The Mouth That Destroys, The Mouth That Rebuilds

Not long ago, we all felt it.
The silence. The distance. The ache of being apart.
During the Covid lockdowns, even Pesach seders were held in empty rooms. Shabbos meals with no guests.
Some of us were lucky to have family.
But too many were completely alone — no one to invite them, no one to be with.
And even now, there are people who spend Shabbos that way. Alone. Unseen.

That’s the metzora.
Cast out, isolated, forgotten. Not just from family or friends — but from all three camps.
An exile worse than any other form of tumah (Rashi – Vayikra 13:46).
Why so severe?
Because he used his mouth to separate people. To cause division.
And the Torah shows us — midah k’neged midah — that someone who drives others apart must feel what that separation really is.

Chazal say clearly: tzara’at comes from lashon hara.
The Chafetz Chaim goes even deeper — he writes that lashon hara isn’t just a sin.
It’s spiritual destruction.
It tears apart friendships, families, communities.
And it delays the geula.

We forget this sometimes.
We talk — casually, carelessly. A comment here, a joke there.

But Hashem built the world with words:

“By the word of Hashem the heavens were made” (Tehillim 33:6).

Pirkei Avot tells us that Hashem created the world in 10 statements.
The Hebrew word davar means both “word” and “thing” — because words create reality.
And when misused, they destroy it too.

The Second Beit HaMikdash was destroyed because of sinat chinam — baseless hatred.
Because where there’s hatred, lashon hara follows.

And it hasn’t ended.
Chazal say:

“Any generation in which the Beit HaMikdash is not rebuilt—it is as if they themselves destroyed it.”

If it’s not rebuilt, it means the root cause still lingers.

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So what do we do?
We flip the script.

If the mouth destroyed, the mouth can rebuild.
If lashon hara brought destruction, then ahavat chinam — love without cause — can bring redemption.

And love grows through words.
Words that comfort. Words that heal.
Words that invite someone who has nowhere to go.
Words that say: “I see you. Come sit with me.”

You can say something today that lifts someone’s spirit.
You can speak to Hashem — in davening, in Tehillim, or just in your own words — and bring light into your life.

Rav Kook said it best:

“If we were destroyed… through sinat chinam, then we shall rebuild… with ahavat chinam.” (Orot HaKodesh Vol. III)

Every time you hold back from speaking negatively…
Every time you say something kind…
Every time you reach out, include someone, or lift them up…

You’re not just building yourself.
You’re not just helping someone else.
You are bringing the Geula.

Because the same mouth that once destroyed —
can now rebuild.

And if lashon hara caused destruction,  then words of love, prayer, and kindness can rebuild Yerushalayim.