Silence is Praise
Now, the first easy opportunity for teshuvah we’ll talk about is to keep your mouth closed. Shesikah! Silence! Not only is being quiet easy—we’re not being asked to do anything, after all—but it’s a great accomplishment, too, because you’re producing something important. That’s what the Rambam (Hilchos Dei’os) says: הָ ̃יƒ ̇¿ׁ ̆ƒּב םָ„ָ‡ ה∆ּב¿רַי םָלֹעו¿ל – A person should always be producing a great deal of silence. You hear that? It’s not just that you’re not talking—you’re manufacturing something important.
Imagine you have a factory where you make toothbrushes; or maybe you’re a tailor and you sew suits. Whatever it is, every day you’re producing. So you have to keep cheshbon, “How many goods did I produce today?” “Did I do better today than yesterday?” “What could I do different tomorrow in the factory to produce more toothbrushes?” And it’s the same with silence; you have to think about that. “How much silence did I produce today?” “What can I change, what can I adjust in my day tomorrow, in order to make it even more successful?”
And it’s a big step forward on the path of shuvu el Hashem because silence is considered a service of Hashem. That’s what Dovid Hamelech teaches us: ָך¿להָּלƒה¿ ̇ הָּיƒמּוּ„ — To You, Hashem, silence is praise (Tehillim 65:2). It means the quieter I am, the more I’m praising You. Now, that’s an interesting idea because we always thought that the Hallelukahs and the brachos are praise. Ashrei, Hodu, and Modim — that’s how we praise Hashem. And now we’re being told that keeping quiet is the way; that the real career of praising Hashem is manufacturing silence. And something like that needs a good explanation.
Elokim is Here
Now, who better to turn to for explanations than the chacham mikol adam? Shlomo Hamelech tells us in Koheles (5:1): ָיךּƒפ לַﬠ ל≈הַבּ¿ ̇ לַ‡ – Don’t be in a hurry to express yourself, 'ה י≈נ¿פƒל רָבָ„ ‡יƒˆֹהו¿ל ר≈הַמ¿י לַ‡ָךּ¿בƒל¿ו – and your heart, your mind, shouldn’t be in a hurry to say something in the Presence of Hashem.
Now, those last words, lifnei Hashem, are very important; it’s the explanation we’re looking for: “Why should you not be hasty to open your mouth? Because you’re standing lifnei Hashem, in front of Hashem.
The question is what does in mean ‘in front of Hashem’? When you’re in the Beis Hamikdash? Maybe in the beis haknesses? In the beis haknesses, you surely shouldn’t speak, but here “lifnei Hashem” doesn’t mean that. It means anyplace. What does that mean, that you’re standing in front of Hashem? It means that wherever you are, םƒיַמָּׁ ַּ̆ב יםƒ ֹ̃ל¡‡ָה יƒּכ יםƒּטַﬠ¿מָיך∆רָב¿„ּיו¿הƒי ן≈ּכ לַﬠ ı∆רָ‡ָה לַﬠ הָּ ַ̇‡¿ו – Elokim is in the heaven, and you’re down below on this earth (Koheles 5:1). And He’s watching; He’s looking at you.
Oh, now something else comes into the picture—Elokim is in the picture! Elokim is in Shamayim, above you, looking down at you; little you standing on this earth. יםƒּטַﬠ¿מָיך∆רָב¿„ּיו¿הƒי ן≈ּכ לַﬠ – Therefore, your words should be few. That’s why you shouldn’t talk so much.
In Someone’s Presence
Let’s understand that. When you’re sitting at the table with your family, or if you’re talking to your friends in the street, Hashem is present. You hear that? Whenever you open your mouth, you have to be aware that you’re speaking in the Presence of Hashem. And the rule is: ‡ּהו∆ׁ ̆ יƒמ י≈נ¿פƒּב ר≈ּבַ„¿מ ֹינו≈‡ םָכָחּוּנ∆ּמƒמ לֹו„ָ‚ – A wise person doesn’t talk in the presence of somebody bigger (Avos 5:7). Some people don’t know that rule. If you’re in the presence of an important person, keep quiet! There’s somebody else here, somebody very important, so keep quiet!
If a man opens his mouth and words flow out without restraint, it means he doesn’t feel like he’s in anybody’s presence! Let’s say you were standing in the presence of the President of the United States. He’s not such an important person today, but still you wouldn’t talk much in his presence. You certainly wouldn’t be shooting off your mouth. Now, l’havdil elef havdalos, if you are talking with the gadol hador, with, let’s say, Rav Shach, or Rav Moshe Feinstein, would you talk a lot? If you have any sense, you won’t say a word!
Let’s say you meet the Sigheter Rav, or you’re standing in front of the Lubavitcher Rebbe; when you’re standing there you don’t open your mouth. Don’t ask somebody else, “What’s the time?” And even if somebody comes over to you and asks you a question, you keep quiet. Don’t answer the question. Keep quiet! Not only because you might miss some precious words the gadol might say; even if he’s not saying anything, you don’t talk in the presence of somebody bigger than you.
