Parshas Emor - The Secret of the Allotted Speech and the Danger of Lashon Hara
Losing One's Intellect and Falling into Animalism
Rebbe Nachman says in Torah 54:
"Whoever spreads slander is a fool" (Proverbs 10:18).
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 Chofetz Chaim says, one who speaks lashon hara violates 14 positive commandments and 17 negative commandments, totaling 31, and with all the specific details, it amounts to an infinite number of prohibitions!—but he also loses his mind!
The moment he speaks lashon hara about someone, about any Jew, even if it is true! But it is not necessary, only perhaps it seems to him that it is necessary, and Hashem knows the truth whether it is necessary or not—at that very moment, he loses all his intellect forever, until he does teshuvah (repentance).
The moment a person speaks *lashon hara*, he should know that the power of animalism clothes itself within him. The power of animalism is jealousy, hatred—these are animalistic forces! He falls from the level of a human being 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 learn Torah or pray. And why? Because he is talking about this one, talking about that one, talking about Jews.
A Person's Allotted Amount of Speech
It is written that a person's words are allotted; there is a limit to what he can speak! A person is given a specific amount of words to speak throughout his life, and when he finishes them, his life ends! A person lives according to the words allotted to him!
When a person speaks lashon hara, idle chatter, and nonsense, he begins to lose what was allotted for him to speak! Which is not many, many years.
"May Hashem cut off all smooth lips, the tongue that speaks boastfully" (Psalms 12:4).
Aside from transgressing an infinite number of kareis (spiritual excision) penalties, he also loses the quota of words he was given, and he could die prematurely, Heaven forbid. He talks, talks, talks - he loses one word! He talks more - he loses two! His supply is running out! His life is running out! Everything is leaking, everything is draining away! He has no words left! He has no life left!
Conversely, if he speaks words of Torah and words of holiness all day, he constantly receives more merit! He receives more merit to speak! More holy words to speak! And through this, he receives more life.
The Root of the Blemish - A Lack of Emunah and Joy
Reb Noson says: You dared to speak about a fellow Jew? You had the audacity to speak about another Jew? Even if he is the biggest wicked person! How is he bothering you? What? Will he take your store? Your parnassah (livelihood)? Leave him alone! What do you care about him? How dare you speak lashon hara?
And even if he is undermining you! And wants to harm you! Even then, it is forbidden to speak lashon hara! Summon him to a Din Torah (Rabbinical court); there are Rabbis! There are proper ways to handle this.
The moment you stumble in your speech, it reveals a deep rot inside! You lack patience, you lack the voice of melody, you lack pleasantness, tranquility, and joy. If you had emunah (faith), if you had joy, if you had pleasantness - you would not speak about any Jew!
Reincarnation as a Bee and the Separation of the Worlds
The holy Arizal says: Whoever speaks lashon hara is reincarnated as a bee! If a person speaks lashon hara, he is reincarnated as a bee, because a bee buzzes all day long! All day! And this person also talks all day! Therefore, his punishment is that he is reincarnated as a bee and buzzes all day, without a single moment of rest!
Every person is comprised of all the spiritual worlds; every person includes all the worlds, the entire creation. And in whatever he attaches himself to, whatever he connects himself to, he creates a new creation. When he learns Torah, he is now joining worlds together; he is creating new worlds.
Conversely, when he commits a sin, he separates the worlds. The moment he speaks *lashon hara*, he separates all the worlds, and all the spiritual abundance that was supposed to reach holiness passes over to the *klipos* (forces of impurity)! All the abundance, all the forces pass over to the wicked! That very person who speaks lashon hara - because of him, Hitler is alive and well! Haman is alive and well! They are all alive and well! True, they were killed, they were burned, but only their bodies were burned! They reincarnate in every generation into someone else.
If people speak lashon hara (evil speech) about the tzaddikim, listen to lashon hara about tzaddikim, and say that this tzaddik is like this and like that, then their punishment is measure for measure—the exact same thing will happen to them in Heaven! When such a person arrives in Heaven, he will face billions of destructive angels created by his lashon hara, and they will lead him through the world of chaos! He will believe everything they tell him! Because just as he spoke and believed the speakers of lashon hara here in this world, so it will be in Heaven! He will be surrounded by billions of speakers of lashon hara, billions of harmful entities.
The Path to Prophecy and Pure Prayer
Every man and every woman can be prophets. Every woman can be a prophetess, every woman can be a tzaddekes (righteous woman). If she prays, goes to the Kosel (Western Wall), and recites Tehillim (Psalms) every day, she can be a prophetess! She just needs to refrain from speaking lashon hara! She just needs to stop talking about what the other person is doing, that is all!
"Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogance come out of your mouth; for Hashem is a God of knowledge" (Shmuel I 2:3).
Why did they do this? And why did they do that? And why are they discriminating against us? And why does this one get favoritism? And why is that one given this? Do not speak proudly! Be prophetesses! "Let not arrogance come out of your mouth" - you are speaking arrogantly! Arrogant words! Why is it like this? And why are they doing that? "Let not 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 wondrous things, she will begin to see from one end of the world to the other. Instead of looking at what is happening on the other person's plate, instead of looking at what the other person has, be prophetesses! You will see what is happening from one end of the world to the other.
"A prayer of David. Hear the right, O Hashem, attend to my cry; give ear to my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips" (Tehillim 17:1).
King David would sing, he would chant, he would pray without "deceitful lips." A person must know: we do not sing and we do not pray from "deceitful lips." If you spoke lashon hara, spoke idle chatter, listened to some radio broadcast Heaven forbid, and after that you come to pray - then those are deceitful lips! You are simply deceiving!
Before a person prays, before he sings to Hashem, he needs to do Hisbodedus (personal secluded prayer), to do teshuvah (repentance) for all the lashon hara, for all the idle chatter, so that it will be "my prayer, which is not from deceitful lips."