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Dear Yeshiva Family:
In this week's parshah, we confront the challenging episode where Miriam speaks critically of her brother, Moshe Rabbeinu. As a consequence, Miriam is afflicted with tzora'as, a spiritual affliction reserved for those who engage in lashon hara (slander). The Torah explicitly commands us to recall this incident, stating (Devarim 24:9): "Remember what Hashem did to Miriam," underscoring the severity of lashon hara.
It's noteworthy that Miriam became the name synonymous with slander, to the point that remembering her action appears in most siddurim after the daily Shacharis, to fulfill this mitzvah. Which raises an interesting question--why is this itself not Lashon Hara? If not for the Torah telling us what she said, it is probable that no one would know she sinned, or what she said privately to Aharon Hakohen. Why does the Torah shame her this way?
I have often wondered why some people choose to name challenging things after themselves. While it makes sense for inventors like Mr. Harley Davidson, or for scientists like Isaac Newton to take pride in their contributions, why would Dr. Alois Alzheimer or Dr. James Parkinson choose to name dreaded diseases after themselves? Who wants to be known for such things? Why does Miriam, a tzadeikes of unparalleled stature, become known as the one who spoke lashon hara?
Perhaps we can draw from our discussion in this forum on Parshas Bamidbar, when we explored the concept of learning from one's mistakes. Everyone is bound to make mistakes, and a mistake that is learned from can actually be constructive.
The Gemara (Yuma 86b) distinguishes between repentance driven by fear of Hashem versus repentance motivated by love of Hashem. If a person sins and repents out of love, his sins are transformed into merits. How does that make sense? How can it be that a sin, something that goes against Hashems, will would actually be counted as a good thing?
The answer is that if a person truly loves Hashem and repents for his actions, he will not only wish to erase that action, but he will wish to compensate for the wrongdoing, by walking back the action so much that it will actually propel him in the other direction. For example, unlike a person who breaks the law, and then feels bad and regrets his violation, will not do anything other than at most not repeat his violation, however, someone who breaks the trust of someone he loves, and is caught and then feels remorse and wants to make up for it, is not satisfied by merely getting forgiven and promising not to commit the offense again. They want to prove themselves and go out of their way to make up for the sin. They will try extra hard at expressing devotion and love in many areas. The original sin is what caused all of this extra display of love. Similarly, if someone loves Hashem and sins, and does teshuva out of love, he will then use this sin as a catalyst to improve his service of Hashem in all areas. He will be more meticulous in his performance of all the mitzvos. The sin then becomes the harbinger of much good, and therefore the sin itself can be counted on the side of the merits.
This then is what Miriam was thinking. The Gemara in Megilla (28b) says that Klal Yisrael is happy to have the story of the Egel, or golden calf, read in the Torah, for the reading of it facilitates atonement. Similarly, Miriam may have welcomed the portrayal of her lashon hara, as it could inspire others to become more vigilant in their observance of Halacha. In her great love for Hashem, Miriam saw the potential for positive outcomes from disclosing her mistake, effectively transforming her sin into a mitzvah.
She has told us that even great people sin and therefore need to beware. Do not rely on your stature or position to protect from sin. You can be the greatest prophetess in the generation, and still be held accountable and punished for all sins. No one is above the law. She has shown us that if one sins and is held accountable, they take their punishment and move on with life, not giving up.
She has shown us the great power of slander and how it can ruin people's lives, and how careful Hashem wants us to be with that. Even a fact that was known to both her and Aharon already (for they were discussing Moshe's marriage, facts that were available already to both of them) is still prohibited. The reason is because when discussing something with someone else, one believes the story more or gets full confirmation of their version of the story through the slanderous talk, even if the basic details were already known beforehand, and is therefore still prohibited.
Miriam taught us these lessons. Miriam was happy to advertise the unfortunate incident of her failing if it had the power to galvanize other people to become more careful in halacha. With this Miriam feels she is gaining, using her sin to its maximum strength!
One interesting complaint that comes up from people who are struggling with long-term battles with their yetzer hara, be it with lust, honor, anger or lashon hara, is that they experience long streaks of success followed by a sudden setback. How do we explain this phenomenon? Rather than dismissing setbacks as returning to square one, consider that as one progresses in their spiritual journey, the challenges they face evolve. When one starts his battle with the yetzer hara, say in the field of anger, he is battling the yetzer hara on a low level. We can give the example of a martial arts student coming to the dojo for the first time: He meets the trainer, a grandmaster of many arts. The grandmaster will train the boy on his level, starting with the white belt and challenging him on that level. He will always challenge him to his limits, and therefore it will be expected that sometimes there will be wins and sometimes losses, for such is the nature of an even keeled battle.
After successfully mastering the 'white belt' level, the grandmaster suddenly ups the game a bit. It is the same dojo, the same grandmaster, but suddenly the fight is slightly more intense, because the student has become stronger. The battle looks the same but in reality, it is on a much higher level. It may still be that it is hard to keep one's temper, but if he has been working on it consistently his whole life and it is still hard in his later years one must know that it is not at all the same battle. It's the same dojo and the same grandmaster, but now the battle is actually on a black belt level.
This is the legacy of Miriam. Do not give up from battle. She wears her battle scars proudly. She learned and gained from her mistakes and we should too; that is why she 'allowed' the Torah to tell us about it, so we can gain from her mistake!
Let us all continue to maintain a purity and learn from our battles in life to come out stronger, and use everything we experienced in the battle for the good!
Have a great Shabbos!
Rabbi Moshe Revah Rosh HaYeshiva, HTC - Beis HaMidrash LaTorah moshe.revah@htc.edu | 
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