NUM101 Envy and jealousy cause people to speak unfairly of others. Thus, Aaron and Miriam were the second and third most powerful figures in ancient Israel, and heroes to the entire Israelite community. But when they grew envious of their younger brother Moses--apparently for being accorded more prominence than they were [also, as my friend Daniel Taub points out, Moses had just appointed 70 elders, and perhaps they felt their status has been undermined.]--they spoke unfairly of him among themselves, an act for which Miriam (who seems to have instigated the slander; see [this verse]) was punished.

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NUM104 Some students claim that since they are prepared for the exam and merely let others copy from them, they are doing nothing wrong. They claim that this kind of cheating, called passive cheating, is not wrong since the cheating students would get their information elsewhere anyway. Why lose friendships by covering up one's paper? Is this argument valid? The situation can be analogous to gossiping, or the sin called, in Hebrew, lashon hara. If people want to speak evil of others, but no one wants to listen, this sin could not be committed. In cheating, as well, if all who studied refused to passively cheat by letting students copy, no one would be able to cheat in this manner and they would have to develop more dubious, less reliable methods or not cheat at all. And if one just sits passively and lets others copy, Judaism does hold that person responsible. In the classic sin in the Torah about speaking evil about another person, Miriam spoke evil to Aaron about their brother, Moses. Although she did the speaking, as the verb is in the singular, the Torah [this verse] records that both Miriam and Aaron spoke, in order to teach that one who listens passively is just as guilty as the one who speaks. The Talmud (Arachin 15) states that this one act kills three individuals: the speaker, the listener, and the person being spoken about. Using this analogy, it can clearly be seen that a person who cheats passively is no less guilty than the active cheater, even though the passive cheater does not benefit. In fact, Judaism demands even more. Not only may a person not passively cheat by letting others copy, Judaism also expects a Jew to stop the cheating of the other people. If someone sits by and sees a sin being committed and could have stopped it, that person is also guilty (Shabbat 54b). Therefore, the honest student must try to prevent the cheating. Of course, the possible recriminations from other students may make it psychologically very difficult to openly tell the teacher who cheated, but there are other options. The threat to tell the teacher before the act is committed often can act as a deterrent. If a group of students can ban together in the effort, it becomes far easier. And when finally telling the teacher, it could easily be done anonymously, thus easing the pressure a bit from the person informing.

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NUM103 See [[EXOD78]] Exodus 4:7 leprous SACKS 178-9

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NUM102 For all who insult a righteous man it is as if they have insulted the Holy One Blessed be He, as the foes of Israel are referred to as the foes of Hashem in many places. It is in this regard that we are exhorted in the Torah (Devarim 24:9): "Remember what Hashem your God did to Miriam on the way [for speaking against Moshe]." Therefore, if one bears his shame in silence, it is evident that he is humble, as we find in the case of Hillel the Prince (Shabbos 31a) whom one shamed: "May there not be many like you in Israel," and who did not take umbrage. It is stated in the Midrash: "Only he is humble who hears himself shamed and does not reply, as it is written [this verse]: 'And Miriam and Aharon spoke against Moshe,' after which it is written (ibid. :3): 'And the man, Moshe was extremely humble.'" About such man it is written (Shoftim 5:31): "And those who love Him are as the going forth of the sun in its might" (Shabbos 88B).

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NUM105 Miriam was held in such high regard that the entire nation did not travel and waited for her until her seven-day punishment was completed (Deuteronomy 24:9, Midrash, Sifri, Ki Tetze 65). That particular blemish on Miriam involved the one time that a sense of competition emerged between these three siblings- Miriam, Aaron, and Moses. When Moses was forced to separate from his wife, Tzipporah, because he was always with God, Miriam remarked to Aaron that they (Aaron and Miriam) were also prophets, and they did not have to separate from their spouses. For this one "competitive" and disparaging remarks, Miriam, who was held to a higher standard than most, was punished with the plague of Tzaraat, leprosy-like symptoms, for seven days, and she remained outside the camp (Numbers 1-3, 9-13, 15). Despite the negative remark about him by his sister, it was Moses that prayed for Miriam's recuperation, this prayer apparently helped to limit Miriam's punishment to seven days.

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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.

