Hey Siri!

Hey Siri, what’s the weather forecast for this week? Alexa, please turn off the lights. Hey Siri, what is the Shabbat candle lighting time for Dobbs Ferry? 

Along with the incredible technological advancements and development of artificial intelligence over the last few decades, we have also come to better appreciate the power of our speech. We can literally be “talking to the wall” while accomplishing a great deal of things. 

Judaism teaches us to use our words carefully. Words can both build and destroy. In Pirkei Avot, Ethics of our Fathers, our Sages taught that G-d created the world through ten utterances. Kabbalah explains further that the world and all its inhabitants receives its energy at every moment through the letters of G-d’s “speech”. While words don’t have a physical form, the energy of our speech has a great impact on our surroundings. 

In this week’s Torah portion, Tazria, we learn about the laws of Tzara’at. While the term Tzara’at is usually translated as leprosy, it actually referred to a supranatural affliction of the skin that would cause the sufferer to become impure and isolated or “quarantined” from the community. The affliction would generally come as a result of a person speaking Lashon Hara (evil gossip). 

The Torah teaches that Tzara’at was not so much as a punishment but rather a consequence of the person’s negative speech. The sin of gossip which causes rifts between people is rectified by providing a secluded space where the person separates from others and is given the opportunity to reflect, repent, and make amends.

Although the supernatural occurrence of Tzara’at no longer exists in the current era, we can take to heart the important lesson of always using our power of speech for positive purposes. 

The Torah enumerates different forms of forbidden speech. In the words of Maimonides, Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (1135, Córdoba, Spain- 1204, Fustat, Egypt): “Who is a gossiper? One who collects information and [then] goes from person to person, saying: ‘This is what so and so said;’ ‘This is what I heard about so and so.’ Even if the statements are true, they bring about the destruction of the world. There is a much more serious sin than [gossip], which is also included in this prohibition: Lashon Horah (negative gossip), i.e., relating deprecating facts about a colleague, even if they are true. Lashon Horah does not refer to the invention of lies; [that is referred to as defamation of character]. Rather, one who speaks Lashon Horah is someone who sits and relates: ‘This is what so and so has done;’ ‘His parents were such and such;’ ‘This is what I have heard about him,’ telling uncomplimentary things.”

The Chafetz Chayim, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan (1838-1933, Belarus), famously taught that the prohibition against Lashon Hara includes saying negative things even about one’s self. Since each person is created in the image of G-d, we have no justification to denigrate any person or animal.

Exerting self-control over our speech is admirable. Even greater is the ability to truly respect and love every person, automatically eradicating the negative and losing the desire to share bad information about them.

The Talmud teaches, “The measure of good is always greater than the measure of punishment”. The destructive power of negative speech is surpassed only by the beneficial power of positive speech. Praising and speaking positively about our fellow, benefits ourselves, the person being praised and all of society.

Recent scientific and medical research has discovered that a single word has the power to influence the expression of genes that regulate physical and emotional stress.

The Rebbe, Rabbi M.M. Schneerson,  persistently chose to view and express every teaching, idea, question, reflection, or suggestion found in Judaism, and in society in general, in the most uplifting and positive way possible, while encouraging others to do the same.

For example, he objected strongly, to the Israeli phrase for hospital, Beit Cholim, which means house of the sick. “Why was the hospital not called Beit Refuah—house of healing—he asked?” In a letter to Professor Mordechai Shani, director of the Sheba Medical Center in Israel, he wrote, “Even though...this would seem to represent only a semantic change, the term Beit Refuah brings encouragement to the sick; it represents more accurately the goal of the institution...which is to bring about a complete healing. Therefore, why call it by a word that does not suit its intentions?” By changing the way we refer to hospitals, the Rebbe felt that we would strengthen and sanctify health rather than prioritizing illness.

The Rebbe’s predisposition of positivity was especially present in relation to people who were perceived to be lacking in some way. He would address individuals in challenging situations in a way that, rather than reinforcing their perceived limitations, illuminated their inherent positive potential.

In the late 1970s and into the 80s it was standard to refer to people with disabilities as handicapped or retarded. In a correspondence with Dr. Robert Wilkes of Coney Island Hospital, the Rebbe wrote:

"With regard to “retarded”—parenthetically, I prefer some such term as “special” people, not simply as a euphemism, but because it would more accurately reflect their situation, especially in view of the fact that in many cases the retardation is limited to the capacity to absorb and assimilate knowledge, while in other areas they may be quite normal or even above average….

I am quite convinced that if a proper system of aptitude tests were instituted to determine the particular skills of our special children at an early age, and if appropriate classes were established to enable them to develop these skills, the results would be enormously gratifying, if not astounding. Needless to say, such an educational method would greatly enhance their self-confidence and general development, not to mention also the fact that it would enable them to make an important contribution to society."

Many years later, Wilkes recalled: “It was a fantastic letter. And astoundingly forward thinking. Today we use the terms ‘special education,’ ‘special needs,’ and so forth, but back then the terminology was unheard of…

When a man from Curaçao described himself as “a small Jew” in a letter to the Rebbe, the Rebbe wrote back that “there is no such thing as a small Jew,” reminding him that the soul of every Jew is “part of G‑d.” Therefore, “a Jew must never underestimate his or her tremendous potential”.

Regarding the future era of Moshiach, it is prophesied (Chabakuk 2:11.), "A stone in the wall will cry out and a beam from the tree will respond." At present, mineral creations are mute, but there will come a time when the revelation of the Future becomes a reality, that even inanimate objects will begin to speak and express their purpose. While historically this may have considered to be a supranatural phenomenon, in the modern world, this prophecy is more realistic than ever. May we merit to usher in this era very soon!modern world, this prophecy is more realistic than ever. May we merit to experience this era very soon!