[Avodah] Tazria

[Cantor Wolberg via Avodah]

Rabbi Zelig Pliskin, in his book “Love Your Neighbor,” quotes a hilarious true story about Lashon Hora.
Someone asked a cerain woman if she wished to borrow a copy of “Guard Your Tongue” to study the laws of lashon hora.
Her response was: “I don’t need it. I never speak lashon hora. But my husband really needs it. He always speaks lashon hora."

We all know about lashon hora and how speaking ill of others is rather a poor reflection of ourselves. However, taken to another level, it was the S’fat Emes who 
said that it also can refer to having failed to speak lashon tov. This brings to mind the poignant story of a man weeping uncontrollably at the grave of his young wife.
When the rabbi tried to console him by saying how good he was to her, he replied: “Oh, rabbi, how I loved her so much and once I almost told her.”  We have 
friends who take the time and effort to say nice things, and it would even be nicer if more of us did that. You never know the ripple effect a good word can have.
ri

After receiving another notice from school about bad behavior, a frustrated father sat to explain to his child the source
of each one of the gray hairs in his once black beard. “This one is from the last time the principal called about your misbehavior.
This one is from the time you were mean to your sister. This one is from the time you broke our neighbor’s window,” etc., etc.
The father looked at his child for a response to his appeal for better behavior, to which the child calmly replied: “Oh, now it makes sense why Zaide has such a white beard!”


Speech is the mirror of the soul  Publilius Syrus,  Latin Writer 85BCE
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