Ask the Rabbi with Rabbi Chaim Mintz
The Torah tells us that one who speaks lashon hara (evil speech) is smitten with tzara’at (leprosy) on his body and expelled from the city. But since Hashem acts “middah keneged middah (measure for measure),” shouldn’t the punishment for a sin committed through speech be an affliction of the mouth?
Rabbi Chaim Mintz responds:
Lashon Hara and The Impact of Division
The primary evil of lashon hara is not the forbidden speech itself, but the damaging effect it has. The Jewish people are supposed to live together with love and unity, and when people speak negatively of one another, they create resentment, animosity, and division, undermining that unity.
This is why the punishment of tzara’at, with its resulting banishment from the city, is so fitting. Just as one who spoke lashon hara created strife and alienated people from each other, he too is forced to live like a hermit, removed from civilization. Cut off from the relationships and camaraderie he once enjoyed, he is forced to confront the damage he caused and learn how to live with others before he can be cured and return.
This is also why tzara’at does not specifically target the mouth—to make clear that the focus is not the act of speaking itself, but the impact it has on others. In fact, as the Chafetz Chaim explains, lashon hara is not confined to speech; any form of communication that causes harm, including writing or even a facial expression, is forbidden.
Speech – The True Measure of Humanity
But there is a deeper meaning behind this punishment as well.
What truly distinguishes man from animal is his power of speech. While man possesses a neshamah (soul) far loftier than any creature, it is speech that gives that neshamah its most visible expression. When man was created, the pasuk tells us (Bereishit 2:7): Hashem blew into his nostrils the soul of life, and man became a nefesh chayah—a live being. Targum Onkelos translates nefesh chayah not merely as “a live being” but as ruach memalela—a speaking spirit. Thus, it is speech that differentiates man from animal.
A person who speaks lashon hara has not merely sinned with his mouth—he has corrupted the defining faculty that sets him apart from animals. In doing so, he has descended even lower than an animal, which lacks speech but does not abuse it.
Tzara’at – A Stripping of Dignity
Tzara’at reflects this idea, as one afflicted with tzara’at is removed from civilized society and sent to live among animals. Tzara’at can also afflict a person’s clothing or even his home, and if he does not mend his ways, his clothing is burned and his home torn down. The message is clear: when a person degrades himself and behaves like an animal, he loses the basic elements of human life that distinguish man from animal—his clothing, his home, and his place in society—until he does teshuvah (repents) and earns his way back.
In Short
The main evil of lashon hara is the division and strife it creates between people. The sinner is therefore removed from society, experiencing the same separation he caused. He also corrupted the uniquely human power of speech, lowering himself to the level of an animal, causing him to lose the basic elements of human life: clothing, a home, and his place in society.
Written by Rabbi Aaron Shapiro
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