Proverbs<\/em> 18:21 \u2013 \u201cDeath and life are B\u2019Yad Lashon \u2013 in the power of the tongue.\u201d My teachers invoked that Biblical message to emphasize that acquisition of Hebrew language skills was a serious matter indeed!<\/p>\nThe verse correctly and wisely warns that how we speak and what we say can do great harm\u2026 or bring much needed healing. Fully a third of the transgressions enumerated in the Yom Kippur liturgy refer to sins of speech, the abuse of language\u2026 perhaps because such offenses are so common, so very human, so terribly difficult to avoid.<\/p>\n
The Rabbis (Arachin 15B) teach that mean-spirited gossip or slander (lashon ha-ra) is tantamount to a triple murder! We destroy the individual being smeared. The person to whom we speak ill of another is forever changed by the burden of our demeaning words, the scandalous information we convey. The slanderer her- or himself is victimized: lashon ha-ra is a self-destructive vice.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeath and life are, indeed, B\u2019Yad Lashon\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
In any language.<\/p>\n
(Rabbi Joseph H. Prouser is the rabbi of Temple Emanuel of North Jersey and the National Chaplain of the National Jewish Committee on Scouting.)<\/em><\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Prouser_Joseph.jpg\")