32. Rebbe Yissachar Dov of Belz zt'l came to a city, and after the tefillah, the people of the city wanted to honor him with a l’chaim, but he refused to drink. He said that lashon hara was spoken in the beis medresh, and this resulted with a murder, because a goy murdered a Yid, r'l. Later, they heard that a goy had stabbed a Yid in their city (heard from the Rebbe of Narol zt'l). Rebbe Yissachar Dov of Belz zt'l said, "When a Yid stabs (ס'שטעכ) his fellow man in a beis medresh by speaking lashon hara on him, this results in a goy who stabs a Yid."
One Yom Kippur night, shortly after the Holocaust, the Klausenberger Rebbe zt'l said the following dvar Torah: (Devarim 32:18-19) תשי ילדך צור, people forget all the kindness that Hashem does for them, מחוללך ל"א and Hashem forgives them for that (from the word מוחל). However, וינאץ 'ה וירא, "Hashem becomes angry and doesn’t forgive, ובנותיו בניו מכעס, when someone harms His children."
33. The Shem MiShmuel (Behaloscha ולכפר ה"ד ע"תר) writes, "The attribute of a good eye purifies a person [from all his sins]." One year, on Tisha b'Av, Reb Refael of Barshid zt'l was busy helping a couple restore their shalom bayis. People asked Reb Refael, "Is this the right time for this? Can't you take care of this after Tisha b'Av?" Reb Rafael replied, "On the contrary, Tisha b'Av is the best time to restore shalom bayis. The Beis HaMikdash was destroyed because of sinas chinam, so shalom will rebuild the Beis HaMikdash."
One woman devotedly cared for her ill husband for several years. Reb Meir Brandsdorfer zt'l (a renowned dayan from Yerushalayim) would call her occasionally to give her chizuk. One erev Shabbos he asked her, "Do people help you, or is everything on your shoulders?"
Chazal (Eiruchin 15:) say that lashon hara is just as severe as the three cardinal sins, ,עריות גלוי ,זרה עבודה דמים ושפיכות, idol worship, adultery, and murder. The Kli Yakar (Shemos 3:2) writes, "The primary reason for the galus is their hatred and jealousy. In this regard, the Jewish nation is worse than all other nations. They speak lashon hara..."
