“Aharon turned towards Miriam and behold she had tzaras.” Bamidbar 12:10

This year my oldest son played Little League for the first time in his life. Most of the games, I went to, but my wife and other children joined us for one of the playoff games. My wife noticed something which I had never noticed. When a batter struck-out, the opposing team’s coach and fans cheered. Of course, they were cheering because their pitcher did a good job, but my wife said, “I wonder how the child feels when everyone is cheering because he struck out.” Now most batters understand they are not cheering because he did bad, but because their team did good. But this statement from my wife made me realize how much we need to care about another person’s feelings.

In this week’s parsha, we learn of the punishment given to Miriam for speaking Lashon Hara regarding her brother. Look closely at the episode though, and one might wonder if Miriam really spoke Lashon Hara. She did not speak words of hatred; she spoke words out of concern. She did not speak publicly, but spoke privately with her brother, Aharon. She loved her brother, Moshe, very much – remember how concerned she was when he was sent down the river as a baby. We learn from here that any type of negative speech is like drinking poison. Even if we do not want to hurt others, words can be extremely dangerous. Miriam was punished with tzaras to teach Bnei Yisrael this lesson. We must be very careful what leaves our lips.

Words are like fire. Fire can warm up people and make them feel good. Fire can also destroy the tallest buildings. All young children learn not to play with fire because even if you have good intentions, it can quickly spread and cause destruction. The same thing is with our words.

Good Shabbos Good Yom Tov!
-yes
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