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Why does the Torah (תורה) warn us to remember Miriam's tzaraas to avoid tzaraas ourselves, rather than to avoid the sin of lashon hara? Rashi (רש"י)'s formulation reveals a fundamental principle: the baal lashon hara is so embedded in his physical existence that right and wrong arguments cannot reach him—he has become his own arbiter of morality. Only consequences (fear of tzaraas, bodily affliction) can deter someone at this level of spiritual deterioration, where one's sense of being emanates entirely from within oneself rather than from God's external standard.
The shiur opens with an analysis of the mitzvah (מצוה) "Zachor es asher asah Hashem (ה׳) lach laMiriam" (Remember what Hashem did to Miriam). The straightforward understanding would be that we remember Miriam's punishment to understand the severity of lashon hara—if even Miriam HaNevia, on whose merit Klal Yisrael survived for forty years, was punished for a taint of lashon hara, how much more so should we fear this sin. However, Rashi (רש"י) presents a dramatically different understanding: "If you want to be sure you don't get tzaraas, don't speak lashon hara." Rashi frames the warning not as "if you're tempted to speak lashon hara, remember Miriam," but rather "if you want to avoid tzaraas, remember Miriam." The focus is on avoiding the consequence (tzaraas) rather than avoiding the sin itself. This seems highly problematic. Why should the Torah (תורה) formulate an ethical warning in terms of health consequences, like a daily exercise program? The Rambam (רמב"ם) in Hilchos Teshuvah Perek 9 explicitly states that serving Hashem to avoid punishment is not the way of chachamim but rather the way of nashim, ketanim, and amei ha'aretz. This approach—avoiding sin due to fear of consequences—is presented as spiritually inferior. Yet here, regarding lashon hara specifically, the Torah and Rashi seem to mandate exactly this approach. How can we reconcile this contradiction?
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Ki Seitzei 24:9
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