Did You Just Say That?

Just how bad is talking bad about others (even if its true) or listening to what the Jewish people call lashon hara or "evil speech"?

We can find examples of punishment for it in the Bible.

When Miriam spoke negatively about Moses she was rebuked by God and afflicted with the skin disease of tzaraat. Even Aaron was punished for not protesting when she did. Normally, tzaraat (commonly mis-translated as leprosy) came about more slowly. If you participated in gossip, whether by speaking or listening to it, it would first appear on the walls of your home before it showed up as small white patches on the skin (there is no good English word to describe this).

It can even escalate to the point of the 10 spies who brought back an evil report and died in the desert. It is said that the idolatrous armies of King Ahab were successful in their battles, because they did not have the sin of lashon hara.

The Bible warns against Tale-bearing.... 

"Tale-bearing is, essentially, any gossip. The Hebrew word for tale-bearer is "rakhil" (Reish-Kaf-Yod-Lamed), which is related to a word meaning trader or merchant. The idea is that a tale-bearer is like a merchant, but he deals in information instead of goods. In our modern "Information Age," the idea of information as a product has become more clear than ever before, yet it is present even here in the Torah." (Judaism 101)

Social media such as Twitter and FaceBook are rampant with it. 

What is really sad is whether it is true or not it hurts and causes long standing mis-conceptions about people who are now "UNDER THE BLOOD". 

The Jewish people believe that gossip even lead to the destruction of both Temples. As we approach the anniversary of those Temples being destroyed on the 9th of AV we should remember that with gossip not only do we destroy our own temple but of others as well. 

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"

(1 Cor. 6:19)