17 Dec A GREAT SEGULAH

In our Parsha this

week the Torah relates,
“Vayavey Yosef es
dibasom ra-ah el
avihem-Yosef brought
villainous tidings (about
his brothers) to their
Father (Yaakov)”. This
act of loshon hora- sinful gossip,caused
Yosef to be sold into slavery and unleashed
the dreadful suffering of the Jews in
Mitzrayim. Here is a timely story to
influence us to take active measures to
protect ourselves from this hazardous sin.
The Piryo Masuk relates a fascinating
inquiry that was brought to Rav Zilberstein,
Shlit”a. A couple was having a very
difficult time having a child. After a long
wait, the wife finally got pregnant only to
have a very messy miscarriage. They went
to a Godol who advised them to accept
upon themselves to learn two halachos
from the Chofetz Chaim about lashon hara
every day and to accept upon themselves

to continue doing so even after they will
have the baby. In that zchus, informed the
Godol, they would be blessed with a child.
Indeed, a short time afterwards she became
pregnant and delivered a healthy baby boy.
There then arose a dispute between the
husband and the wife concerning the
child’s name. The wife wanted to name
the child Yisroel Meir after the Chofetz
Chaim since the learning of his halachos
brought about the birth of the child. The
husband wanted to name the child after
his paternal grandfather especially since
his father was still alive and it would bring
his father great joy, thereby fulfilling the
mitzvah of kibud av.
Rav Zilberstein paskened that they should
call the child Yisroel Meir after the Chofetz
Chaim. He brought a proof from the fact
that Moshe Rabbeinu named his first child
Gershom and his second child Eliezer. This
was very surprising since Eliezer was
named as a commemoration of the great
miracle that saved Moshe Rabbeinu’s life.

While still in Egypt, Dasan and Aviram
informed on Moshe Rabbeinu to Paroh
revealing that Moshe slew the Mitzri.
Paroh apprehended Moshe Rabbeinu and
condemned him to be beheaded. Moshe
Rabbeinu’s neck was already on the
executioner’s block and the sword was
coming down upon him when Hashem
made a miracle and Moshe Rabbeinu’s
neck turned into marble, and he was able
to escape. In commemoration, he called
his son Eliezer, a corruption of “Elokei
Avi b’Ezri – The G-d of my Fathers stood
by me, Va’yatzileini mei’cherev Paroh –
And saved me from the sword of Paroh.”
The name Gershom, on the other hand,
commemorated a later event. “Ki ger
hoyisi b’eretz nochriyah – I was a stranger
in a foreign land (the land of Midyan).”
It is surprising that the names are not
in chronological order, for first Moshe
Rabbeinu was saved from the sword of
Paroh and only then was he a fugitive in
Midyan. So why did he give the name
Gershom first? The answer, says Rav
Zilberstein, is that it was imperative
that Moshe Rabbeinu remember that he
was only in exile in Midyan and that
he should not think of assimilating to
its ways. This reminder transcended
even the importance of giving thanks to
Hashem for saving his life.
So too, Rav Zilberstein says, although
giving honor to a grandfather and giving
pleasure to a father is a very great
accomplishment, the need to remember
the commitment which brought about the
miraculous birth, to learn two halachos
daily even after the baby was born, is
more important. Therefore, the parents
indeed gave the name Yisroel Meir.
One of the things that we can glean from
this story is the power of learning two
halachos about lashon hara every day.
When people would go to Rav Segal, the
Manchester Rosh Yeshiva, Zt”l, Zy”a,
in need of a yeshuah, a salvation, he
would often recommend this segulah
of learning two halachos about lashon
hara every day. There are even calendars
one can purchase where there is a system
for finishing all of the Chofetz Chaim
using this method. Especially in today’s
day and age where schmoozing is one
of people’s favorites pastimes, and in
a culture that prides itself in freedom
of speech, where one can legally say

whatever one wants, and especially in
the area of social media where people are
influenced by myriads of individuals who
have no scruples about how they speak,
where talk shows and secular newspapers
have no inhibitions on what they report, it
is oh! so important for us to learn the laws
of lashon hara.
In the merit of our learning to guard our
tongues, may we be zoche to that which
the verse proclaims, “Mi ha’ish he’chofetz
chaim, oheiv yomim, liros tov? N’tzor
l’shonecha mei’ra u’sfasecha midabeir
mirmah – Who is the man that desires
life, loves days, to see good? Guard your
tongue from speaking evil and your lips
from speaking deceit.”