Judaism places a huge value on the creative power of speech. In the very beginning of our Torah, God literally speaks the world into being. Our liturgy reminds us of this divine creation, and describes God as “the One who spoke and the world came to be.” A hugely important Jewish value is the injunction against Lashon Hara – gossip and slander, with the understanding being that using our words carelessly can actually cause material harm to people. We can speak good into the world, or we can speak bad into the world – we have to guard our tongues because our speech and communication truly create the world around us.
In this week’s Torah portion, the Moabite king Balak gets anxious about the growing number of Israelites encroaching on his land and hires a prophet named Bilaam to curse them. Bilaam is famous for both his blessings and curses coming to fruition. He is an artist of words. But Bilaam is reluctant. He tries very hard to turn the gig down, warning Balak “How can I curse those who God has not cursed? How can I denounce who God has not denounced?” Bilaam eventually does resign himself to the task, but when he gets to the place where he overlooks the Israelite camp, he can only bless them. “Mah tovu ohalecha, Ya’akov!” he says. “How good are your tents, O Jacob, your dwellings, O Israel!” The curse twists into blessing – rather than speaking bad into the world, he only speaks good. Although he was contracted to create pain, he winds up only creating beauty.
When the world is hard and scary, one small way that we can create more beauty is by being mindful of the speech that we put out into it. Are we doing lashon hara, gossiping, and putting people down? Or are we using our speech to bless people and lift them up? I challenge you to do that this week. Give a friend a genuine compliment, not about something superficial but about the ways they add something meaningful to your life. Help create a connection to help someone take the next steps on an important journey. Express gratitude and joy. Tell your loved ones that you love them.