015b – יש בערכין - פרק שלישי – ערכין, דף טו ע”ב

(Shemos 16:19–29) “Do not go out” — and they went out.^[1]

אל תצאו - on Shabbos, to gather [manna].

“Do not leave any over” — and they left some over.

“Two: with the first quail and with the second quail.”^[2]

בשליו ראשון - When the manna began to fall, quail came down with it, as it is written (Shemos 16:13), “And it was in the evening, and the quail came up… and in the morning there was a layer of dew…” And after a long time they craved more.

With the first quail — (Shemos 16:3) “when you sat by the pot of meat.”

With the second quail — (Bamidbar 11:4) “And the mixed multitude that was among them [felt a craving].”

[ביאור]

With the calf — as it is recorded.

In the wilderness of Paran — as it is recorded.

במדבר פארן - the episode of the spies.

Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosi ben Zimra: What is the meaning of that which is written (Tehillim 120:3), “What can He give you, and what more can He add to you, O deceitful tongue?”

The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the tongue: All of a person’s limbs stand upright, and you lie flat;

all of a person’s limbs are outside, and you are inside;

and not only that, but I have surrounded you with two walls, one of bone and one of flesh.

של עצם - the teeth.

“What can He give you, and what more can He add to you, O deceitful tongue?”

מה יתן לך ומה יוסיף לך - what more can the Holy One, blessed be He, add as a guard, so that you will not speak lashon hara?

Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosi ben Zimra: Whoever speaks lashon hara is as if he denied the fundamental principle.^[3]

As it says (Tehillim 12:5), “Who have said: With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are with us — who is master over us?”

And Rabbi Yosi ben Zimra said: Whoever speaks lashon hara, plagues (nega’im) come upon him.

As it says (Tehillim 101:5), “Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I cut off (atzmis).”

And it is written there (Vayikra 25:23), “in perpetuity (litzmisus),” and we translate it “lachalutin” (permanently).^[4]

And we learned: “There is no difference between a quarantined metzora and a confirmed (muchlat) metzora except for letting the hair grow and rending the garments.”^[5]

למצורע מוחלט - so we see that atzmis, which the Targum renders as an expression of chalitah, refers to tzaraas.

Reish Lakish said: What is the meaning of that which is written (Vayikra 14:2), “This shall be the law of the metzora”?

This shall be the law of one who puts out a bad name (motzi shem ra).^[6]

And Reish Lakish said: What is the meaning of that which is written (Koheles 10:11), “If the snake bites without a whisper, there is no advantage to the master of the tongue”?

In the time to come, all the animals will gather and come to the snake and say:

The lion mauls and eats;

the wolf tears and eats;

you — what benefit do you have?!

It says to them: And what advantage does the master of the tongue have?!^[7]

And Reish Lakish said: Whoever speaks lashon hara magnifies sins up to the heavens.

As it says (Tehillim 73:9), “They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth.”

Rav Chisda said in the name of Mar Ukva: Whoever speaks lashon hara deserves to be stoned with a stone.

It is written here, “him will I cut off (atzmis),” and it is written there (Eichah 3:53), “They cut off (tzamsu) my life in the pit, and cast a stone upon me.”^[8]

And Rav Chisda said in the name of Mar Ukva: Of whoever speaks lashon hara, the Holy One, blessed be He, says: He and I cannot dwell together in the world.

As it says (Tehillim 101:5), “Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I cut off; one of haughty eyes and a proud heart, him I cannot bear.”

אותו לא אוכל - earlier in this same verse it is written, “Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret.”

Do not read “him (oso) I cannot bear,” but “with him (ito) I cannot [be].”^[9]

And some teach it about the haughty.

על גסי הרוח - they teach this statement of Rav Chisda [about the haughty], for in this verse of “him I cannot bear” it is also written “one of haughty eyes.”

Rav Chisda said in the name of Mar Ukva: Of whoever speaks lashon hara, the Holy One, blessed be He, says to [the minister of] Gehinnom: I am against him from above, and you against him from below; we will judge him.

נדוננו - this is the reading we have.

As it says (Tehillim 120:4), “Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of broom-wood.”^[10]

“Arrow” means only the tongue,

as it says (Yirmiyahu 9:7), “Their tongue is a sharpened arrow; it speaks deceit.”

