Guarding Speech Through Concealment

בפסוק השמר בנגע הצרעת כו' זכור א"א עשה כו' למרים כו'

On the verse, "Be careful regarding the affliction of tzaraas... remember what Hashem your God did to Miriam..." (Devarim 24:8-9).

The Sfas Emes opens with the Torah's command to be careful about tzaraas and to remember what happened to Miriam, who was stricken for her speech.

כבר כתבנו בפ' מצורע כי הצרעת היא שמירה אל הפנימיות שלא יתפשט רק במקום הראוי

We have already written in Parashas Metzora that tzaraas is a form of guarding the inner essence, so that it should spread forth only in the proper place.

Citing his earlier piece on Metzora, he explains that tzaraas serves to protect a person's inner essence, ensuring it expresses itself only where it belongs.

כי הנה כח הפה ניתן לבנ"י

For behold, the power of speech was given to Bnei Yisrael.

Bnei Yisrael were granted the unique power of speech.

לכן צריך להיות להם שמירת הפה שהיא חיות הפנימיות ובנ"י מיוחדים לזה כדכ' גן נעול גל נעול

Therefore they must have a guarding of the mouth, which is the vitality of the inner essence, and Bnei Yisrael are uniquely suited to this, as it is written, "A locked garden... a locked spring" (Shir HaShirim 4:12).

Because speech draws out the inner vitality, Bnei Yisrael must guard their mouths, and they are specially suited to this, as Shir HaShirim describes them as a sealed garden and spring.

והיא בחי' זכור ושמור שזה כלל מ"ע ול"ת ושניהם נזכרים בכאן השמר וזכור

And this is the aspect of "Remember" and "Guard" — for this is the general principle of the positive mitzvos and the negative mitzvos, and both are mentioned here: "Be careful (guard)" and "remember."

Guarding speech embodies both "Remember" (positive mitzvos) and "Guard" (negative mitzvos), both of which appear in this passage.

וכ"כ מוצא שפתיך תשמור דרשו חז"ל מ"ש מ"ע תשמור זו מצות ל"ת

And so too, "That which goes forth from your lips you shall guard" (Devarim 23:24) — Chazal expounded: that which is a positive mitzvah, "you shall guard" refers to a negative mitzvah.

He brings the verse about guarding the words of one's lips, which Chazal read as a positive mitzvah turned into a warning against transgression.

לרמוז שכל המצות תלוין בזה כי השפתים עושים ב' הפעולות להוציא הדיבור ולשמור הדיבור

This hints that all the mitzvos depend upon this, for the lips perform both functions — to bring forth speech and to guard speech.

All mitzvos hinge on speech, because the lips both produce speech and hold it back — the two complementary functions.

ובהפטרה רני עקרה אמרו בגמ' דההוא צדוקי שאל לברורי' בשביל שהיא עקרה רני והשיבה לו רני עקרה דלא ילדה בני רשיעיא כוותייכו ע"ש

And in the haftarah, "Sing out, O barren one" (Yeshayah 54:1), the Gemara relates that a certain Tzeduki asked Bruriah: because she is barren, she should sing out? And she answered him: "Sing out, O barren one" — that did not bear wicked children like you; see there (Berachos 10a).

He cites the Gemara where Bruriah retorts to a heretic that the barren one "sings out" because she did not give birth to wicked children like his.

והוא כנ"ל שכנס"י היא מתעקרת לעשות תולדות שלא יהי' צדיקים

And this is as above, that Knesses Yisrael makes herself barren from producing offspring that would not be tzaddikim.

So too Knesses Yisrael deliberately renders herself barren rather than produce children who would not be tzaddikim.

בחי' גן נעול כנ"ל

This is the aspect of "a locked garden," as above.

This restraint is the same "locked garden" of guarded inner holiness mentioned earlier.

וכ"כ כחוט השני שפתותיך ומד' נאוה היא ב' כחות הנ"ל

And so too, "Like a scarlet thread are your lips, and your speech is comely" (Shir HaShirim 4:3) — these are the two powers mentioned above.

The scarlet-thread lips and comely speech of Shir HaShirim represent the same two powers — speaking and guarding.

וכמ"ש חז"ל בחורבנה העמידה לי צדיקים וז"ש רבים בני שוממה כו' פי' שביותר יכולין להיות ניתקן ע"י העיתים הסגורים שהכל הוא לטובה כי כל ההסגר שנעשה לבנ"י הוא לטובתם וכ"כ בורא ניב שפתים ש"ש לרחוק ולקרוב כו' ורפאתיו

And as Chazal said, "In her destruction she established tzaddikim for Me," and this is the meaning of "the children of the desolate one are many" (Yeshayah 54:1) — the explanation is that it is precisely through the closed-off times that they can become rectified all the more, for everything is for the good, since all the closing-off that is done to Bnei Yisrael is for their benefit; and so too, "He who creates the speech of the lips: Peace, peace, to the far and to the near... and I will heal him" (Yeshayah 57:19).

Through times of destruction and being shut off, Bnei Yisrael are actually rectified and multiply tzaddikim, because every confinement imposed on them is ultimately for their good, bringing healing even to the distant.

פי' שיש רפואה ע"י הריחוק כמו ע"י הקירוב וכן כשביקש מרע"ה אל נא רפא נ"ל השיב הקב"ה תסגר ז' ימים ואחר תאסף שהי' רפואתה ע"י ההסגר וכ"א חז"ל [*דלפעמים] נגעים יסורים של אהבה הם לכן כ' השמר בנגע כו' ככל אשר יורו כו' שהכל היא רפואה ושמירה לטובה כנ"ל

The explanation is that there is healing through distancing just as through drawing close; and likewise, when Moshe Rabbeinu prayed, "Please, Hashem, heal her now" (Bamidbar 12:13), the Holy One, Blessed is He, answered, "Let her be shut away for seven days, and afterward she shall be gathered in" (Bamidbar 12:14) — for her healing came about through the shutting away; and as Chazal said, that at times afflictions are sufferings of love, therefore it is written, "Be careful regarding the affliction... according to all that they shall instruct you..." (Devarim 24:8) — for all of it is healing and guarding for the good, as above.

Healing can come specifically through distance, just as through closeness — as with Miriam, whose cure came precisely by being shut away for seven days, and as Chazal teach that afflictions can be sufferings of love.

וכן בגלות כל ימי הסתר הכל לטובה וזהו רני עקרה כמ"ש והבן כי המה דברים יקרים:

And likewise in galus, all the days of concealment are entirely for the good, and this is the meaning of "Sing out, O barren one," as we have written — understand this, for these are precious matters.

So too the long concealment of galus is entirely for the good, which is the deeper meaning of "Sing out, O barren one"; these are precious matters worth contemplating.

Summary: The Sfas Emes teaches that tzaraas, tied to the sin of speech, comes to guard the inner essence of a person so that it expresses itself only in its proper place. Since Bnei Yisrael were uniquely granted the power of speech, they are specially charged to guard their mouths, which embodies both "Remember" and "Guard" — the positive and negative mitzvos — for the lips both bring forth speech and hold it back. He weaves in the haftarah's "Sing out, O barren one": Knesses Yisrael willingly restrains herself, like a locked garden, rather than produce offspring who are not tzaddikim. Most profoundly, he shows that healing comes through distance and confinement no less than through closeness — as Miriam was cured precisely by being shut away — so that every period of concealment, including the long galus, is entirely for the good.