Arakhin 15b — the Talmud in English

a.

For it is written:

that Israel was commanded

“Do not go out”

on Shabbat to gather [“And Moses said: Eat it today, for today is Shabbat for the Lord; today you will not find it in the field” — Otzar Balum], and it is written that they transgressed the commandment:

“And they went out,”

“and it was on the seventh day that some of the people went out to gather.”

b. For it is written: Israel was commanded

“Do not leave any of it over” [“And Moses said to them: Let no man leave any of it until morning.”]. And it is written: “They did not heed Moses,

and they left some of it over

until morning.”

Israel was tested

twice

with quail,

with the first quail and with the second quail:

a.

With the first quail,

as it is written: “And the Children of Israel said: Who would give that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt,

when we sat by the fleshpots,

when we ate bread to satiety.” And they were answered concerning this with the quail that descended with the manna, as it is written there: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I have heard the complaints of the Children of Israel, etc. And it was in the evening that the quail went up and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew, etc.”

b.

With the second quail,

after a very long time, when they craved more, as it is written: “

And the rabble that was among them

craved a craving, etc., and they said: Who will give us meat to eat?” And it is written there: “And to the people you shall say: Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat, for you have wept, etc., saying: Who will give us meat, etc.” And at the end it is said: “And a wind went forth from the Lord and swept quail from the sea, etc.”

One

with the Calf, as it is stated

in the section “When you raise up”: “And he made it a molten calf, and they said: This is your god, Israel, etc.”

And one

in the wilderness of Paran, as it is stated

in the section “Send for yourself”: “Send for yourself men, and let them spy out the land of Canaan, etc. And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran, etc.”

Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra: What is the meaning of that which is written: “The Lord, save my soul from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.

What shall He give you and what shall He add to you, deceitful tongue?” The Holy One, blessed be He, said to the tongue

as an answer to its request, “Save my soul, etc.”: a.

All a person’s limbs are upright, but you

the tongue

lie

[lying down]. b.

All a person’s limbs are outside, but you are inside; and not only that, but I have surrounded you with two walls: one of bone,

which are the teeth,

and one of flesh,

which are the lips. And since that is so:

what shall He give you

the Holy One, blessed be He, as additional protection so that you will not speak evil speech, besides the teeth and the lips,

and what shall He add to you

the Holy One, blessed be He, as additional protection so that you will not be upright and speak evil speech—

deceitful tongue!

[This was explained according to the Iyun Yaakov in its first interpretation, and the Maharsha].

And Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra: Anyone who speaks evil speech is as though he denied the fundamental principle, as it is stated:

“May the Lord cut off all smooth lips, the tongue that speaks great things.

Who said: With our tongue we will prevail; our lips are with us”—

and we will speak evil speech; and it is as though they said—

“Who is master over us?”

for they deny the fundamental principle. [For it is impossible that a person should prepare for another a destructive and deadly instrument without benefiting himself, unless his evil inclination has captured his soul and he has cast off the yoke of Heaven. And secondly, because he says in his heart that his lips are under his control; and since speech involves no action, and he is the ruler over his tongue, he has decided that he need not restrain the spirit of his lips from speaking whatever comes into his mind, whereas the limbs alone are not under his control to sin with them—Shaarei Teshuva, the third gate, section 4, and Rabbi Eliyahu, in brief].

And Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Yosei ben Zimra: Anyone who speaks evil speech, afflictions

come upon him, as it is stated: “Whoever secretly slanders his fellow, him I will cut off,”

it is written here, “I will cut off,”

and it is written there:

“And the house that is in the city, which has no [‘to it’—reading] wall, shall be established

‘in perpetuity’

for the one who bought it,”

and we render it: ‘completely’

[for the house is definitively transferred to the buyer, and the seller may no longer redeem it],

and we learned

that a decisive determination means leprosy:

There is no difference between one afflicted with leprosy who is quarantined and one afflicted with leprosy who is declared definitive, except for uncovering the head and tearing the garments.

“There is no difference between a quarantined leper and a confirmed leper except for uncovering the head and tearing the garments.”

Mnemonic

for the three statements of Reish Lakish before us:

“TURAT NACHASH GADOL.”

And this is

what we said earlier, that one who speaks evil speech is visited by leprosy; this is

that of Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish, for Reish Lakish said: What is the meaning of that which is written: This shall be the teaching of “the one afflicted with leprosy”

[and it does not say, “the teaching of the leper”—Maharsha; see Iyun Yaakov]?

