CAREFUL SPEECH
A peddler once wandered through the markets near Tzipori announcing his wares: “Who wants to buy life?” Rebbi Yannai heard him from his home and called the peddler over. “No, sir,” said the man. “It’s not for you or for people like you.”
When Rebbi Yannai insisted, the man approached and opened a Tehillim to the pesukim, “Who is the man who wants life…? Hold your tongue from speaking evil….” Rebbi Yannai confirmed his claim by quoting the advice of Shlomo HaMelech, “Whoever guards his mouth and tongue protects himself from troubles.”
Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel once asked Tavi, his servant, “Go out to the marketplace and buy me a good food.” Tavi returned with the tongue of an animal. Rabban Shimon then asked him to buy something evil. Tavi returned, once again, with a tongue. In response to Rabbon Shimon’s surprise, Tavi replied, “Both good and evil come from the tongue. When it is good, there is nothing better, and when it is evil, there is nothing worse.”
(ילקוט שמעוני תהלים נב)
The King of Persia was once unwell, and his doctors prescribed the milk of a lioness. One brave man responded to the challenge, and set out with ten goats. Nearing the lion’s den, he stopped at a distance and sent a goat towards the lioness, which she quickly pounced upon and devoured. The next day, he came a little closer and gave her another goat. After ten days, he was able to approach the lioness, pet her, and take some milk in peace.
Napping on his way home, he dreamt that his limbs were arguing with each other about which of them deserved the credit for acquiring the milk. The feet said, “Without us, you wouldn’t ever have gotten here!” The hands claimed, “But we took the milk!” And the brain took the credit for the idea. Finally, the tongue spoke up: “If I hadn’t suggested the idea, it would never have happened.” The other limbs laughed, “How dare you compare yourself to us? You’re not an active limb like we are!” The tongue responded briefly, “Okay, you will soon see that I control you.”
Back at the palace, the man said, “Your Majesty! Here is the milk of a dog.” The king, furious, commanded that he be hanged. As he was being dragged to the gallows, the limbs began to cry and the tongue said, “I will save you, and you will see that I am in charge.”
The man pleaded to be taken back to the king, and told him that the milk had in fact been taken from a lioness. This was checked out, and when he was freed, The limbs all surrendered to the tongue: “Now we see that ‘life and death depend on the tongue.’ “
CONSIDER
Why is so much ascribed to the tongue if it only expresses what’s inside the person?
How does speaking positively hold a person back from speaking negatively as well?
HOLD YOUR TONGUE
After spending a year learning at the feet of Reb Mordechai of Neshchiz, Reb Naftali of Ropshitz was suddenly advised by the tzaddik to return home. He pleaded to be allowed to remain but was ignored, so he turned to the Rebbetzin. When she requested that Reb Naftali be allowed to stay, Reb Mordechai agreed, but remarked, “I hope there will be no reason for regret.”
A few days later, while Reb Mordechai was still in shul, a stranger came to his home. Reb Naftali, sensitive to the visitor’s aveiros, called out, “Get out of here! How dare you come to the Rebbe’s home!”
The stranger fled, but the tzaddik, sensing that something had happened, hurried home and asked who had come. Hearing the story, he ordered Reb Naftali to hurry and bring the visitor back.
When the stranger arrived, Reb Mordechai welcomed him warmly and asked him why he had not come for so long. The man promised to come more often, offered the tzaddik gifts from his farm, and took his leave.
Reb Mordechai then explained the background to this event to his talmid. The visitor had been close to the tzaddik, who had lent him the strength to stay away from sin, but since his visits had dwindled, he had been dragged down by many aveiros. Too embarrassed to appear before his Rebbe in this state, he continued to fall lower, until after a long while he decided to forsake Yiddishkeit completely. However, before doing so, he decided to visit Neshchiz just one last time as a test: If he would be accepted warmly, he would know there was hope, and he would begin behaving like a proper Yid.
Reb Mordechai concluded: “I didn’t want all my hard work and my tefillos on behalf of this Yid to be endangered by your rash tongue. That’s why I asked you to go home a few days earlier.”
(סיפורי חסידים זוין תורה ע' 388)
WATCHING OUR WORDS
In תש”י (1950), the chossid Reb Volf Greenglass compiled a booklet of basic but little-known daily halachos that are overlooked by some. In a letter, the Rebbe suggested including some halachos about guarding one’s speech, for he had heard that some people were not vigilant in this area.
(אג"ק ח"ג ע' שנה)
The Rebbe explains that in addition to refraining from speaking negatively, one should also make a point of using his speech for good things. In fact, by increasing positive talk, one automatically comes to refrain from bad speech. After all, this is the approach of Chassidus - to banish the evil by increasing the good.
(ויקרא רבה טז, ב) (ילקוט שמעוני תהלים לד) (התוועדויות תשמ"ח ח"ד ע' 92)