NUM106 A second instance of lashon hara in the Torah also occurs within a family setting: Miriam and Aaron, Moses' sister and brother, start criticizing Moses to one another, focusing on some incident between Moses and his wife. (Perhaps out of a desire not to encourage lashon hara, the Torah does not tell us what the incident was.) A verse later, the real reason for Miriam and Aaron's annoyance at their younger brother becomes clear: jealousy of Moses's greater standing in the community. "They said: 'Has the Lord spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?'" [this verse]. This last comment represents a common feature of lashon hara. When people envy someone, but can't find an obvious fault with the person, they attack anything they can in the person's life (such as, "Look what a bad husband he is," or "Look how her children turned out"). God is outraged by Aaron's and Miriam's comments about Moses: "How then did you not shrink from speaking against My servant Moses?" Immediately after receiving this rebuke, Miriam is stricken with leprosy. Aaron, who, a few verses earlier, had been bragging with Miriam about how they were both Moses' equals (since all three of them were God's prophets), is now forced to beg Moses to intervene with God on Miriam's behalf. Many readers might consider Miriam's offense as ordinary, even minor. But a later Torah passage commands Jews to remember this incident and Miriam's ensuing punishment: "Remember what the Lord your God did unto Miriam by the way as you came out of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 24:9). As this verse makes clear, lashon hara offends not only the person gossiped about, but also God. Wouldn't your parents be deeply pained if they learned that you were going about criticizing your brother or sister behind thir backs? Jewish tradition teaches that God regards human beings as His children and is therefore hurt when they denigrate one another.