have been ‘Why did he leave Your command and go after mine, the words of the teacher and the words of the student who should he have listened to?’ (דברי הרב ודברי התמיד דברי מי שומעים)However, since he was wicked, convincing them to sin, Hashem didn’t allow the snake to make any claim of innocence for himself. The Maharz”u concludes, “And what occurred to the wicked snake occurred to the righteous Aharon.” So, what did Aharon do wrong?
The Etz Yosef on the Medrish Tanchuma points out that Aharon is praised for not telling Hashem ‘I did not sin,’ but the reason why he was punished in reality is because he should have protested what Moshe was doing and not have agreed to his action [of hitting the rock twice.]
Even if he didn’t stop his brother Moshe Rabbeinu when he could have, does that mean he should be equated with the snake, as if he purposefully seduced Moshe to sin? Not even close! So why was Aharon Kohen Gadol compared to the snake and sentenced to death for his inaction of not preventing Moshe’s mistaken decision to hit the rock?
From here we see a clear proof that the righteous are judged by Hashem very meticulously, on a whole different level than others, since they are held to much higher standards. (ד’ דן הצדיקים כחוט השערה) This case is a clear explanation of this concept since Aharon, a rodef shalom, one who Pirkei Avos says ran after peace, as well as the beloved older brother of Moshe Rabbeinu, who Moshe treated with extreme respect and looked up to, could have said something to Moshe, Moshe would have definitely listened and none of this would have happened so since he didn’t, it literally is as if Aharon convinced him to sin like a masis, and therefore deserved to die without any excuses, because of his high level of righteousness and the standards he was judged on. However, without a doubt in anyone’s mind this was a punishment incurred in this world but in the next world, The Eternal World, Aharon earned a position extremely close to Hashem.
Sefer Chofetz Chaim hilchos rechilus chapter 5 halachos 1-2
Just as it is forbidden to accept lashon hara as truth it is also forbidden to accept rechilus as truth. It comes from the same prohibition, “לא תשא שומע שוא” (Shemos 23:1). The Chofetz Chaim goes into great detail proving that the term lashon hara is inclusive or interchangeable with rechilus though rechilus never refers to lashon hara. There are other possible prohibition and breaking of positive mitzvos involved in accepting rechilus as truth in one’s heart which were discussed in the introduction of Sefer Chofetz Chaim. Chazal in Erichin 15b and a gemara Yerushalmi Peah 1:1 both say that there are 3 people who could be killed potentially when lashon hara is spoken the speaker, acceptor and victim that was talked about. We saw this when Doeg spoke rechilus about the City of Nov who was hiding David and he told jealous King Shaul they were hiding him. Doeg was killed, the whole city of Nov was wiped out, and King Shaul was eventually ruthlessly killed in battle. The one who accepts lashon hara is worse than speaking it. Also, the gemara in Pesachim 118a says that whoever’s speaks or accepts lashon hara as truth deserves to be thrown to the dogs, as we see that right after the pasuk prohibiting accepting lashon hara it says and it will be thrown to the dogs. The simple understanding of that verse is that any meat improperly slaughtered should be thrown to the dogs because it is not kosher. But the gemara made a drasha from the juxtaposition of verses that those who speak and accept lashon hara deserve to be thrown to the dogs. Even listening is forbidden (because you can’t give credence to lashon hara) this means you can’t sit down in a group of lashon hara talkers and say I won’t accept what they say without researching, I’ll just listen. But certainly accepting rechilus or lashon hara as truth without researching the matter is worse and always forbidden, whereas at times just listening and looking into the matter might be mitzvah if it’s a matter which might affect you physically, or monetarily in a negative way and you have a mitzvah to take proper precautions. It’s a very hard balance to figure out when you can and can’t listen but that’s part if our service of Hashem and according to our efforts is our reward.
