NUM140 See [[GEN1437]] Genesis 37:2 reports SEFER 31-2

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NUM141 (Continued from [[NUM387]] Numbers 32:22 AMJV 314-5 clear) It is a Torah imperative that Jews take into account how their actions are perceived by others-i.e., Jews must always behave in a way that is not only moral, but that also appears moral to others. King Solomon echoes the same imperative when he writes that Jews need to be right and seek favor both in God's eyes and in men's eyes (Proverbs 3:4). Traditional Jews ask God to help them achieve this goal each day when they recite the Grace After Meals (End of the last blessing of Birkat Hamazon). This concept of taking an action specifically to assure that one does not appear guilty in the eyes of others is such an important one that it saved the Jewish people twice in the desert. If not for this idea, the entire Jewish people, as we know it, would simply not exist today. After the first great sin that the people committed in the desert by worshiping the Golden Calf, God wanted to destroy the entire nation and begin again with Moses. What was Moses' argument that saved to the Jewish people from destruction? Moses tells God that if He were to destroy the Jewish people, the Egyptians would (and completely erroneously) think that God was simply two-weak to fulfill His promise to bring them into the holy land (see Ibn Ezra commentary) and that is the reason the Jewish people were destroyed, rather than because of their sins (Exodus 32:11-12, 14). Though the Egyptians would have been totally mistaken to think this way, and God's punishment of death would have been deserved (an omnipotent God could certainly have brought them to the land of Israel), God relents and does not destroy the people in order to avoid a Chilul Hashem-desecration of His name. Moses uses the same argument less than two years later one more time. The Jews sin, once again, in believing the ten spies' negative report and not having faith that God would make them victorious in their conquest of the land of Israel. Once again God wishes to destroy the people. This time, Moses spells out what people would say if this were to occur: The Egyptians would say that God had some powers, but not enough strength to lead them successfully into the land of Israel and triumph over the seven nations living there, and that is why God had to destroy the Jews in the desert (Numbers 14:11-20). As foolish and incorrect as this argument was, God says to Moses that he forgives the Jewish people "because of your words." Thus, how something appears is as important as doing the right thing. Even God changed His plans and the Jewish people were saved because of how this situation would appear to the nations [of] the world, even though, had He acted as He had wanted to, of course God would have been right and the nations mistaken. Rabbi Moses Sofer (1762-1839), one of the most outstanding and pious rabbis in Europe, writes that one of the most difficult precepts he encountered in trying to fulfill all of Judaism's Commandments is this one. It was far easier for him to remain "clean" and righteous in the eyes of God than to "to remain clean in the eyes of his fellow man (Responsa Chatam Sofer 6:39)." People are always filled with all kinds of suspicions and thoughts, even about Rabbis, so a Jew must be very diligent not only to be guiltless but also to appear guiltless in the eyes of others.

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NUM142 It was taught: R. Yehoshua b. Levi said: "When Moses ascended on high [to receive the Law], the Holy One Blessed be He said to him: Moses, do they not say "Shalom" ["Greetings"] in your city? Moses responded: Is it proper for a servant to say "Shalom" to his Master? "The Lord answered: You should have assisted Me -- whereupon Moses said: "And now, let the power of the Lord be magnified, I pray you ..." (Shabbath 89a)

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NUM143 See [[EXOD979]] Exodus 32:10 thee COHON 196-7

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NUM144 See [[EXOD1073]] Exodus 34:7 visits DORFFWITO 47-8

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NUM145 … lashon hara [Lit., "evil tongue," i.e., communicating something bad about another person] brings a person to speak falsely against Hashem, [Yeshayahu 32:6] as the pasuk says (Tehillim 73:9), "They have set their mouth against Heaven, even though their tongue goes up on the earth." Among all the transgressions none come close to the punishment incurred by one who tosses words [abusively against Hashem]. Our Sages said (Arachin 15a) that our forefathers tested [ Hashem] ten times [in the wilderness], but their decree was only sealed over the sin of lashon hara, as the pesukim say [this verse], "Surely, as you have spoken in My ears, I will do to you," and (Devarim 1:34), "Hashem heard the sound of your words, and became angry and made an oath, saying…" [The Jewish people were punished by not being able to enter Eretz Israel after maligning the land and Hashem.] The pasuk also says (Malachi 2:17), "You have wearied Hashem with your words."

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NUM146 And our Sages of blessed memory have said (Arachin 15a; Shochar Tov 39:1): "Our forefathers were tested with ten trials, but their decree was sealed only because of slander, as it is written [this verse]: 'Surely, as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you,' and as it is written (Devarim 1:34): 'And Hashem heard the voice of your words and was angry and swore.'" And Torah does not protect slanderers. In the case of Doeg the Edomite, because he spoke slander, his wisdom did not avail him and his Torah did not protect him (Sotah 21a; Sanhedrin 106b).

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NUM147 See [[EXOD1073]] Exodus 34:7 visits DORFFWITO 47-8

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NUM148 Now did they sin forty years? Did they not sin forty days? This teaches us that if one sins, even one day during the year, he is accounted by Scripture to have sinned the entire year (Chagigah 8b).

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NUM149 [Misah bidei Shamayim -- death administered by Heaven -- applies to] one who slanders another, as the pasuk says, (this verse), "The men who produced the evil slander on the land died in a plague before Hashem." Our sages, z"l, said (Tosefta Arachin 2:6) that if those who slander the land were punished with death [administered by Heaven], then this is surely the case for one who slanders a Jew bound to the fulfillment of the Torah and its mitzvos. The pasuk also says (Devarim 22:19), "They shall fine him one hundred silver shekels and give them to the girl's father, for his slander…" Note that the Torah does not mention how he sinned seeking the woman's life, trying to cause her death in a Jewish court of law by bringing false witnesses to testify about her adulterous affair. Rather, the Torah mentions the sin of his slandering her, for this is a greater sin than seeking to kill a human being, as the anguish associated with shame is more bitter than death itself. Similarly, our Sages, z"l, said (see Arachin 15a) that the Torah penalized him with both lashes and monetary compensation for slandering her name, not for seeking her death. Our Sages, z:l, further said (Yerushalmi Bava Kama 8:7) that a person who cast aspersions on one's family background can never be atoned for – – the forgiveness granted by the living who are still alive does not suffice, for he has caused a disgrace and besmirching of their progenitors.

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