Gaining Awareness
And that’s what Shlomo Hamelech is telling us. Every person, no matter how frum he is, has to have a hargashah, a sensory perception, that he’s standing in front of Hashem—a perception that’s so real that it motivates him not to talk.
Of course, it’s not something that comes overnight—it takes practice—but it’s not difficult. Suppose you’re an ordinary Jew who never worked on these concepts; you don’t really feel the Presence of Hashem. But you’d like to do it; you aspire to become a ma’amin. Of course, you won’t admit that you’re not a ma’amin, but at least you’ll admit that you don’t feel the Presence of Hashem all the time. And so, each time you wish to open your mouth, you remind yourself: ן≈ּכ לַﬠ ı∆רָ‡ָה לַﬠ הָּ ַ̇‡¿ו םƒיַמָּׁ ַּ̆ב יםƒ ֹ̃לו¡‡ יּƒכ יםּƒטַﬠ¿מָיך∆רָב¿„ּיו¿הƒי – Hashem is listening, and therefore my words should be few. Little by little, you instill in your neshamah an awareness of Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
And it’s karov eilecha! Does it cost any money for a person to just keep his mouth shut? ָיך∆ל≈‡ בֹרוָ ̃ יּƒכ„ֹ‡¿מ רָבָּ„ַה – How near, how close, how easy that thing is. Now, if you had to go outside in the cold weather, in the storm, in order to buy something to fulfill a mitzvah—well, if you didn’t, so it’s wrong; but still you have some excuse for yourself. It might not be the best excuse, but it’s something at least. But here we’re talking about where no effort is entailed so there’s no excuse; it involves no cost to keep the mouth closed.
Don’t Be a Faucet
And so, let’s start practicing it. Elul is here—four weeks to make use of the easy opportunities to do real teshuvah, to return all the way to Hashem. And so we’ll take the first week and use it for this: “The first week of Elul, I’m going to practice not speaking because I’m lifnei Elokim.”
When someone approaches you and makes a remark, don’t rush to respond. You’d like to talk; you have a wisecrack or a rejoinder. You want to say something. Instead, you tell yourself, “No, I won’t say it. I won’t open my mouth because I know that I’m standing right now before Hashem.”
After all, you don’t always need to answer. If someone says something to you, do you have to say something back? Let’s say a cow says moo, do you have to moo back? A dog barks as you pass by; you have to bark back? So if someone speaks to you, unless it’s necessary, don’t say anything. Just listen. Who says you always have to answer?
And suppose you must answer; sometimes you must say something. So then make sure to count your words. You know, some people are like a faucet; they start pouring out everything they have inside. Everything comes gushing out. You know what that means? It means they’re being meisiach da’as from Hashem.
A person must always keep in mind that Hashem is listening. Keeping your mouth closed and keeping your words few when you do have to speak shows that you have emunah that Hashem is always listening. If you open your mouth and talk without restraint, it means you think you’re a free bird. It means that you have no emunah because belief in Hashem requires that we keep quiet. He’s standing right here, after all, and He’s listening.
The Great Light
Now you can understand what the Gra wrote in his famous letter. We should listen to these following words and memorize them; it should become a motto for all of us: יוƒּפ ם≈סֹחו םָ„ָ‡∆ׁ ̆ עַ‚∆ר¿ו עַ‚∆ר לָּכ לַﬠ – For every moment that you muzzle your mouth, רֹו‡ָל ה∆כֹזו זּנוָּ‚ַה – you’ll be rewarded by the concealed light, ין≈‡∆ׁ ̆ ר≈ﬠַׁ ̆¿ל ליםֹכוָי הָּּיƒר¿בּוּךָ‡¿לַמ לָּכ – whose greatness no malach and no creature can possibly measure.
You hear that? He didn’t say if you’re quiet for a whole week or even a day. For every moment! One moment, or two moments, or three moments; whatever it is, for every moment that you muzzle your mouth, you’ll acquire for yourself a perfection that deserves a certain reward; a light that’s so tremendous that no creature in the world can calculate the greatness of that light. And you gain that by one moment of being silent.
So you see now what I’m doing for you today? A big favor—I’m keeping you all silent. עַ‚∆ר¿ו עַ‚∆ר לָּכ לַﬠ! I’m doing the talking so you had to keep quiet. Do you realize what a big benefit it was for you? For every second that you keep your mouth closed, you’re being rewarded with an eternal light of happiness in the World to Come! Besides in this world! That’s how great your reward of silence is.
“How could that be?” you’ll say. “All I did was keep my mouth closed?” The answer is what you’re thinking, why you’re silent. You’re doing it because you’re standing in the Presence of Hashem! Oh! That’s a different story! It’s a demonstration that you’re aware of Hashem! Hashem is not just a word in the siddur; He’s right here in front of me, so I won’t prattle. I won’t shoot my mouth off in His presence.
Oh, that’s already a greatness! You’re much greater than the angels! And you’re fulfilling our great motto of tonight’s lecture; you’re fulfilling v’shuvu el Hashem.