Korach – Famous or Infamous
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One of the first lessons the Ralbag learns from this week’s Torah portion of Korach is that “one should not get into fights with the gedolim, the leading rabbis of the generation. See what happened to Korach because of his argument with Moshe Rabbeinu a”h, the master of all prophets. “
This seems to be an obvious life lesson but what was the reason Korach got into this argument? He was within the top 5 of hierarchy behind Moshe and Aharon, and he Chaza”l say he had the fortune but his downfall was that he let jealousy get the better of him. We know how powerful jealousy is, that even someone as great as Korach was, jealousy was still able to rot his heart and create this debacle which swept up many leaders with him. But if jealousy is so strong, how can it be stopped?
This can be answered through a second lesson the Ralbag learns from this episode. “It’s not worthwhile to be jealous of someone else’s honor and position he has over you. But it is befitting to be satisfied with what the Exalted Hashem has graciously endowed you from this. With this we see that for Korach, because of his jealousy for the position and honor that Hashem gave Aharon, this was reason for him to convince many Jews to rise up with him in a fight that caused him to lose his life and all of them in this world and the next.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
We learn from here 3 approaches that should help a person avoid being swept up by the attribute of jealousy:
- The first obvious reason that one should not let jealousy get the better of him and therefore he should at all costs stay away from jealousy is the results, i.e. punishment that results from this attribute. You might want other people’s stuff, position or honor, but you wind up with nothing. Korach wanted to be famous and he got the fame; Hashem made him infamous (he actually ended up being very famous)! Korach could have been a well-respected Tzadik, doing his role as a levitecarrying parts of the Mishkan, specifically the important position of carring the Holy Ark, since he came from the family of Kehas, which Hashem gave him. He would not necessarily have had the same mentioning as Aharon had throughout the Torah, but Hashem would have given him a very high seat next to His throne in the World to Come for fulfilling his destiny and potential in this world. But instead he made it into the Torah for all eternity with a whole parsha all to himself to remind us of his evil and destructive behavior. Is infamy what Korach really wanted? But that’s the result of jealousy!
- This leads us to the next reason to stop a person from becoming jealous, which is definitely more important, that is, the fact that one’s position and honor comes from Hashem. Hashem decides who gets and who doesn’t, so being jealous of what others have won’t help one iota, and it’s not even worth it. Hashem has a reason for why a certain person gets this position and another gets a different position.
- Lastly, a position comes with responsibilities, not just honor. Who says you can live up to the responsibility that the other person’s position has, and on the contrary, you might gain more through the help of the person who is in that position? For example, in this case with Aharon, he might have been the high priest, the number 1 Levite, but the pressure to ensure everything was being done correctly in the mishkan was immense, and if done wrong is punishable by death. Wrong means even with improper intent. Why would Korach want this responsibility for himself; Hashem gave it to Aharon for a reason, because He knew Aharon earned that position, and automatically the honor comes with it. The honor just doesn’t come out of the blue for any random reason. It is earned and Divinely given. Be thankful that the pressures and responsibilities that come with that position is not on your shoulders. Appreciate what you do have, the position you are in, and the fact that people in higher positions can help you with your needs without you needing to do it yourself.
If Korach only looked at what he had and figured out the most of what he can do to fulfill his role in life which was destined by Hashem and understand that we are all in it together to help each other than this infamous episode in history would never have happened and the Jews would have had many more leaders in their own right guiding them on the right path.
