Shemot: The Innocent Evil
Shemot: The Innocent Evil

The Secret Is Known

Moses grew up in the lap of luxury. He was a prince in Egypt, raised by the daughter of Pharaoh. Despite his prestige, popularity and power, Moses never forgot his origins. His heart bled for the plight of his brethren. He went out among them and observed their terrible suffering. Men were assigned tasks ordinarily assigned to women and women were made to bear the loads ordinarily assigned to men. Children were given the jobs of adults and the elderly were forced to play like children. Beyond the

Dear reader, I ask you to contemplate the import of these words.

indignity, this cruelty wore away their physical strength and inner fortitude.

They were forced into back-breaking labor; made to mix cement, form bricks, construct fortresses and build storehouses. They were forced to work in earthquake fault zones, allowing their captors to berate them every time the buildings collapsed. They were not permitted a break; they worked and slept under the hot desert sun. Their overseers constantly drove and beat them; and on occasion even killed them.

When Moses ventured forth from his luxurious quarters and encountered this terrible plight, he lifted his royal robes and knelt beside his brothers. He got his hands dirty and helped them mix cement. He then contemplated the problem and began to devise a solution. He approached Pharaoh and suggested that the slaves would work more effectively if they were allowed one day per week to rest and refresh. Pharaoh agreed and Moses designated Saturday a weekly day of rest.(1)

He was still not satisfied and he continued to seek ways to improve their lot. One day he saw an Egyptian overseer beating Datan, a Jew, half to death. Datan pleaded with Moses to intervene. He explained that the overseer was trying to kill him so that the Egyptian's secret liaison with Datan's wife would not be revealed. Knowing that Egyptian authorities would not intervene on behalf of a Jew, Moses pronounced a mystical incantation and slayed the overseer.

The next day Moses returned to the Jewish people and found Datan wrestling with his brother-in-law, Abiram. It turned out that Datan wanted to divorce his wife and her brother came out to defend her honor. Not enough to be raped by an Egyptian, was she to suffer the indignity and privation of divorce?

Aghast at the violence, Moses cried, "Evil one, why do you strike your fellow?" Unaccustomed to rebuke, Abiram angrily replied, "Who appointed you man, minister and judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?"

Moses worried and mused, "Indeed, the secret is known."(2)

The Secret

A literal rendering of these words implies that Moses feared for his own safety. Indeed, the very next verse goes on to say that Pharaoh heard about the execution and sought to have Moses killed, but his plan was miraculously thwarted and Moses escaped. However, our sages offered an alternative explanation; "indeed, the secret reason [for my brethren's suffering] is [now] known."

Up to this point Moses had wondered why the Jews suffered so. He knew that G-d ordained that they would be enslaved in Egypt, but why were they forced into back-breaking labor? However, now that he witnessed Jews engage in gossip he understood why they had suffered.(3)

Dear reader, I ask you to contemplate the import of these words. Our ancestors suffered terribly in Egypt; Moses was horrified by what he saw and wondered what they had done to deserve this. Keep in mind that our ancestors worshipped idols and on occasion beat each other physically. Yet, none of this justified their suffering to Moses. But gossip, a seemingly innocent sin, was sufficient to explain it.

Our sages called gossip evil - lashon hara means "evil language". But gossip conceals its evil nature and easily lures us in; a remark to your closest friends about another appears innocuous on the surface, but constitutes a sin that dwarfs murder, adultery and idolatry combined. Indeed, our sages taught that the impact of slander reaches the Heavens and drives the Divine presence from among us.(4)

To underscore the power of this sin we turn to another sad chapter in our history. Achab was a Jewish king who forced his subjects to worship Baal. Achab was also a great warrior, who filled the ranks of his army with fellow idol worshippers.

They were grave sinners, who had turned their backs on G-d, but because they did not turn their backs on each other they emerged from their many battles unscathed.

Yet, despite his many dangerous campaigns, he never lost a single soldier in battle. Our sages attributed their incredible fortune to strict discipline on gossip. They were grave sinners, who had turned their backs on G-d, but because they did not turn their backs on each other they emerged from their many battles unscathed.(5)

Ironically, the Talmud observes, an idol worshipper who scrupulously avoids gossip is immune from Heavenly punishment. Conversely, an observant Torah scholar, who speaks ill of others in public, is punished without reprieve.(6) The question is: Why? What makes gossip such a terrible sin?

Informers

Jewish mystics explained that gossip publicizes sins that are committed in private. G-d, who, loves His children always seeks ways to pardon them or delay their punishment. He is forbearing and overlooks even sins as grave as idolatry. However, once a gossip publicizes the sin even G-d can no longer overlook them. It is akin to a father who ignores his son's foibles, but when a gossip comes along to inform him of his son's sins the father loses that luxury and now has no choice; he must punish his son.(7)

This is the deeper meaning of Moses' words, "Indeed the secret is known." So long as no one gossiped Moses could not understand their suffering, for so long as their sins were kept quiet a loving G-d would overlook them. But when he saw that Jews gossiped he understood that their secret was known and G-d would no longer overlook them. Moses finally understood why the Jews suffered so terribly.

In this context, we understand why a gossip is so much worse than murder. A single act of murder results in the death of one victim. A single word of gossip results in the punishment of three victims: the teller, who reveals the sin; the audience, who facilitates the revelation; and the subject, whose sins have been revealed. And all three would have been spared if the sin were kept private.(8)

Love your Fellow

Gossip is a terrible sin. It is easy to commit and difficult to avoid; it is easily overlooked and most enticing to indulge. The only way to successfully avoid gossip is to focus on its antidote, love. When we love our fellow Jew we refuse to say or listen to anything negative about them. Indeed, if gossip is the cause of such suffering, then love is its balm. Let us focus on loving each other, refrain from the terrible sin that has caused our exile and pray for an end to our long history of suffering.(9)

Footnotes

1. See Shemos Rabbah 1: 10 and 1: 27-30. Tanchumah 9-10. Yalkut Shimoni, end of 166 and 167.

2. See Exodus 2: 11-14. See also sources in footnote 1.

3. See Rashi's commentary to Exodus 2: 14 and sources in footnote 1.

4. Babylonian Talmud, Erkin 15b and Devarim Rabbah 6: 14.

5. Jerusalem Talmud, Peah 1:5. Conversely, King David's warriors were largely pious Torah scholars, whose only fault was the occasional gossip, and though David won all his wars, many of his warriors perished in battle.

6. Bamidbar Rabbah 11:7 and Babylonian Talmud, Baba Metzia 58b.

7. Zohar I p. 264b, as elucidated by Rabbi Yisrael Meir of Radin in the introduction to Chafetz Chaim.

8. Babylonian Talmud, Baba Metzia 58b and Erkin 15b.

9. When confronted with gossip against our will we are exhorted to disbelieve it. Would we believe that our sibling is guilty of terrible crimes just because a person of shady character told us so? Surely not. Let us remember that our nation is a single family; gossip about a fellow Jew is gossip about our sibling. Further, the source of this information is not a person of integrity, but a known sinner, guilty of gossip. Surely we hope that no one would believe such gossip about ourselves. Let us remember to not do unto others what we don't want done to us. For more on this subject, see Shemiras Halashon by the Chafetz Chaim and Derech Mitzvosecha, Mitzvas Ahavas Yisrael.