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NUM108 Another aspect of Jewish modesty, tznuit, is related to another Hebrew word often translated into English as modesty, anavah, which is synonymous with humility. Jewish modesty, therefore, involves Jewish humility. What exactly is Jewish humility? Many people mistakenly believe that a humble person is one who thinks very little of himself or herself, but this cannot possibly be correct. It is written in the Torah [this verse] that Moses was the humblest of all men on the face of the earth. It would be very difficult to claim that Moses thought of himself as a very simple, low person, no better than anyone else. Moses was certainly conscious that God chose him to be the Jewish leader to take the Jews out of Egypt, which after an initial reluctance, Moses did in a very admirable manner. Could it be possible that Moses actually thought he was no better or no more spiritual than anyone else? After all, it was Moses himself who wrote down these words (dictated by God) that he was the humblest of all men. Clearly, Moses knew he was a great man. He was greater than any other prophet in history (Numbers 12:7-8 and Deuteronomy 34:10). Moses certainly wasn't foolish enough to think he was nothing out of the ordinary. He was a realist who understood his greatness. Therefore, Jewish humility cannot be defined as a feeling of self-worthlessness. What, then, it is Jewish humility? The quality that made Moses truly humble is that he did not ascribe any of his greatest to himself. He understood that all of his greatness came from the Almighty. This is true humility: acknowledging one's greatness, talents, and achievements in a realistic manner, but attributing all of life's achievements to God, and not to oneself. Even though man must work hard to develop his or her talents and the intelligence he or she was given, without these innate gifts (physical or spiritual, from God, all the hard work in the world could not help a person achieve greatness. When Moses did sin in the Torah when he hit the rock, his sin, according to Nachmanides quoting Rabbi Chanenel (commentary on Numbers 20:8), was that Moses caused the people to think that it was he and not God who performed the miracle of extracting the water from the stone. That is the meaning in the verses that explain the sin (Numbers 20:12 and Deuteronomy 32:51) "that you… did not sanctify Me (God) in the eyes of the people." Therefore, it [i.e. Jewish modesty] is this quality--understanding that one's achievements not only come from the self, but are attributable to others as well, especially to God.

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NUM120 See [[NUM56]] Numbers 7:3 cart AMJV 76-7

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NUM117 See [[EXOD42]] Exodus 2:12 struck BOROJMV 139-40

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NUM113 One should act kindly toward other people and speak well of them, judge them favorably, not malign them, and forgive them for speaking ill of him and disparaging him--even if they do not deserve it, as it says: “Do not curse the king, even in your thoughts” (Koheles 10:20); “Your mouth you release for evil, and your tongue you cleave to deceit. You sit and slander your brother; you malign the son of your mother” (Tehillim 50:19-20). An example of forgiving slander and disparagement is found in Scripture. It says, “Miriam and Aharon spoke against Moshe” (Bemidbar 12:1); then it says, “Now Moshe was an exceedingly humble man” (ibid. 12:3)--because he forgave them! Furthermore, the Wise One said, “Pay no attention to the words they speak....For you know in your heart that, many a time, you too have ridiculed others” (Koheles 7: 21-22). Our sages, of blessed memory, said, “It once happened that R. Eliezer stepped down before the ark and offered twenty-four supplications, and was not answered. R. Akiva then went down and said, ‘Our Father, our King...,’ and was answered. A Heavenly voice proclaimed, ‘It is not that this one is greater than the other, but only that this one is forbearing, while the other is not’” See Ta’anis 25b). One of the pious, it is told, passed by the carcass of a dog, which gave forth a dreadful odor. His disciples said to him, “How dreadfully does this carcass smell!” He said to them, “How white are its teeth!” They then regretted the disparaging remark they had made about it. Now if it is blameworthy to speak ill of a dead dog, how much more so is it blameworthy to speak ill of a living human being. And if it is proper to praise a dog’s carcass for the whiteness of its teeth, it is certainly a duty, then, to praise an intelligent and insightful human being. The pious one’s intention was to chastise his students, that they not accustom themselves to speaking evil, lest it become part of their nature. So too, if they trained themselves to speak favorably of others, this would become second nature to them. As it says: “He did not accustom his tongue to slander” (Tehillim 15:3), and conversely, “Your tongue thinks of injuring, like a sharpened razor that works deceit.... You love all injurious words” (ibid. 52:4, 6); and it says further: “A treacherous tongue-- what will it give you, what will it add to you? [A warrior’s sharpened arrows with hot coals of broom]” (ibid. 120: 3); “The words of a wise man's mouth are pleasant, but the lips of a fool devour him” (Koheles 10:12).

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