"He who guards his mouth and his tongue, guards himself
from aggravation of his soul." Proverbs 21 :23
Knowledge is Power -- G-dly Knowledge is Super Power.
Jacob ben Wolf Kranz of Dubno, the Dubner Maggid, was a
Lithuanian (Belarus)-born preacher (maggid). He was born at Zietil (now
Dzyatlava), government of Wilna (now Belarus), about 1740 and died at Zamość on
18 December 1804.
Jacob was an unrivaled preacher. Possessed of great
eloquence, he illustrated both his sermons and his homiletic commentaries with
parables taken from human life. By such parables he explained the most
difficult passages, and cleared up many perplexing questions in rabbinical law.
He was also an eminent rabbinical scholar, and on many occasions was consulted
as an authority.
Once, the Dubner Maggid warned a certain individual that his
words should be carefully well-thought-out before speaking, because, it could
cause some serious damage. The person tried to defend himself by saying, “I
didn’t do anything, it’s only words….”.
The Dubner Maggid responded. In the Torah, it tells us about
a miraculous skin disorder that would come to people who spoke gossip. Their
punishment would be that they would get expelled from the entire community.
“Let him sit alone, (in a state on impurity) outside the camps he should
dwell.” The Bible.
This fellow was punished measure for measure. Because his
gossip caused separation and strife between husbands and wives, between people
and their friends, therefore his/her punishment was to be alone, until the
condition cleared.
Being alone is considered like death itself. Once he was
cured, it was hoped his life was renewed, as if born again, healthier and
improved, relative to his past behavior.
Said the Dubner Maggid. “In regards to this G-dly condition
of leprosy, the Torah instructs something that is not found with any of the
other commandments. It’s not enough to get the opinion of an expert Rabbi on
this condition, but this inflicted person is specifically prescribed to go to a
Priest, and only the Priest has the power to totally alter the person’s life by
announcing, “Pure” or “Impure.”
“The reason for this” said the Dubner Maggid. “Because this
condition comes mostly for the transgression of an evil tongue (gossip) and
people who stumble over this sin minimize the severity of the deed by saying,
“I merely said a couple of words”, therefore the Torah tells him to go to a
Priest so he can see and experience first-hand the power of words. With just
ONE word, PURE or IMPURE the person’s fate is determined and finalized. “
Our sages tell us, “G-d made a covenant (treaty) with the
lips.” The words that come out from our mouths would have a direct connection
with the method of influence and control over actual reality.
“Don’t open your mouth (and give fodder) to the bad Angel.”
When a person says something negative about himself or speaks gossip on
another, the Holy book of the Zohar says, these words may/are used against the
person.
For example, when a person says, “I don’t have any more
strength”, or “I don’t have any money”, he creates through these words and
combination of letters a reality where there is, and will be, a lack of
strength and energy, and no money. Analogous to G-d who created the world with
the energy generated through the ten utterances and commands, the same is with
human beings created in the form and image of G-d. Our words have a huge impact
of creative strength.
The same and even more so is in the positive direction. The
Talmud recounts how Rabbi Akiva was extremely poor. When he got married to his
wife Rachel, they couldn’t even afford beds and were forced to sleep on straw.
In order to eat, Rachel was forced to sell her hair.
Rabbi Akiva would tell his wife Rachel, “don’t worry, I will
yet purchase for you “Jerusalem of Gold”. The commentaries explain, this was a
certain ornament of Jewelry that only the very wealthy adorned themselves with.
The Talmud goes on to say. “Not many years went by and
Rachel was able to go up to her bed on ladders of gold! Rabbi Akiva purchased
this “Jerusalem of Gold” ornament for his wife.” “Rabbi Akiva became wealthy
through eight ways, and each one was miraculous without toil or effort.” The Talmud
teaches, we can see from an actual story, the strength of positive words and
what they led to in the case of Rabbi Akiva.
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