大象传媒

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Rabbi Alex Chapper, Community Rabbi
Borehamwood & Elstree Synagogue

Good Morning
In the 19th century lived a saintly rabbi. Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan - widely known, as was common, by the name of his seminal work the Chofetz Chaim - its subject matter the Biblical laws of gossip and slander (known in Hebrew as Lashon Hara, literally meaning "Evil tongue").

Now this may seem an abstruse concept for us, fed as we are, a constant gluttony of chatter about other people鈥檚 lives on social media, reality shows and newspaper gossip columns. But the Chofetz Chaim reminds us that speaking disparagingly about other people, even if it鈥檚 true, damages three people simultaneously - the person being spoken about - that鈥檚 obvious as it鈥檚 their reputation being besmirched. The Japanese have a term that describes very well what happens when a person's reputation is damaged: The person is said to have "lost face," as if they no longer exist.

But gossip also negatively affects the person who鈥檚 listening to it and the person saying it - the former because they become desensitised to the feelings of another and the latter since they鈥檙e opinion of another has diminished unfairly.

The title of the work is taken from the Book of Psalms, that poses the question: 鈥淲ho is the man heChafetz Chaim - who desires life, who loves days to see good?
And it answers: 鈥淕uard your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceitfully. Shun evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.

If we truly loved life rather than speaking unfavourably about other people we鈥檇 always look for the good in them. And so let鈥檚 pray that we remember that just as our world was created with words we have the ability to destroy someone鈥檚 world with our words. Let鈥檚 always remember to choose our words carefully