Parshat Ki Seitzei 5778
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week's parsha (Chapter 24, Pasuk 8), Hishamer B'Nega Tzara'as, a prohibition against removing nega'im, impure blemishes, from one's body. However, since Chazal teach that speaking Lashon Hara leads to a person having nega'im, Rashi explains the reason for the very next pasuk, Zachor es Asher Asa Hashem Elokecha L'Miriam Baderech B'Tzaischem M'Mitzrayim. Remember what happened to Miriam who became a Metzora as a result of speaking Lashon Hara about her brother Moshe. Therefore, the best way to be careful about nega'im is to not speak Lashon Hara and not have to worry about nega'im at all.
The Sfas Emes teaches that the result of these two pasukim, Hishamer B'Nega Tzara'as and Zachor es Asher Asa Hashem Elokecha L'Miriam, is that we have both a mitzvah of Zachor and one of Shamor regarding one's speech. The Zohar Hakadosh teaches that just as we have a Zachor and a Shamor by Shabbos, we have this same duality throughout the Torah. And here in our parsha we have this positive, Zachor, and negative, Shamor, command by the mitzvah of not speaking Lashon Hara.
This illustrates the great significance of being careful about one's speech. Just as the fundamental mitzvah of Shabbos has a positive and a negative command, we find the same by the prohibition of Lashon Hara. And Chazal teach this explicitly in another place in our parsha which warns us about speech. The pasuk says (Chapter 23, Pasuk 24), Motza Sefasecha Tishmor V'Asisa, and Rashi brings the Sifri which teaches that we have here a positive command as well as a negative command.
The Sfas Emes adds that the connection between speech and Shabbos runs deeper. There is a famous Medrash (Bereishis Rabbah, 11, 8) in which Shabbos complains that all the days of the week were matched up with each other (Yom Rishon with Yom Sheinei, etc.), and Shabbos alone doesn't have a Ben Zug. And Hashem answers that Kenesses Yisrael is the partner of Shabbos. Similarly, we have two eyes, two ears, and two nostrils, which correspond to the six days of the week. We take in the outside world through sight, hearing, and smell. But Shabbos, which stands alone among the days, corresponds to the mouth.
Why does the mouth correspond specifically to Shabbos? We speak during the week as well!
On Shabbos our speech reaches a level unattained the rest of the week. The Gemara in Shabbos 113B teaches, Shelo Yehay Diburcha shel Shabbos K'Diburcha shel Chol. On Shabbos our speech needs to be different. On Shabbos we are able to properly express our internal thoughts and emotions. If during the week our soul is bound and limited by our physical bodies, on Shabbos we achieve a spiritual freedom which allows us to properly feel connected to Hashem and therefore express ourselves properly. The eyes, ears, and nostrils focus on the physical world; our mouths enable us to express our insides and present ourselves as spiritual beings. We are able to express the Ruach Me'Malelah, the power of speech, contained within each and every one of us.
The pasuk says, Zachor es Asher Asa Hashem Elokecha L'Miriam Baderech B'Tzaischem M'Mitzrayim, remember what happened to Miriam. The Torah didn't need to mention the end of the pasuk, Baderech B'Tzaischem M'Mitzrayim. The Sfas Emes explains that it's needed because while in Mitzrayim the Zohar teaches that Dibbur, the power of speech, was in galus. The constraints of Egypt caused a situation of inhibition of speech. The freedom of Yetzias Mitzrayim was also a spiritual one, where the soul was no longer constrained physically by the body. Yetzias Mitzrayim also taught Bnei Yisrael the significance of speech and this is why when the Torah warns us to not speak Lashon Hara as Miriam did, it mentions that it occurred on the way out of the constraints of Egypt.
And this is another way that Shabbos is Zecher L'Yetzias Mitzrayim. Yetzias Mitzrayim returned to Bnei Yisrael the ability to speak properly and free their inner selves from the shackles of the guf. Similarly on Shabbos, we experience a spiritual freedom which allows us to express ourselves as testifying to Hashem being the Creator of the world.
Good Shabbos
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