MISHPATIM SHABBAT SHEKALIM 5772

THE UNCOVERED PIT OF SPEECH

If a person opens a pit or digs one and an ox or donkey fell in, the owner of the pit reimburses the owner of the animal ... (Ex 21:33, 34)

Pits were often cisterns that were dug to catch and contain water, and strict guidelines governing their utilization to prevent injury or damage. The Talmud and later authorities expanded the concept of pit to placing any obstacle or impediment that could conceivably cause injury in a public thoroughfare.

The underlying concept of responsibility for the pit is that members of a society are inter-dependent and are expected to be alert to possible danger or harm to others. Thus closing our eyes or averting our gaze from the open pit or strewn obstacle in order to avoid responsibility is simply not an option. We are all accountable if we fail to do our share to close pits or remove obstacles that could endanger us as we traverse the public square.

As we traverse the information highway, inflammatory words and inciting speech that defame and libel individuals and groups, are the pits and obstacles that contaminate the public square and lessen the chances of peace. While this was always true it is far more so today with the modern conduits of sharing information at our disposal.

Thus far too many Imams in their Friday sermons in their mosques have quoted the all too well known Hadith* to justify anti-Semitic hatred:

Abu Huraira reported Allah's Messenger may peace be upon him (Mohammed) as saying: The last hour would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews, and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree; and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews. [Sahih Muslim, 41:6985]

These sermons often find their way to YouTube or are circulated via the web. The defense offered by these Imams, when challenged that their words not only target the State of Israel but all Jews is, "I have merely quoted the Koran. These are its words not mine!" Unquestionably the source of this "pit" is Mohammed himself, but propagating it is the equivalent of uncovering and opening it.  In this instance the conduit, namely the preacher, is no less responsible for this "pit" on the information highway.

Lest we fall into the trap of accusing only "Koran quoters" of inciting speech, the Bible is also quoted to demonize others. Those who decry homosexuality as an abomination, for example, argue that they are merely quoting Scripture." Our tradition, however, is built not only on the written words of the Torah but upon the accompanying Oral Law with its emphasis upon justice, compassion and humility.

The Talmudic teaching that life and death are in the hands of the tongue is true. Words have power. A word appropriately spoken brings joy to others, but sadly the converse is also true: inappropriate and inciteful words are a curse harming the victim and destroying social harmony. Disseminating  Hadiths such as the one  above is a barrier to peace.

"O Lord Guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking guile" is an eternally relevant prayer. May we strive to keep our speech at that level.

*Hadith: a narrative record of the sayings and customs of Mohammed and his companions. (Merriam Webster Dictionary)

From the holy city of Jerusalem, Rae joins me in wishing all a Shabbat shalom u’mevorach, a Shabbat of peace and of blessing and fulfilling.


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Shabbat Shekalim is the first of the special Shabbatot leading first to Purim and then to Pesach. The month of Adar, the month of Purim, begins on Thursday bringing with it the time-honored exhortation: with the arrival of Adar, we strive to increase our joy.

Rabbi Arnold M. Goodman
Senior Rabbinic Scholar
Ahavath Achim Synagogue
Atlanta, Georgia 30327
February 17, 2012
23 Shevat 5772