Sharing a thought on Shmirat HaLashon, guarding our tongues, as a series of posts that I call “Words of Prayer, Words of Kindness”
Thought inspired from remembering Miriam
We are commanded to remember the following verse as one of six daily remembrances: “Remember what Hashem your G-d, did to Miriam on the way, when you were leaving Egypt”. (Devarim 24:9) This verse reminds us that when on our journey in the Midbar (desert), there was an occasion that Miriam criticized her brother Moshe Rabeinu (Moses our teacher) to her brother Aharon HaCohen. The result was immediate punishment from Hashem in the form of Tzara’as over her whole body, indicating the extent to which Hashem dislikes evil speech.
I was thinking of this verse today, and would like to share another thought. Typically when we discuss the verse above, we think about and remember the content of what Miriam had said and the result. However, the verse includes another fact that this occurred while on a journey. In today’s times we have a major challenge, that of cell phones.
It is not so long ago, that telephone conversations were limited. The phone was plugged into the wall which reduced our ability to walk around wherever we pleased while talking on the phone. Many homes would have a quiet corner where the telephone stood on a table with a chair next to it, enabling the person talking to have a little bit of privacy.
With all the benefits of cell phones and mobile phones, most of us forget a crucial warning in the above verse, that of when we were leaving Egypt. We were on a journey. Actually, Miriam did talk to her brother Aharon in private, however the verse itself, provides insight into a habit that is beneficial to work on altering.
The way of the Jew is to be modest, private and to talk softly. We are not supposed to have conversations in public, in transit whether walking down the road, on the bus, around ones garden, in the supermarket at the tops of our voices or even on two phones and two conversations simultaneously. Let us remember the words of the Torah itself and remember what happened to Miriam when she spoke incorrectly when we were on a journey. Let us master guarding our tongues in terms of content. Further, let us master guarding our tongues and manner of speaking even in terms of place. In this way, let our conversations take place quietly, in private, in a modest manner.
The Vilna Gaon gives a sobering thought “The main object of man’s life is, to break undesirable traits (middos) – and if not? Why is he alive?”
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Have a very good rest of your week and a blessed year ahead.
