Spreading False Rumors
I once met a complete stranger who asked where I came from. I told him that I live in Lyon. When he heard this, he asked, “I heard that there is someone in that city who acts like a hoity-toity rabbi.”
I had a distinct feeling he was talking about me. “Who is this rabbi?” I asked in feigned ignorance.
“They call him Pinto.”
I kept quiet. Then I talked with him in learning. I saw that the man was exceedingly happy with our private study session. I said to him, “You should know that everything we learned now I heard from Rabbi Pinto of Lyon.”
The man was surprised, so I decided to amaze him even further. “I am Rabbi Pinto.”
His head hung in shame as he searched for a crack in the ground to bury himself. He begged my forgiveness. He had only repeated what he had heard from others.
- Disseminating Torah to the public
Regrettably, we live in a world where lashon hara, gossip, and slander are the order of the day. People do not stop stabbing others with the swords of their tongues. B’ezrat Hashem, when Mashiach will come, all walls of hatred will crumble. We will merit unconditional unity among Am Yisrael. But until then, we must try with all our might not to speak derogatorily about any fellow Jew. This will hasten Mashiach’s arrival.
