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.רקְֵפֶה וֹלְצֶא
החיתפ
םייח ץפח
Chafetz Chayim הרימשה תבוח סרטנוק ."הָסרֶָהֶנ ויָנָבֲא רדֶֶגְו .ירְֵפִסַּה ןִמ רוֹקָמַּבּ הֶז 'ט תיִשׁארְֵבּ( בוּתָכֶּשׁ וֹמְכוּ .תוְֹצִמַּהְו הרָוֹתַּה םוּיּקִ ידְֵי לַע הֶז לָכּ וּנרְַאֵבֶּשׁ ,םָשׁ ןֵיַּע ,"םָדָאָה תֶא הָשָׂע םיִהלֱֹא םֶלֶצְבּ" :)'ו לָכּ תוֹשֲׂעַל וּנֵתְּלָכיִבּ ןֵכ
Kuntres Chovat HaShemirah 1
Introduction
carefully illustrating those laws with practical examples of their
application;
beautiful fruit that he hoped for. (Shelomo HaMelech expresses
this in) Mishle (24:30-31) “I passed by the field of a lazy man Sefer Chafetz Chayim is the structured law of what
and the vineyard of an uncaring person and behold they were constitutes language and communication that is
overgrown with weeds and thistles and a (surrounding) stone forbidden to us by the Torah, no different than the
fence was breached. Torah of forbidden foods or the Torah of Shabbat;
it is the “how to” of Shemirat HaLashon. Both
The explanation (of this parable) is as follows: every single Jew, the mussar and the halacha are necessary integral
by virtue of his Torah and good deeds is capable of planting a components of Shemirat HaLashon, one cannot
vineyard in Gan Eden as is written in our holy writings. Thus work without the other.
one must protect it and guard it very well. But if man trivializes
his speech, then he will find that his “vineyard” is overgrown By showing him how to relate to these laws and the importance
with weeds and thistles, and all of the safeguards man developed that Hashem Himself ascribes to this limud Torah;
to protect his soul will not endure as long as his speech is Book 2 was written about thirty-five years after
trivialized. Shemirat HaLashon – Book 1, in order to relate
Shemirat HaLashon to our everyday lives by
(As was explained in my sefer, Shem Olam, Sha’ar HaChezkat showing us over and over again the appearance of
th
HaTorah, 10 perek [in the Hagahah], regarding the teaching this subject in Hashem’s Torah, and by extension
of our sages of blessed memory, (Beresheet 2:15) “to work it how it relates to our personal lives.
and to protect it.” “to work it” these are the positive (proactive)
4
commandments, “to protect it,” these are the negative (passive)
commandments. Meaning, (namely) that if we had not been By demonstrating the character enhancements – the pleasant and
banished from Gan Eden, the Torah would have been given (to endearing midot which will become a part of this person’s human
us) there, just as it was given later at Mt Sinai, and there (in Gan nature and are a consequence of living Shemirat HaLashon;
Eden) we would have fulfilled all of the mitzvot. We would Character building, the instruction necessary
have seen with our own eyes that by our performance of each to become a pleasant, whole person, empathetic
mitzvah a beautiful plant would have been planted in Gan Eden. to one’s fellow Jew on a familial and communal
Yet even now that we have been banished from there, by virtue level is the essential purpose of Kuntres Chovat
of our service (to Hashem) there still are created very beautiful HaShemirah and Kuntres Kevod Shamayim.
plantings. This is similar to what the Ramban wrote in his
commentary on Sefer Beresheet regarding the pasuk (Beresheet and by the gentle, patient administering of the immunization
2:3) “that Elokim created to do,” that the initial roots were created imparted by Shemirat HaLashon against the onslaught of one’s
by Gd Himself and He then gave us the power to achieve all this Yetzer Hara.
by virtue of our fulfillment of Torah and mitzvot. This (concept)
is described by the pasuk as (Beresheet 9:6) “He created man The Chizuk, the encouragement which accompanies
the physical practice of this limud is contained
within Kuntres Zachor LeMiryam.
4. A reference to the First Man’s responsibility to preserve Gan Eden.
This instruction gives purpose and fulfillment to practicing a life
of Shemirat HaLashon as intended for us by Hashem Yitbarach.
13 16 החיתפ םייח ץפח .]וֹשְׁפַנ ירְֵביֵא הרימשה תבוח סרטנוק .הֵבּרְַה וֹתוֹא ןיִאְמַּטְמ - טַעְמ ,הָלְעַמְלִמ ."יִכֹנָא םִיַתָפְשׂ אֵמְט שׁיִא יִכּ" :)'ה 'ו הָיְעַשְׁי( .)הֶזָבּ רָמֲאַמַּה לָכּ םָשׁ יִתְּשׁרֵַפֶּשׁ ,ןוֹשָׁלַּה תרַיִמְשִׁבּ ןֵיַּע( םָבּ רֶצֵיַּה וּנָאֶשְׁכּ ?וֹז הָשָׁק
