On the topic of guarding one’s words, Chazal say (Vayikroh Rabbah 26:1) that Hashem added eight letters to the Torah, rather than saying a foul word. For this reason, in the story of Noach and the teiva, the pasuk says (Bereishis 7:8): “From the animal that is tahor and from the animal that is not tahor”, rather than saying “from the animal that is tamei.” In another place, the Torah adds 23 letters, rather than saying a foul word, when it says “from all the animals that are not tahor...”, rather than saying “from the animals that are tamei.”
The obvious question is that the Torah does use the word “tamei” many times. Why does it only avoid using that word these two times?
The Dubno Magid zt”l explains with a moshol of an unlearned, wealthy man, who loved enjoying the pleasures of this world. The people of his town gave him the nickname “Zanvil the Glutton” for his gluttonous ways.
One day, a man came to the Rov’s home and asked where R’ Zanvil lives. The shamash replied, “Do you mean Zanvil the Glutton? He lives across the street.” The Rov heard this and got very upset at the shamash for speaking so derogatorily about another Jew.
A few days later, a shadchan knocked on the Rov’s door and told him, “R’ Zanvil sent me to speak to you. He asked me to try to arrange a match between his son and your daughter.” The Rov got angry at the shadchan and yelled, “How could you suggest such a shidduch for my daughter? You want me to do a shidduch with Zanvil the Glutton?”
After the shadchan left, the shamash asked the Rov, “When I called him that name, you got mad at me. But now you used the same name for him?” The Rov answered, “When someone asks for directions to his house, it is certainly inappropriate to refer to him in a negative way. But when the shadchan suggested a shidduch for my daughter with his son, I had to explain why I was opposed to the idea. Therefore, I used the derogative name so that he should understand why I wouldn’t do a shidduch with him.”
The nimshol is that when the Torah speaks about which animals Noach took on the teiva, it was not relevant to call some of them tamei. Therefore, the Torah would not use that negative term. But when the Torah describes which animals one must stay away from or which entities are impure and must be avoided, it is necessary to use the word “tamei” so that everyone will understand why these things must be avoided.