And “mighty” means only the Holy One, blessed be He,

as it says (Yeshayahu 42:13), “Hashem goes forth like a mighty man”; “coals of broom-wood” — that is Gehinnom.

Rabbi Chama bar Rabbi Chanina said: What is the remedy for those who speak lashon hara?

If he is a Torah scholar, let him occupy himself with Torah,

as it says (Mishlei 15:4), “A healing tongue is a tree of life.”

And “tongue” means only lashon hara,

as it says, “Their tongue is a sharpened arrow.”

And “tree” means only Torah,

as it says (Mishlei 3:18), “It is a tree of life to those who grasp it.”

And if he is an am ha’aretz,^[11] let him humble himself,

as it says (Mishlei 15:4), “But perverseness in it — a broken spirit.”

וסלף בה - one who perverts it, and wishes to remove it so that it will no longer be in him, let him break his spirit.

Rabbi Acha the son of Rabbi Chanina says: If he has spoken, he has no remedy,

for David already cut him off with the Divine spirit,

כרתו - an expression of kares (being cut off).

as it says (Tehillim 12:4), “Hashem will cut off all smooth lips, the tongue that speaks great things.”

Rather, what is his remedy, so that he not come to lashon hara?

If he is a Torah scholar, let him occupy himself with Torah;

and if he is an am ha’aretz, let him humble himself,

as it says, “But perverseness in it — a broken spirit.”

The academy of Rabbi Yishmael taught:^[12] “Whoever speaks lashon hara magnifies sins corresponding to three transgressions:

idolatry, forbidden relations, and bloodshed.

It is written here, “the tongue that speaks great things (gedolos).”

And regarding idolatry it is written (Shemos 32:31), “Alas, this people has sinned a great sin.”

Regarding forbidden relations it is written (Bereishis 39:9), “How can I do this great evil?”

Regarding bloodshed it is written (Bereishis 4:13), “My sin is greater than I can bear.”

“Great things (gedolos)” — say two?^[13]

Which of them would you exclude?

הי מינייהו מפקא - in all of them “great” is written; therefore they all come in.

In the West (Eretz Yisrael) they say: The third tongue kills three.

לישנא תליתאי - this is the tongue of the talebearer, who is a third party between a person and his fellow, revealing a secret to him.

It kills the one who tells it, the one who receives it, and the one who says it.

לאומרו - the talebearer himself: out of the quarrel that falls between the two, they kill each other, and the blood-avengers kill the talebearer, through whom the killing came.

[Hayom Yom, 13 Cheshvan]

Rabbi Chama bar Rabbi Chanina said: What is the meaning of that which is written (Mishlei 18:21), “Death and life are in the hand of the tongue”?

Does the tongue have a hand?!

It is to tell you: just as the hand kills, so the tongue kills.

Perhaps just as the hand kills only near it, so the tongue kills only near it?

The verse says, “Their tongue is a sharpened arrow.”

Perhaps just as an arrow reaches up to forty or fifty amos, so the tongue up to forty or fifty amos?

The verse says, “They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth.”

But since it is written, “They set their mouth against the heavens,” why do I need “Their tongue is a sharpened arrow”?

This teaches us that it kills like an arrow.

And since it is written, “Their tongue is a sharpened arrow,” why do I need “Death and life are in the hand of the tongue”?

For the teaching of Rava.

For Rava said: One who wants life — by his tongue;

דבעי חיי בלישניה - let him occupy himself with Torah.

one who wants death — by his tongue.

דבעי מיית בלישניה - let him occupy himself with words of folly and obscenity.

What is a case of lashon hara?

[Rabbah said:] For example, one who says, “There is fire in so-and-so’s house.”

נורא בי פלניא - which implies that he is wealthy, and fire is always found in his house for cooking dishes.

Abaye said to him: What has he done? It is merely revealing information!

גלויי מילתא בעלמא הוא - since he does not say it as lashon hara, but tells those who are looking for fire: go to so-and-so’s house.

Rather, it is when he puts it out as lashon hara,

saying: Where is fire to be found, if not in so-and-so’s house, [where there is meat and fish]?^[14]

Rabbah said: Anything said in the presence of its subject does not involve lashon hara.

