Parshat Vayeishev "Slander Candor" Rabbi Yehoshua Schechter "These are the chronicles of Yaakov, Yosef…" Genesis 37:2 This week's Parsha is like a film-script for the entire future history of the Jewish People, says the Chofetz Chaim. Yosef (the Jewish people), the most beloved son of his father (Hashem), is compelled to leave his father and his land (the exile of the Jewish People throughout the world). He is sent to another land, under the control of a decadent nation. And they try, by all methods, to wipe him out. However, this has the reverse effect, and he rises to the pinnacle of society and success. He becomes the provider, the archetypal entrepreneur, sustaining the nations through times of famine, and eventually his brothers come and bow down in front of him, for they have caused him so much pain and affliction. Thus it will be in the future - in the final scene - when Hashem is revealed to the whole world, all will see that it was precisely, the trials of the Jewish People that has propelled their ascent. And what brought about the trials of the Jewish People? What particular trait of Yosef was responsible for thousands of years of spiritual and physical hardship for the Jewish nation? Perhaps we can draw a conclusion from the end of aforementioned verse 37:2, "and Yosef would bring evil reports about them to their father". Yosef spoke Loshon Hora, (slander) about his brothers. He was the precursor, however, examples of slander among the Jewish People, occurred again and again, throughout the five books of the Torah and the Prophets. Sinat Chinam (baseless hatred) reared its ugly head a bit later on in our history, as the Talmud relates to us in a myriad of situations in tractates Yoma and Gittin. Baseless hatred, destroyed the second temple and Jerusalem, and together with slander, has been, is ever-present today, and is without question, the biggest cause of suffering for the Jewish People. The repercussions of the mitzvah of proper speech, and the transgression of speaking evil of another, are so intense, that they have literally shaped the destiny of our people. The Jewish People have been in exile for 2,000 years, only because of words that come out of our mouths. Can our nation fashion the scourge of our millennia – our everlasting cause of misery, into a benefit - an ascent? May it be Hashem's will that we replace slander with candor, and baseless hatred with baseless love. | 