This shall be the teaching of the one who brings out an evil name!

And Reish Lakish said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “If the serpent bites without enchantment, then there is no advantage to the master of the tongue”? In the future

all the animals will gather and come to the serpent, and they will say: The lion tramples and eats

[immediately, and it does not fear], and it has benefit!

The wolf tears

and carries [its prey] to its dens,

and eats

there [because it fears creatures], and it has benefit!

But you

who bite human beings and kill them [and never taste anything except the taste of dust—Etz Yosef],

what benefit do you have?! He says to them

the serpent to the animals:

And what advantage is there to the master of the tongue, who speaks evil speech although he has no benefit?! Therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, brings them to judgment before the serpent, so that it will be ashamed because it incited the first man, and those who speak evil speech will be ashamed along with it [this statement was explained according to Rashi in Taanit 8; see Iyun Yaakov].

And Reish Lakish said: Anyone who speaks evil speech magnifies his iniquities

until the heavens,

40 as it is stated: “They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue walks through the earth.”

Mar Ukva said: Anyone who speaks evil speech is fit to be stoned

with a stone,

for

it is written here:

“Whoever secretly slanders his fellow, him

‘I will cut off,’ and it is written there: ‘They have utterly cut me off in the pit of life, and they cast a stone at me.’”

And Rav Hisda said in the name of Mar Ukva: Anyone who speaks evil speech—the Holy One, blessed be He, says: I and he cannot

dwell in the world together, as it is stated: “Whoever secretly slanders his fellow, him I will cut off; the one with haughty eyes and a broad heart, him I cannot tolerate,”

and “him I cannot tolerate” applies to both of them: to the one who speaks evil speech [“Whoever secretly slanders his fellow”] and to the arrogant [“the one with haughty eyes and a broad heart”].

Do not read: “him I cannot tolerate,” but rather: “with him

I cannot dwell in the world”! And there are those who teach it concerning the arrogant

alone, and it does not apply to the first clause [according to the Maharsha, Sotah 5].

And Rav Hisda said in the name of Mar Ukva: Anyone who speaks evil speech—the Holy One, blessed be He, says to the minister of Gehinnom: I am over him from above, and you are below—

we shall judge him

together!

As it is stated: “Sharp arrows of a warrior, with coals of broom,”—‘arrows’ means nothing other than evil speech, as it is stated: “Their tongue is a slaughtering arrow; it speaks deceit”; and ‘warrior’ means none other than the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is stated: “The Lord shall go forth like a warrior”; ‘coals of broom’—that is Gehinnom.

Rabbi Hama, son of Rabbi Hanina, said: What is their remedy

[Rashash]

for those who speak evil speech

after they have spoken it?

If he is a Torah scholar, he should engage

in Torah, as it is stated: “The healing of the tongue—

a tree of life,” and ‘tongue’ means nothing other than evil speech, as it is stated: “Their tongue is a slaughtering arrow; it speaks deceit.” And ‘a tree of life’ means nothing other than Torah, as it is stated: “It is a tree of life

[the Torah]

to those who grasp it.”

And if he is an ignoramus, he should humble his mind, as it is stated: “The healing of the tongue is a tree of life,

‘but perverseness in it is a breaking of the spirit.’”

One who perverts it and wishes to remove it from himself—he should break his spirit!

Rabbi Aha, son of Rabbi Hanina,

disagrees and

said: If he has already spoken

evil speech,

he has no remedy, for David has already cut him off

[the language of karet]

through the holy spirit, as it is stated: “May the Lord cut off all smooth lips, the tongue that speaks great things”! Rather, what is his remedy

so that he will not come to evil speech? If he is a Torah scholar, he should engage in Torah. And if he is an ignoramus, he should humble his mind, as it is stated: “But perverseness

in it is a breaking of the spirit”! The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: Anyone who speaks evil speech magnifies iniquities corresponding to

three transgressions: idolatry, forbidden sexual relations, and bloodshed! For

it is written here

concerning evil speech:

“The tongue that speaks ‘great things’!”

And it is written concerning idolatry

[in the incident of the Calf]:

“Please, this people has sinned a great sin.”

And

concerning forbidden sexual relations it is written

[in the incident of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife]:

“How can I commit this great evil?”

