Rashi's Insight on Miriam's Punishment and Lashon Hara

Full Summary

The shiur begins with an analysis of the Torah (תורה)'s commandment "Zachar et asher asah Hashem (ה׳) Elokeicha l'Miriam" (Remember what Hashem did to Miriam). The speaker initially understood this as a warning about the severity of lashon hara - that even Miriam the prophetess, through whose merit the Jewish people survived in the desert, was punished for speaking lashon hara, demonstrating how serious this transgression is. However, Rashi (רש"י) interprets this differently. According to Rashi, the message is not about avoiding lashon hara because it's wrong, but rather: if you want to avoid getting tzaraas (leprosy), don't speak lashon hara. This shifts the focus from the moral wrongness of the act to its negative consequences. This leads to a fundamental question: why should we focus on consequences rather than the inherent wrongness of lashon hara? The Rambam (רמב"ם) in Hilchos Teshuvah states that serving God out of fear of punishment is the way of women, children, and unlearned people (nashim, ketanim, amei ha'aretz), not the proper way for scholars. The speaker resolves this apparent contradiction by distinguishing between two types of fear of punishment. Proper fear of Heaven (Yiras Shamayim) means understanding how much our sins upset God, using the severity of punishment as a barometer of His displeasure. This is like a child who understands that a parent's anger, evidenced by punishment, shows how wrong the act was. Improper fear is simply wanting to avoid pain without considering the relationship aspect. The deeper insight is that people whose essence is primarily physical (chomer) - including amei ha'aretz, women in certain contexts, and children - can only be reached through consequences because they determine right and wrong based on their own desires. When someone's sense of morality emanates from within themselves rather than from an external divine source, appeals to absolute right and wrong are ineffective. Lashon hara is particularly associated with this mindset because the speaker of lashon hara sets themselves up as the ultimate judge of others, determining who is good or bad. Like the snake (nachash) in Eden, who was 'arum' (both clever and naked), they don't care about others' feelings or divine standards. Tzaraas is the appropriate consequence for such people because it attacks what they hold most dear - their physical being. It literally destroys the flesh, targeting the very thing that defines their existence. The speaker concludes with a sobering personal application: when we sin repeatedly (aveirah goreres aveirah), we can deteriorate to this level where we become primarily physical beings. In such cases, we too may need to use fear of consequences to motivate ourselves, even though ideally we should be motivated by pure fear of Heaven. As we improve through avoiding sin, we can gradually return to serving God from higher motivations. This teaching provides both a psychological understanding of why different people respond to different motivations and a practical approach to self-improvement that meets us where we are spiritually.