Guarding the Tongue - By the Esteemed Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Guarding the Tongue - by His Holiness, our teacher, Rav Eliezer Berland shlit"a

Rebbe Nachman says in Likutey Moharan, Torah 54: "He who spreads slander is a fool." The moment a person spreads slander, the moment a person speaks lashon hara (evil speech), he is a fool! He loses his intellect! Not only has he transgressed the prohibition of lashon hara—as the Chafetz Chaim says, that one who speaks lashon hara transgresses 14 positive commandments and 17 negative commandments, which is 31, and with all the minute details, it is an endless number of prohibitions—but he also loses his intellect! The moment he speaks lashon hara about someone, about any Jew, even if it is true! But it is not for a necessary purpose, or perhaps he only imagines it is for a purpose... and Hashem knows the truth, Hashem knows if it is for a purpose or not—at that very moment, he loses all his intellect forever, until he does teshuvah (repentance). The moment a person speaks lashon hara, let him know that the animalistic force clothes itself within him. The animalistic force is jealousy, hatred; these are animalistic powers! He falls from the level of a human to that of an animal! Not only has he transgressed all the prohibitions of the negative and positive commandments, but he simply turns into an animal. He cannot study or pray, and why? Because he is talking about this, talking about that, talking about Jews.

It is written that a person's words are measured; there is a limit to what he can speak! A person is given a quantity of words to speak throughout his life, and when he finishes them, his life ends. A person lives according to the words that were allotted to him! When a person speaks lashon hara, idle chatter, or nonsense, he begins to lose what was allotted for him to speak! This is not for many, many years: "Hashem will cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that speaks great things." Besides the fact that he transgresses endless spiritual excisions, he also loses the quota of words given to him, and he can die prematurely, Heaven forbid. He talks, talks, talks—one word is missing! He talks more—two are missing! His supply is running out!! His life is running out! Everything is leaking, everything is draining! He has no words left!! He has no life left!! Because a person lives according to the words he was allotted to speak! And conversely, if he speaks all day in words of Torah and words of holiness, he is constantly receiving more merit! He receives more merit to speak! More holy words to speak! And through this, he receives more life.

Rebbe Natan says: You dared to speak about a Jew? You had the audacity to speak about a fellow Jew? Even if he is the greatest evildoer! What is he bothering you with? What? Will he take your shop? Your parnassah (livelihood)? Leave him alone! What do you care about him? How do you dare to speak lashon hara? And even if he is plotting against you! And wants to harm you! Even then, it is forbidden to speak lashon hara! Invite him to a Din Torah; there are rabbis! There are ways to handle this. The moment you fail in speech, it shows a deep rot inside! You lack patience, you lack the voice of melody, you lack the pleasantness, the tranquility, the joy. If you had emunah (faith), if you had joy, if you had that pleasantness, you would not speak about any Jew!

The holy Arizal says that one who speaks lashon hara is reincarnated into a bee. If a person speaks lashon hara, he is reincarnated into a bee, because a bee buzzes all day, all day, and this person also talks all day! Therefore, his punishment is that he is reincarnated into a bee and buzzes all day; he does not have a single moment of rest! He is reincarnated into a bee and buzzes all day.

Every person is comprised of all the worlds; every person includes all the worlds, all of creation, and in whatever he attaches himself to, he connects himself to, he creates a new creation. When he studies Torah, he is now joining worlds; he is creating new worlds. And conversely, when he commits a sin, he separates the worlds. The moment he speaks lashon hara, he separates all the worlds, and all the abundance that was supposed to reach holiness passes to the kelipot (forces of impurity)! All the abundance, all the powers, pass to the wicked! Because of that same person who speaks lashon hara, Hitler is alive and well! Haman is alive and well! Everyone is alive and well! It is true that they killed them, that they burned them, but they only burned their bodies! They are reincarnated in every generation into someone else.

If people speak lashon hara about the tzaddikim (righteous ones), if they listen to lashon hara about tzaddikim and say that this tzaddik is like this... he is like that... then their punishment is measure for measure; the same thing will happen to them in Heaven! When he comes to Heaven, he will have billions of terrorists, masters of lashon hara, and they will lead him into the world of chaos! He will believe everything they tell him! Because just as he spoke and believed here in this world the masters of lashon hara, so it will be in Heaven! He will have billions of masters of lashon hara, billions of harmful spirits.

Every man, every woman can be a prophet; every woman can be a prophetess, every woman can be a tzadeket (righteous woman), if she prays, goes to the Western Wall, says Tehillim every day, she can be a prophetess! She only needs not to speak lashon hara! She only needs not to talk about what the other person is doing, that is all! "Do not speak so very proudly"—why did they do this...? And why did they do that...? And why are they discriminating against us? And why do they give this person special treatment? And to this one they give this? Do not speak proudly! Be prophetesses! "Let arrogance come out of your mouth"—you speak arrogance! Arrogant words! Why like this? And why do they do like this? "Let arrogance come out of your mouth, for Hashem is a God of knowledge." Stop talking! Leave everything to Hashem! And then every woman will be a prophetess, every woman will begin to see wonderful things, will begin to see from one end of the world to the other, instead of seeing what is happening on the other person's plate, instead of seeing what the other person has, be prophetesses! See what is happening from one end of the world to the other.

"A prayer of David: Hear, O Hashem, what is right, attend to my cry, give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips" (Psalms 17). King David would sing, would rejoice, would pray, without "deceitful lips." A person needs to know that one does not sing and one does not pray from "deceitful lips." If you spoke lashon hara, spoke idle words, listened to some radio, Heaven forbid, and after that you come to pray, then these are deceitful lips! You are simply deceiving! A person needs, before he prays, before he sings to Hashem, to do hitbodedut (secluded prayer), to do teshuvah for all the lashon hara, for all the idle words, so that it will be "my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips."