Words That Heal, Words That Hurt
Magic aficionados and those partial to dramatic exclamation know well the expression “Abra Cadabra.” Fewer are aware that it derives from the Hebrew, meaning “I create as I speak.” The power of words is affirmed in Judaism from the beginning (of both the world and the Torah), as God declares “Let there be light,” and the Big Bulb of Existence banged. God revealed to us through words, and the life of the mind through language is central to our way of life as Jews. But of course, there’s a dark side to words as well. In this week’s Torah portion, M’tzora, the rabbis elevate a seemingly arcane discussion of the ritualistic engagement with disease into a condemnation of gossip. They play with the word m’tzora, parsing it as “motzi ra/the going out of evil,” and link it to the episode in the Book of Numbers when Miriam, Moses’ sister, gossiped against him and was afflicted with leprosy. The confrontation and overcoming of the urge to gossip appears throughout our tradition, both because it is so prevalent and seductive, and because we have agency and control over it. Particularly in our current moment, when the damage caused by social media to individuals and relationships through careless comments is only superseded by misinformation’s wider undermining of our communal bonds and democratic institutions, the use and abuse of words to heal or hurt should be central to our pursuits of a righteous path.