EXOD1054 See [[DEUT96]] Deuteronomy 4:13 ten SPERO 26-7

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EXOD1055 See [[EXOD1058]] Exodus 34:28 forty SACTAB 449-50

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EXOD1056 [Compiler's note: It is not clear to me why the translator/editor associated this verse (or any word therein) to Rabbi Yonah's commentary; I have associated the word "said" because the commentary deals with speech]. The fourth category [of those who speak lashon hara is] avak lashon hara [Lit., "dust of lashon hara," i.e. just a tinge of lashon hara. See paragraphs 137-139 for similar use of the word avak. Avak Lashon Hara is ostensibly innocent speech that can lead to lashon hara or damage to another.] Our Sages said (Bava Basra 165a), "The majority of people succumb to theft, a minority to illicit relations, and everyone to avak lashon hara." They explained that avak lashon hara entails a persons saying something that causes others to speak lashon hara. [Thus,] they said (Arachin 16a), "One should never say positive things about another person, for the positive things [said] about him lead to disparaging things [being said] about him." We must explain this passage: It is known that speaking praise of the sages and the tzaddikim is a beautiful trait, as the pasuk said (Mishlei 25:27), "Searching out their honor is honorable" [See paragraph 149]. They also said that a fool does not speak the praises of the world [So, what do Chazal mean when they say, "One should never say positive things when referring to another person"?] But the meaning of the matter is this: One should say positive things about another person only one-on-one [this verse], i.e., a man speaking to his friend, and not in public where many people are congregated--until it becomes clear to him that in this place there is no one who possesses hate or jealousy for the person he will speak about positively [i.e., for it will lead that person to say disparaging words against the man he hates or is jealous of. Consequently, the one who said positive things will be guilty of avak lashon hara]. However, if he wants to praise a person who has already been publicly accepted and acknowledged as an upright person and within whom no evil or guilt can be found, he can then praise him even in the presence of one who hates him or is jealous of him. For he will not be able to disparage him; and [even] if he does, everyone will know that he has spoken false [words]. His tongue will [only] become a pitfall for himself.

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EXOD1057 See [[LEV950]] Leviticus 24:21 human ROSNER-BLEICH 137

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EXOD1058 See [[EXOD973]] Exodus 31:14 keep AMEMEI 281

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EXOD1059 [T]here is a positive rabbinic mitzvah to light candles before Shabbat that will burn on Shabbat. Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 263:2. On the other hand, lighting a fire on Shabbat itself is absolutely forbidden [this verse, codified in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 261:1]. Thus, lighting a fire one minute before nightfall is a mitzvah. One minute later, lighting that same fire is a sin. Thus, the sensitivity to time is needed by the Jew to know that small differences between day and night, between mitzvah and sin.

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EXOD1060 We should take special care not to quarrel or grow angry on or before Shabbos. The Shaloh wrote that besides the literal meaning of the words, this verse also alludes to the fire of anger and disputes. On Shabbos a person should be especially careful not to grow angry or become involved in disputes. (Shnay Luchos Habris, part 3, p. 119). Rabbi Eliyahu Lopian wrote in a list of regulations for his yeshiva that everyone should be careful not to speak angrily on Friday and Shabbos. He added that ideally a person should never feel angry; someone who nonetheless feels angry, should at least not speak out of anger. On Friday, in the rush to finish the Shabbos preparations on time, a person is apt to become short tempered. Also, on Shabbos when the entire family sits at the table together, parents might become angry with their young children for not behaving properly. Therefore, special care should be taken to control one's anger. (Lev Eliyahu, vol. 1, p. 304).

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EXOD1061 Do not administer the death penalty on Shabbos. On Shabbos, courts shall not administer the death penalty of burning. So, too, if someone is found guilty of an offense that carries a different form of capital punishment, the offender shall not be put to death on Shabbos. Hashem wants to honor and sanctify the Shabbos. He wants everyone to find rest on Shabbos, even sinners and criminals. The matter can be likened to a great king who invites everyone to his kingdom to a royal feast. No one is excluded, and only after the day of the feast does the king mete out justice to those who have violated his will. The Shabbos, too, is for everyone. Hashem makes it special, for our benefit. Forbidding the courts from administering the death penalty on Shabbos is yet another way to set the Shabbos apart from weekdays and accentuate its sanctity.

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EXOD1062 Our Sages said (Pesachim 3a), "A person should never utter something unseemly, for the Torah went out of its way [to add] eight letters rather than utter something unseemly, as the pasuk says (Bereishis 7:8), '… and of the animals that are not pure.'" [i.e., instead of writing tamei ["impure"] which is five Hebrew letters, the Torah adds eight letters and writes asher aynah t'horah ["that are not pure"] to avoid using the unseemly word tamei "impure" (Rashi)]. At that time, an impure pure animal [i.e., a non-kosher animal] could be eaten [Rabbeinu Yonah explains in his chidushim on Sanhedrin 59b that although it was forbidden to slaughter and eat animal flesh at this time, if the animal died on its own it could be eaten. (Cf. Rashi, Bereishis 9:3)] but could not be brought as a sacrifice. Therefore, it is considered an unseemly form of speech, deprecating those things that serve as food for man. [Rabbeinu Yonah has resolved the following problem: if the word tamei is unseemly, why does it appear many times in the Torah? His answer is that the word is only unseemly when describing animals fit for human consumption. The word tamei relating to non-kosher animals appears in the Torah only after the prohibition on their consumption at Sinai (Matnas Chelko)]. It follows that a person is obligated to be careful not to utter something unseemly, even if his departure from unseemly language forces him to be wordy and to elaborate more in his discussions. This becomes a kind of safeguard against obscene talk, which is of the more grave transgressions, and also is a safeguard against speaking lashon hara and finding fault with people. As ours Sages, z"l, said (Bava Basra 123a) in respect to keeping far from unseemly speech: "The Torah did not deprecate even an impure animal." Our Sages further said (Pesachim 3b) that in the presence of Rabbi Yochanna ben Zakai one of the Kohanim said, "I received for my portion of the lechem hapanim [i.e., the twelve showbread that were eaten by the Kohanim every Shabbos [this verse; Vayikra 24:5-9] an amount equal to the tale of a lizard." When he examined his genealogy they discovered a taint [in his lineage] [i.e., he was a chalal (Rashi; see Vayikra 21:15), and therefore unfit to be a Kohen. This shows the power of speech to reveal the inner soul (Zeh Hasha'ar). A real Kohen would never speak about the holy lechem hapanim in such a manner].

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EXOD1063 R. Yitzchak said: A leader is not appointed over the people without their first being consulted, as it is written: "See, the Lord has called in the name of Bezalel." The Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses: Moses, is Bezalel acceptable to you? Moses answered: Lord of the Universe, if he is acceptable to You, how much more so is he acceptable to me! Whereupon He responded: Even so, go and tell the Jews (Berachoth 55a).

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