דמיתאמרא באפי מרה - that the talebearer says it in front of the one he speaks about.

[Shabbos 118b]

He said to him: All the more so — it is brazenness and lashon hara!

He said to him: I hold like Rabbi Yosi,

for Rabbi Yosi said: In all my days I never said a thing and then looked behind me.

וחזרתי לאחורי - to see who is standing behind me; for even in front of the owners I say it — so it is not considered lashon hara. Another explanation (ל"א):^[15] if the owners came and said, ‘Why did you say so?’, I did not retract and say ‘I did not say it’; rather, in front of them I admitted.

…said (the passage continues on 16a).

Tosfos

התאוו תאוה - Rashi explained: they craved more.

This implies that the quail had not stopped for them — [so] Rashi.

But Rabbi Yosef Kara^[16] explained that the first quail had stopped for them,

and “the mixed multitude that was among them felt a craving” because they had no quail, and the second quail came down for them.

ואמר ריש לקיש מאי דכתיב זאת תהיה תורת המצורע תורת מוציא שם רע - We read “amar” (said),

and we do not read “ve’amar” (and said),

for Reish Lakish said nothing above.

לישנא תליתאי - Rashi explained: a third tongue, that of the talebearer who reveals a secret.

And I found written: “a third tongue” — for the Holy One, blessed be He, surrounded it with one [wall] of bone and one of flesh, and it is the third, within them.

כל מילתא דמיתאמרא באפי תלתא לית בה משום לישנא בישא - that is, in a case like this, “fire in so-and-so’s house,” where it can be understood that he did not say it as lashon hara.

But if he said a word of provocation against his fellow, even if he said it in his presence, it does involve lashon hara.

אבנט מכפר על הרהור הלב - [this refers to] the place where it appears.^[17]

And the avnet is like a very long linen belt.

And it is also found in the Midrash that the kohen would wrap it around himself twice, corresponding to a person’s heart.

Notes

1. 1. This continues the Gemara’s list, begun on 15a, of the ten times our ancestors tested Hashem in the wilderness: here, going out to gather manna on Shabbos, and leaving manna over until morning.
2. 2. Slav (quail) was given to Israel for meat twice: first together with the manna (Shemos 16), and again at Kivros HaTaavah (Bamidbar 11).
3. 3. Kofer ba’ikar — one who denies the fundamental principle, Hashem’s existence and mastery, as the verse’s “who is master over us?” shows.
4. 4. Targum Onkelos renders litzmisus as lachalutin, “permanently.” So atzmis is related to chalitah, the term for a confirmed (muchlat) metzora — linking slander to tzaraas.
5. 5. A musgar is a metzora whom the kohen has quarantined for a week to see whether the mark spreads; a muchlat has been declared definitely impure. Only the muchlat must let his hair grow wild and rend his garments (Mishnah, Megillah 8b).
6. 6. The word metzora is read as motzi (shem) ra, “one who puts out a bad name.”
7. 7. The snake kills by biting yet gets no benefit, for it does not eat its prey as the lion and wolf do. It answers that the slanderer, too, gains nothing, and still kills with his tongue.
8. 8. A gezeirah shavah: atzmis here and tzamsu there. That verse speaks of a stone, so the slanderer deserves stoning.
9. 9. Al tikri — a derashah that reads the word differently: ito, “with him,” instead of oso, “him”: I cannot dwell with him.
10. 10. Glowing coals of the rosem (broom) tree.
11. 11. Am ha’aretz — one who is not learned in Torah.
12. 12. A beraisa taught in the academy of Rabbi Yishmael.
13. 13. Gedolos is plural, and the minimum plural is two, so the Gemara asks whether it should correspond to only two of the three sins.
14. 14. He says it as gossip: that in so-and-so’s house they are always cooking meat and fish.
15. 15. Lashon acher — “another explanation,” a second interpretation.
16. 16. Rabbi Yosef Kara was a French commentator on Tanach, a contemporary of Rashi.
17. 17. The avnet is the sash, one of the priestly garments. The Gemara on the next amud (16a) teaches that the priestly garments atone, and the avnet atones for impure thoughts of the heart.