Lashon Harah Day 58, and Vayechi

0:00We're back in the learning La Shona Ra, La Shona Ra laws in just three minutes a day, on day 58, to LS to educate. We have been discussing those instances in which it is permitted and even required to communicate information that would otherwise constitute La Shona Ra. We said that negative information may be given over for the sake of preventing loss harm or discord, provided that the protocol is followed. Educating children or students, another case that qualifies as to LS, constructive, pertains to educating children or students. Parents or teachers are permitted and in fact required to tell their followers to stay away from people who will be negative influences on them. Parents and teachers have a specific responsibility to protect their students and children based on the verse and you shall not hide from your flesh. Even though this may require telling them negative information, it is permitted to do so in order to educate and protect them from harm.

1:00La Shona Ra is primarily prohibited because communicating negative information aligns others and damages them. But here, the focus of the speaker is to protect his or her charges from damage. In order to qualify for this leniency, there are three requirements that the educator must fulfill. One, the educator must explain to the listener why he or she is being given the information. Were the educator not to explain the reason, the child or student will be confused. They will wonder why they have been instructed not to transgress the sin of La Shona Ra by the same person who is now telling them something negative. Thinking, my parent teacher always tells me not to speak La Shona Ra and they just spoke it. Telling them why the information is warranted in this instance removes this pitfall. Number two, one must specify to the listener if one saw the deed in question with his own eyes or if he has merely heard it from others. This ensures that the listener will not accept it as fact. Three, the most important criterion in communicating negative information is that one does so for our shams honor.

2:02To fulfill his or her responsibility to protect one's children or students from harmful influences and not to malign or create strife. Here are a couple examples. I'm your father and I only want what is good for you. I have a duty to raise you to be a righteous Jew. I can see that Aura uses bad language and this has a negative impact on you. And so I advise you not to spend time with her. For two, I'm your rabbi and I have a duty to help you grow spiritually. I have heard that Gavi does things that aren't in accordance with Allah. Although we cannot accept this true, I think it is best for you to distance yourself from Gavi until we know for sure because his influence may affect your growth. In both of the above cases, the statement is permitted because the intention for saying it is to prevent the child or student from being negatively influenced. And the parent or rabbi has explained the reason that he has said so. Words of wisdom, the words of the shodara are not prim- are not the primary sin. Rather, it is the negative feeling and attitude the speaker has against the subject which is the underlying cause of the evil speech. That is the main sin.

3:02Let's go to the parasha for now, Shabbat. Let's go to the parasha. Okay, living each week, parasha wa hihi. As Jacob's death approach, he sent for Joseph and requested that he be buried in the ancestral burial place in Canaan to which Joseph replied, I will do as you have said. He, Jacob, said, swear unto me from Genesis 47. Why did Jacob request that Joseph take a solemn oath to carry out his word? Did Jacob have the slightest doubt regarding Joseph's integrity and his promise that he will fulfill his father's final wish? Many years earlier, when Jacob had sent him on a mission to his brothers, Joseph obeyed his father's wish with full knowledge that his brother's intense hatred of him made such a visit hazardous. Since he had been ruling to wish his life to obey his father, then, why would Jacob think that Joseph might be derelict in doing so now? The Ram Ban explains that Jacob certainly did not suspect Joseph of dereliction or negligence,

4:03but that since he was a viceroy and with many governmental duties and responsibilities, circumstances might arise that would make him impossible for him to leave Egypt. The purpose of the oath then was to obligate Joseph to do the impossible. There is a popular adage that the impossible can be done, but that it takes more time and greater effort. What this means, of course, is that we refer to things as being impossible to achieve, while, in fact, they are not factually impossible, just very, very difficult. The truly impossible is beyond all effort, while the colloquially impossible can be accomplished with the necessary dedication, exertion, and self-sacrifice. The Talmud says that it is permissible to take an oath to fulfill Amit's vow. Although one is already under obligation to performance vote, one may sometimes try to find justifications for delaying such performance or even being exempt for whatever reason, and the oath provides a greater stimulus for performance. This is undoubtedly why the patriarch Abraham, when offered the booty following his triumph and battle said, I have lifted my hand as an oath unto God that will not take as much as a thread.

5:07Knowing how susceptible a person is to personal gain, Abraham took a solemn oath in order to reinforce his resolve. Jacob's administering a solemn oath to Joseph was to enable him to do what might seem to be impossible. We must know that God does not make impossible demands of us. More than anyone else, God who created us knows the extent of our capacities and capabilities. He may call upon us to exert great restraint or make an extra effort, but if it is the will of God for us to do something, as is revealed in the Torah, we may know for certain that it is not truly impossible. Next verse, you want to keep going? No. Shabbos laws? Three minutes to say. One day 52. The Haudala flame continued. Deriving benefit, as we mentioned previously, one may say the brachha once he is within range of benefiting from the flame. Benefit is determined by having enough light to theoretically

6:08differentiate one coin from another. This is why we have the customer to reflect the flame onto our fingernails, to get the same type of benefit seeing the difference between fingernails and skin. Attached fingernails are also used here as a simon, a sign of blessing, as they never stop growing. It is not necessary to turn off the electric lights. So long as one is in the position to derive benefit where the lights are on or off, he can make the brachha. Reflecting the fingernails is a custom, and if one cannot look at the reflection of his fingernails, the brachha can still be said if he is close enough to benefit from the flame.