Sefer Chofetz Chaim hilchos rechilus chapter 3 part two of footnote 3
At first glance, in a scenario where Reuvain tells two people that Shimon is stupid, for example, and person A tells Shimon that Reuvain called him stupid which is rechilus and the question is if person B now tells Shimon what Reuvain said has he transgressed rechilus, the Chofetz Chaim says is based on an argument between Tosfos, the Rambam and Rashba vs. The Rosh and Nimukey Yosef whether a person who digs a pit already 10 tefachim to 20 tefachim deep is liable if an animal falls in and dies. Tosfos, Rambam, and Rashba hold the person who dug the next 10 tefachim to 20 is also liable because he also created a damage that could potentially kill the animal if the first ten tefachim were not dug, therefore so to by rechilus we might be able to say that since his statement could have had the same damage as if the first one was not said the he is also liable for rechilus. The Rosh and Nimukey Yosef hold that since in reality the second person didn’t add anything then he is exempt for damages, and this could be true by rechilus as well. The Chofetz Chaim did say that even those who would say the damage would be liable that is only true if nothing has happened yet and you can potentially say either one of them could cause the damage so both are liable but here the damage was already caused the rechilus was already said so it’s like adding wood to a fire which already burnt down a house to ashes which should be exempt because nothing was done.
However all this is in a technical world if you can evaluate that no damage is being added but the reality is that ideally the second person cannot repeat what he heard to Shimon because usually what happens is that Shimon might have brushed off what the first person said but when he hears from someone else that Reuvain called him stupid then that not only gives more validation to what was said that it was in fact said but it stokes the coals more and entices Shimon to now go over to Reuvain and pick a fight over what he seems to have said. In fact, the second person’s repetition of what the first person said is in fact a worse degree of rechilus because of its reinforcement of what was previously said and gives more credibility to the rechilus which means it is certainly forbidden according to everyone.
Shelach – Expectations of a Perfect Leader
Most of this week’s Torah portion of Shelach discusses the disastrous episode of the spies which condemned a whole generation of the Jewish people to die in the desert after wandering for 40 years, instead of everyone going straight into and inheriting the Land of Israel.
One lesson the Ralbag learns from here is that “it is appropriate for a person to place his trust in Hashem especially when He clearly shows that He is with him in what ever he decides to do. Behold, we all know the bad that happened to the Jews because they did not want to rely on the mission of The Exalted Hashem in inheriting the land and instead decided to send spies there, even though they had already witnessed the awesome wonders that The Exulted Hashem had done for them. They should have realized that the Hand of the Exulted Hashem will not fall short of doing whatever He wants.”
With this basic and baseless lack of trust that the Jewish people showed, at whatever level it really was, how miniscule it must have really been, still in all there is a very important lesson that every leader should learn from Moshe Rabbeinu, which the Ralbag in a different lesson points out. “It is appropriate for the perfect leader to have the strength to be patient with his followers and their blatant negligence in order to direct them to what is good. Behold, we see that it wasn’t enough that Moshe did not get angry at them for rebelling against him for wanting to return to Egypt even though Hashem showered them with favors done through him [Moshe], but [Moshe] also was gracious towards them and fell on his face before them pleading with outstretched arms that they won’t self-destruct by rebelling against The Exulted Hashem. This wasn’t even enough but he also piled on prayer after prayer before The Exulted Hashem that He should overlook their iniquities until The Exulted Hashem answered him and was comforted over the bad which He said He would do to His nation, meaning He did not completely wipe them out but left their children to inherit the land and they themselves did not all die at once.” (Click here for Hebrew text.)
A leader is someone who takes, or at least attempts to take, his followers from point A to point B, whether that is physically or spiritually. Whatever goal-minded purpose or mission, a leader inspires, shows, directs, and leads a person or people in that direction. The Ralbag mentioned 3 areas in progression where Moshe went above and beyond and showed that he was the perfect leader:
1. He did not get angry when his followers were not listening to him, even though it was clearly proven without a shadow of a doubt that Moshe was just the messenger of the All Trustworthy, All-Powerful Hashem who was taking care of them, and they certainly should have trusted Hashem who had also proved His love, loyalty, and power towards them.
2. Moshe humbled himself and begged on his hands and knees for them to not continue with their mistakes, and to repent, and to go back onto the trustworthy path of Hashem.
3. He focused all his energy and strength to pray for them so that they wouldn’t be annihilated for not trusting in, and rebelling against, Hashem.
