During the week of Parshas Matos, I thought of a vort and someone told me that the Kedushas Levi had a similar idea. The vort was on the words לא יחל דברו ככל היוצא מפיו יעשה --the simple translation is: don’t profane your words; whatever comes out of your mouth do. However, I was thinking along the lines of a more Chasidic pshat. If a person doesn’t profane his words--i.e. he appreciates the power and holiness of each word and is therefore careful with every sound he makes-- then whatever comes out of his mouth will occur.
This is similar to the Gemara in Baba Metzia where it is brought down that someone who inspires others to Torah will כפי תהיה --will be like my mouth, like Hashem’s mouth. It’s a profound strength and it’s our most forceful weapon. It also makes sense from a Kabbalistic perspective. We know one of the earliest sefarim, Sefer Yetzira, describes the process of creation and explains how everything is really based on letters of the Aleph Bais. We also learn this from the words used by magicians — Abra Kedabra — which in reality means, ‘I will create with my words.’
We know that for the third Bais Hamikdash to be built we need tefilot. Rav Chaim Vital says that just as we left Mitzrayim when Hashem heard our pleas and cries so will the last redemption occur through our prayers.
Chazal say it beautifully in the Yalkut Shimoni on the pasuk אל תירא תולעת יעקב מה כוחה של תולעת אינה אלא בפה כך כוחם של ישראל בפה -- our real missiles are not the most advanced military artillery but our tongues. When I was going through the parsha of Matos beginning with the seriousness the Torah gives to the subject of Nedarim and followed by the war of Midyan, I found a connection that ties everything together: the concept of the power of words and how much we should appreciate every utterance that comes out of our mouth. The notion of Nedarim creating a reality teaches us that we shape the real world with our words both for good and for bad. This reinforces the words of the Midrash that expound on the words אלף למטה אלף למטה which Chazal explain means that for each thousand soldiers that were selected to go into battle there were another thousand praying at home on their behalf. The idea was actually reinstated a few years ago when Israeli soldiers were battling Hamas during Tzuk Eytan in Gaza.
In the introduction of the Chafetz Chaim’s Sefer on Loshon Hara he explains that the sin that brought about the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash was Sinas Chinam but in truth it was the loshon hara that was rampant amongst the Jews. This still begs an explanation as to why none of our prayers have been able to turn around 2000 years of living in a state of exile and suffering. The Chafetz Chaim reasons that when we speak loshon hara we create spiritual blockages and negative angels that become our prosecutors and who do not allow our prayers to go through to a higher level.
So what are planning to do to fix the problem? I humbly suggest that this Tisha B’av we accept on ourselves to study the laws of loshon hara and begin a new commitment to avoid speaking negatively about anyone and if there is a question as to how to handle a specific situation, turn to a Rav. The Chafetz Chaim is telling us that this is what must be done in order to bring Mashiach.
