Hi,
Hope you’re having a great day.
… You probably heard about what happened to the British Prime Minister.
He was campaigning and was videoed having an exchange with an ordinary citizen.
She expressed her feelings about various issues. And he responded.
The Prime minister ended by saying how nice it was to meet her.
The problem?
When he got back into his car, he told his staff what he really thought about the woman!
Not realizing that the Sky News microphone was still on!
Major political disaster!
But Torah Minutes are not about politics.
They’re about lessons for life.
… And I think something very positive can come from this.
We should learn a very powerful lesson from the story.
You may have read how a reporter challenged him on national television about what he said.
And how he apologized “if I said anything like that.”
Until?
He was forced to listen to a tape of his comments.
You may have seen the video.
How he sat there in agony with his hand over his face.
And was disgraced in front of the whole world.
… Lashon harah, gossip, is a terrible sin in Judaism.
Causing pain to someone with our words is one of the worst things we can do on this earth.
We should love people too much to talk negatively about them.
And we should love G-d too much to talk about His children.
But when all fails?
And that juicy piece of gossip is about to come out of our mouth?
We should remember this story.
Remember what happened to one of the most powerful people in the world.
How humiliated he was when the tape was played back to him.
Because The Talmud tells us that every word we say is also heard. In heaven.
And after 120 years we will be held accountable for every word.
And if we try to deny ever having said it, the “tape will be played” for us.
… It might help to say something like this to ourselves:
“You never know when the Sky News microphone is on …
But the” Microphone in the Sky” is always on!”
All the best,
Rabbi Moshe Katz
Director
ChicagoTorah Network
2832W. Touhy Avenue
Chicago,IL60645
P 773. 761. 0400 ext. 201
F 773. 761. 9262