Limmud Bay Area Experience 2015

“Guard your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking guile.  Turn away from evil and do good.  Seek peace and pursue it.”  (Psalms 34:14-15)  The Hafetz Hayim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, Poland, 1838–1933) writes that the mitzvah of “minding our tongues” is the central practice of righteous living, a key to being the best human beings we can be, and a gateway to a host of other mitzvot. 

Studying segments from the Hafetz Hayim’s famous work, “Sh’mirat Halashon,” “Mindful Speech,” we will consider some of the following questions:  What is so important about the ethics of speech?  Why is it so difficult for us to live up to the standards of speech to which we aspire?  What are some of the implications of speech for human conflict?