* Translation by Yehoshua Siskin
In order to have access to the most powerful weapon on earth, we do not need a license or any special training. We already carry it with us at all times: the tongue — and with it, the power of speech. At the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, Moshe gathers the people and proclaims that when a person promises to do something with a vow, he cannot violate his word: “According to whatever came out of his mouth, he shall do.”
Rav Yaakov Edelstein used to say we need to learn that moving the tongue should be more difficult than moving an arm or a leg. When we take a hammer to strike a nail, Rav Yaakov said, we know in advance what we intend to do. In this manner, we must aspire to rule over our speech with forethought and circumspection.
When a groom, under the chuppah, tells his bride “You are consecrated to me,” he creates a new reality through his words. Similarly, when someone says about another person that they are stupid or ugly, another reality, unfortunately, is created as well.
As the verse states: “Life and death are in the power of the tongue.” (Proverbs 18:21) The choice of whether to bring a holy reality into the world or — heaven forbid — the opposite, is ours.
