Parashat Shemot- Keeping Our Sins Silent
The Torah in Parashat Shemot relates the famous incident of Moshe’s encounter with the Egyptian taskmaster, whom he saw beating an Israelite slave. Moshe immediately killed the Egyptian, thinking that nobody around him was looking. The next day, Moshe came upon two Jews fighting and tried to stop one of them from beating the other. The Jew turned to Moshe and exclaimed, "Are you planning to kill me like you killed the Egyptian?"
Moshe at that point bemoaned, "Indeed, the matter is known!" He then fled Egypt, fearing for his life.
According to the simple reading of this verse, it refers to Moshe’s realization that his encounter with the Egyptian taskmaster had become public knowledge. Rashi, however, adds a different interpretation to this verse, namely, that Moshe now realized why Beneh Yisrael were enduring so many years of oppression and slavery. "Indeed the matter is known" – he has now found an answer to the question that had vexed him for so long: why must Beneh Yisrael suffer? Why did God allow such cruelty and injustice against the descendants of Abraham, Yishak and Yaakob?
The answer, as Moshe came to understand, was that Beneh Yisrael fought with each other and spread negative information about each other. Although we generally may not make definitive claims as to why God brings calamity upon His people, Moshe, through his prophetic insight, saw the reason for the Egyptian bondage. He knew that they suffered because of the infighting, the backstabbing, the spreading of rumors and tattling.
Our Sages teach that during the Egyptian exile, Beneh Yisrael sank to the forty-ninth level of impurity. They descended to nearly the lowest spiritual depths, and even engaged in pagan worship. Surprisingly, however, this was not the cause of their suffering. The bitter slavery they endured was the result not of idolatry, but rather of Lashon Ha’ra, the things they said behind each other’s backs.
The Sages make a similar comment contrasting the period of King David with the period of the idolatrous King Ahab. During King David’s time, the people studied Torah and were religiously observant, but they suffered casualties during war. In the period of King Ahab, by contrast, the nation worshipped idols, but all the soldiers returned from battle alive and well. The reason, the Rabbis teach, is that the people in Ahab’s time were unified and worked in full cooperation with one another, as opposed to the period of David, when the people spoke negatively about one another.
Why does the way people speak about each other determine the nation’s state of affairs?
The Hafetz Haim (Rav Yisrael Meir Kagan, 1839-1933) explained that even if the Jewish people commit sins, their sins will, ordinarily, remain "silent." God is willing to place our wrongdoing to the side, and focus His attention instead on our many meritorious acts, anticipating our repentance for our wrongdoing. This is not the case, however, when we speak Lashon Ha’ra about one another, when we spread negative information about our peers. If we speak about other people’s wrongdoing, then our sins will speak about our wrongdoing; if we can’t keep silent about the faults of others, then our sins will not keep silent about our faults. So long as we are willing to overlook the shortcomings of other people and focus on their good qualities, God is willing to overlook our shortcomings and focus on our admirable qualities. And therefore in Egypt, even though Beneh Yisrael worshipped idols, God was prepared to put this aside and look forward to their repentance. But once Beneh Yisrael resorted to Lashon Ha’ra, spreading negative information about each other, their own negative behavior was spread and warranted severe punishment.
In our generation, we have, thank God, witnessed an inspiring rebirth of Torah study and observance. Unfortunately, however, we are also witnessing a growing number of problems in the Jewish world, on all levels – medical problems, financial troubles, marital difficulties, complications in childrearing, and the ongoing security concerns both in Israel and throughout the world. We must recommit ourselves to focusing on the admirable qualities of others, rather than on their faults, so that God will focus on Am Yisrael’s many accomplishments – our Torah study, our prayers, our Halachic observance, and our Hesed. If we keep silent about the failings of others, then our sins will likewise keep silent, and our many merits will then be capable of coming to our assistance and granting the Jewish people the health, peace and prosperity that we all long for.
