Tweet Less, Think More: A Bird's Eye View of Lashon Hara

The spiritual affliction of tzara'at (often mistranslated as leprosy) teaches profound lessons about the nature of harmful speech and the importance of addressing root causes in our spiritual growth. 

• Birds are included in the purification ritual for tzara'at because they represent mindless chirping
• The sin of lashon hara (gossip) stems from devaluing speech itself, not just speaking harmful words
• Human speech is precious and should be used thoughtfully, not carelessly like a bird's chirping
• Effective self-improvement requires addressing root causes, not just symptoms
• Mordecai Weiss teaches that we must understand the deeper reasons behind our spiritual challenges
• Fighting sin requires identifying and addressing its origins
• Working smarter rather than harder applies to our spiritual practice

Chapters

• 0:00 Working Smarter Not Harder
• 0:19 Purification for Tsaraas Afflictions
• 0:46 Birds and the Gossip Mongerer
• 1:35 The Root of Sin
• 2:22 Fighting Sin at Its Origin

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:13

Don't work harder, work smarter and you'll probably see better results. Duff hyssops to be brought for the one that's to be purified from his horrible skin, tsaraas, legions and afflictions. And Rashi shows us how each article, each ingredient inside of this cocktail has a point that is to carry to the mind and heart of this gossip mongerer who has been stricken with this leprosy stuff. And what is the lesson of the bringing of the two live pure birds, the gossip mongerer? He spoke his Lushen Hara because he acted like a bird, tweeting away, talking, chirping, ongoing speech. That's why he has the birds, because birds they're constantly chirping. If you've woken up in the morning and walked to the synagogue, you've probably heard this incessant chirping. But you see here a revelation. Take the lesson to heart, the Torah Chazal. They show us that the lesson is not the actual act of Lashon Hara is to be told off, that you messed up, and it's not some act about the evil tongue that you spoke, but the causal factor of what led to the sin, of the lush and horror, which was the constant chirping, the non-understanding of how precious words are and how to be human. To have the ability to speak is something that should be cherished, and somebody who lacks the understanding of the power of speech and just incessantly hocks, incessantly talks, incessantly, chirps and tweets. That is the root of the sin and at the root of the sin, at the root, the origin of the infection. That's where you fight sin.

Speaker 1: 2:25

I interviewed the great Mordecai Weiss last LL. Maybe you heard the interview and he was talking about self-growth and Muslim practices. He said most of the time people don't work on themselves. At the root cause, you need to understand and go deep into why am I waking up late? Why am I not davening with Kavana? Maybe I need to go and go deep into why am I waking up late? Why am I not davening with kavana? Maybe I need to go to bed early. Maybe I need to work on my focus and keep my hand on the place so that that will trick my mind into paying attention. But you need to play and mess where the causal factor can be found. That's why we bring the state to a room, these birds, because just chirping away. That is the lesson that this gossip mongerer needs to take to heart. Thanks for watching.