The following is based on idea I saw from Rabbi Matisyahu Solomon zt”l. It was primarily a talk about Pesach, but it also has a tie-in to this week’s parsha.
The first pasuk of Parshas Vayikra reads: “He called to Moshe, and Hashem spoke to him from the Ohel Moed saying (leimor)” (Vayikra 1:1). The Gemara teaches that the word leimor means to say over to others. The Gemara derives from this wording construction that one is not allowed to share information he is told in private unless the party who related the information specifically authorizes its further transmission (Yoma 4b). This is known as the prohibition of gilui sod – revealing a secret.
In the secular world, there is a concept of lawyer-client privilege and doctor-patient confidentiality, where a lawyer or doctor is not permitted to reveal information provided to him in confidence. In halachah, this requirement has a much broader scope and basically applies to every Jew.
The Yalkut in Parshas Emor states that in the merit of 4 things, the Jews merited to be redeemed from Mitzrayim. The first 3 are well known: They did not change their names, their language, or their mode of dress. The fourth source of merit enumerated by the Medrash is that they did not speak lashon horah [gossip; slander]. As proof that they did not speak lashon horah in Mitzrayim, the Medrash cites the fact that they were able to keep a secret. The secret that they kept refers to G-d’s original message to Moshe in Parshas Shemos: “I am going to take the Jews out of Mitzrayim and before I take them out of Mitzrayim they are going to go to their neighbors and ask for their gold and silver vessels.” The Jews heard this prophecy before any of the plagues began and no one let it get out to the Mitzriyim that before the Jews left, they would strip Mitzrayim of all its gold and silver! The Mitzriyim were unsuspecting because no Jew revealed this secret.
The question that must be asked regarding this Medrash is – what is the connection between keeping a secret and not speaking lashon horah? The answer to this question is actually an explicit pasuk in Mishlei: “One who goes along slandering reveals secrets” (Mishlei 11:13). The root problem of one who slanders is that he cannot be trusted. If a person shares it with others that which he is told in confidence, there is a fundamental problem, besides the aspect of slander (rechilus). The person’s word is not a word. He cannot be trusted.
The Medrash is teaching that the reason why they were redeemed from Mitzrayim was, among other reasons, because they were able to keep secrets. What is so great about being able to keep secrets?
Prior to answering this question, consider another incident at the beginning of Sefer Shemos. When Moshe Rabbeinu was still in Mitzrayim, he saw a Mitzri beating up a Jew. He killed the Mitzri. The next day, he saw two Jews fighting. He said to the bully, “Wicked one, why are you hitting your fellow man?” The bully turned on Moshe and said “Aha, do you plan to kill me like you killed the Mitzri?” Moshe’s reaction was “Behold, the matter is known” (achen nodah ha’davar) (Shemos 2:11-14).
Rashi explains that the words achen nodah ha’davar do not merely mean “behold the secret is out”. Rather, the words mean: “behold, now I understand (i.e. – the matter is known to ME) what Klal Yisroel’s sin was that caused them to suffer as slaves. In other words, Moshe now understood why the redemption has not yet arrived. It was because they couldn’t keep a secret.
So, we see from the very beginning of the story in Shemos that getting out of Mitzrayim was somehow dependent on the ability to be able to keep secrets. So again we must ask, what is so important about the ability to keep secrets?
The answer is that leaving Mitzrayim was all about believing and keeping the Word of G-d. The whole purpose of leaving Mitzrayim was to accept the Torah and to believe in the Ribbono Shel Olam. When the Ribbono Shel Olam tells us to do certain things, we must believe that these things must be done!
Rav Matisyahu Solomon says that one cannot be a believer (ma’amin) unless he is first faithful (ne’eman). One cannot believe in the Word of G-d unless he himself is a person who values a word. If it means nothing when I say something, then when G-d says something, why should I believe it? The more trustworthy a person is and the more meticulous he is about his own words, the more he will be faithful to the Word of the Ribbono Shel Olam.
At the beginning of the story of Yetziyas Mitzrayim, Moshe said: “I know why they are still here – because they can’t keep a secret.” So, what changed to indicate that they were worthy of redemption? When Moshe returned to Mitzrayim many years later, the Ribbono Shel Olam trusted them with a secret that they did not reveal. Since they were able to keep that secret, G-d knew that now they could be trusted and be trustworthy and be deserving of redemption.
Since they met their commitment not to reveal the secret of taking the gold and silver out of Mitzrayim, they could be trusted that when G-d told them “I am the L-rd your G-d”, His word would mean something to them as well.
Every Yom Tov has its own mitzvah. The mitzvah of the night of Pesach is to become ma’aminim [believers]. However, in order to become ma’aminim, we must first become ne’emanim [trustworthy]. (R’ Frand)