But shouldn’t this be expected of any leader, even if they are not perfect? Isn’t every leader expected to be selfless and self-sacrificing for the sake of his constituents? What else should he have done if he wasn’t the perfect leader?
It is implicit from here that if Moshe Rabbeinu would not have acted as a perfect leader, then he might have acted out of anger, albeit for good intentions. He was still the humblest of men and surely wouldn’t have felt any slight from them rebelling against him. Rather it must be that because they were rebelling against Hashem, the Honor of Hashem was being slighted; then there would have been just cause to speak out or even take action out of anger, with the intention of instilling fear into them so that they would hopefully leave their evil ways. It might have even worked, at least for a while.
However, we see from here that a truly perfect leader would never use anger, or even the display of anger, to sway his followers to the good; rather the opposite should be demonstrated. Not only was Moshe not angry, but he belittled himself and pleaded with his followers to change, and when that didn’t work, he put in an immense amount of strength and energy into his prayers in order to, at the very least, successfully lessen the punishment. Even though they complained, made some really nasty remarks, and showed an outright lack of trust and interest in following him and Hashem, still in all the perfect leader did not care that his followers didn’t show any interest in him, and showed a complete dedication towards them.
For that reason, the Ralbag is praising and pointing out that Moshe Rabbeinu was the perfect leader. It’s not surprising if people don’t want to follow you then you’ll just give up on them. There is just so much one can do to try to help others. However, it takes a perfect leader to never give up and to continue to help and be completely dedicated to his or her students, congregants, or even children even though they are showing a total lack of interest in him or her.
Sefer Chofetz Chaim Hilchos Rechilus chapter 4 halacha 2 part 1 of footnote 3
The Chofetz Chaim went into great detail to explain why someone else cannot repeat the rechilus that the first person already told like in a case where Revain calls Shimon stupid in front of two people and Person A unlawfully tells Shimon that Reuvain called him stupid. Person B cannot also tell Shimon that he was called stupid by Reuvain even if he did not add anything more to what happened. Why not, the damage was already done, what is he adding? Even more so we find that if something was said in front of 3 then it can be repeated because, it will get back to the subject spoken about. The fact that he said it in a fashion that it will automatically spread must mean he did not have any qualms saying it. The statement might sound shady, but it is not out right outlandish, therefore if said in a way that it sounds like it was meant to be spread it must not be that bad and is permissible to repeat. If so, then once something was already repeated then why can’t it be said again, if there is no harm done since it is already out? Granted our case is an outright injustice of a statement and only 2 people heard it but once it was repeated then why can’t the other say it again the same way, nothing added, what harm is there?
There is an episode in Tana”ch where Nasan the Prophet tells King David that his son, Adoniya, has started a rebellion and declared himself king. And Nosson told King David this after Batsheva, King Davids why and mother to his heir, Shlomo. So one might say we see from this episode that you can repeat something already told by someone else. However, Nosson the Prophet went a step further and added information like how Eviyatar was in cahoots with Adoniya which Batsheva never mentioned, therefore it must be he was only allowed to say this lashon hara because of what the Yerushalmi in Peah chapter 1remarked as a halacha that one may speak lashon hara about two people who are fight against each other. The reason being is that by speaking out and publicizing the matter it is possible that you can apply enough pressure to stop the fight for the sake of peace.
The Chofetz Chaim then interestingly applied this halacha to a case of damaging in Bava Kamma. There is a whole question if one adds wood to a preexisting fire which burning down a house is he liable for causing damage. If it contributes and strengthens the fire, then certain he is responsible but the gemara concludes that if he just through a twig into a blazing fiery inferno he is exempt because he did not add anything to make the damage worse. The Chofetz Chaim wants to say then that that will be a proof one can repeat something which does not add in any way to whom the bad mouthing he was told about before hand had said. It’s the same words and connotation.