And

concerning bloodshed it is written

[regarding Cain, who killed Abel]:

“Great is my iniquity beyond bearing.”

And we raise an objection: How do we learn that he magnifies iniquities corresponding to all three transgressions? Since it is written, “The tongue that speaks

‘great things,’”

and the minimum of a plural is two,

say

that you can learn only

two?

And we answer: Since concerning all three transgressions language of greatness is written, just as concerning evil speech,

which of them will you exclude

[which of the three transgressions will you remove from them]?!

In the West

[in the Land of Israel]

they said: A third tongue

[a third tongue], the tongue of talebearing, which is third between one person and his fellow, to reveal a secret to him,

kills three

[kills three]:

the one who speaks it,

he himself who bears tales,

the one who accepts it, and the ones about whom it is spoken

[according to the Bach], for through the quarrel that falls between the two, they kill one another, and afterward the blood avengers kill the talebearer through whose agency the killing came [according to Rashi in the Ein Yaakov].

Rabbi Hama, son of Rabbi Hanina, said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “Death and life are in the hand of the tongue”? Does the tongue have a hand

to kill others like a hand [Maharsha]

?! It is to tell you: Just as a hand kills, so too a tongue kills!

Perhaps

if just as a hand kills only close to it, so too a tongue kills only close to it, when he informs against him in the presence of all three, and otherwise it does not kill [Rashi in the Ein Yaakov]?

The verse states: “Their tongue is a slaughtering arrow,”

which kills from a distance like an arrow [there]. Perhaps

if just as an arrow

does not kill except

up to forty or fifty cubits

[not literally—there],

so too a tongue

does not kill except

up to forty or fifty cubits? The verse states: “They set their mouths against the heavens,

and their tongue walks through the earth.”

And we raise an objection:

But since it is written: “They set their mouths against the heavens

and their tongue walks through the earth,” and we have learned that the tongue kills even farther than forty or fifty cubits, why do I need the exposition

“Their tongue is a slaughtering arrow”?

And we answer:

This

the verse “Their tongue is a slaughtering arrow”

teaches us that it kills

evil speech

like an arrow!

We raise another objection:

But since it is written, “Their tongue is a slaughtering arrow,”

and we have learned that evil speech kills like an arrow, why do I need the exposition

“Death and life are in the hand of the tongue” [Maharsha]?

And we answer: It comes to teach that “Death and life are in the hand of the tongue,” meaning, “through the power” of the tongue [Maharsha],

in accordance with what Rava said: One who desires life

[one who desires life]—

with his tongue

should engage in Torah with his tongue!

One who desires death

[one who desires to die]—he too

with his tongue,

should engage with his tongue in words of foolishness and obscenity!

What are the circumstances of evil speech? Rabbah said: For example, when he says: “There is fire in so-and-so’s house!”

This implies that he is wealthy, and that at every hour there is fire in his house for cooking dishes.

Abaye said to him

to Rabbah:

What does he do

who says this?!

It is merely revealing information,

since he does not say it as evil speech, but reveals to those seeking fire: Go to so-and-so’s house.

Rather,

there is a prohibition only in the manner

that he expresses it in evil language

[that he brings it out in evil language],

saying: Where can fire be found

[where will you find the fire]

except in so-and-so’s house,

[only in so-and-so’s house will you find it],

for there is meat and fish

[for there are meat and fish there], meaning: he is wealthy, he has meat and fish, he lacks nothing, and he can benefit others, yet he does not

benefit them—Rashi in the Ein Yaakov. Rabbah said: Any matter that is said in the presence of its master

[the owner], which the talebearer says in the presence of the one about whom he bears tales,

does not contain

the element of evil speech!

Abaye said

to Rabba: When he says it in his presence,

all the more so it is

insolence and evil speech,

so how did you permit it?

He said to him

Rabba to Abaye:

I hold like Rabbi Yose, who said: I have never said a thing and then turned back

to see who would stand behind me, for even in the presence of the owners I say it! Thus, this is not lashon hara. Another explanation: If the owners came and said, “Why did you say this?”, I did not retract, saying, “I did not say [it]!” Rather, in their presence I admitted it, [for initially I spoke truthfully — Rashi, Shabbat 118b]. [See Hafetz Hayim, rule 3, in Be'er Mayim Hayim, note 2, in the name of the responsa of Rabbi Yosef Bruna, in explanation of Rashi’s words].