THE PEDDLER’S MESSAGE (14:3)
Once upon a time, says the Midrash, a traveling medicine salesman arrived in Tzippori. “Who would like to purchase the potion of life?” he called out. One of the Sages, Rav Yannai replied, “Bring your bag here and sell me some!” The salesman looked dubiously at this unlikely customer and declared, “You don’t need it. Neither you nor those like you.”
Undaunted, the Rabbi pressed further until the salesman brought out a book of Psalms. Opening the Book to chapter 34, he read, “Who is the man who desires life, who loves days, to see good?” Then the salesman pointed to the next verse which answers the Psalmist’s question “Guard your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking falsehood…”
A wiser Rav Yannai remarked, “All the days of my life I read this verse, and I did not understand its simple meaning until this salesman came and taught it to me.” All the commentaries are bothered by an obvious question. How is it that Rav Yannai never understood the simple interpretation of a straightforward pair of verses? It would seem that there is nothing subtle to understand here! What did the peddler perceive that the Rabbi did not? Rav Yannai believed that the verse referred to the world which is truly good, i.e., the World to Come. Thus, “Guard your tongue, ” meant that you will eventually be rewarded. Of course, that is true. But the salesman, who came with all sorts of medications, taught that guarding your tongue works in the, “Here and now.” It’s good medicine!
The Kochav MiYaakov (the Dubner Maggid, 1740-1804) takes this a step further. What are the results of gossip? Our initial impression is that loshon hora is basically harmless. In fact rumor mongering generates animosity, fighting, and likely revenge. Rather than being a victimless crime, malicious tales literally harm the health of a person. Torah is not just trying to tell us how to get a good seat in Heaven; it is Toras Chayim-Instructions for Life. A contemporary philosopher missed that point when he wrote, “We’re all flying on this big blue spaceship, which has no instruction manual.” It does. We don’t need to make religion “more relevant.” Judaism already is. That is why, “Guarding your tongue” is not only a mitzvah which will be rewarded in the World to Come, but a simple medicine which improves the health of a person and extends his life.
The Shemen HaTov (Reb Shmuel Shmelke of Nikolsburg, 1726-1778) suggests another angle. Even Rav Yannai understood that a person who desires a happier physical life needs to guard his tongue. But until that time Rav Yannai felt that the only way to effectively accomplish this was to become a hermit. If one mixed with society, had friends and engaged in conversation; that was a sure formula for not being able to live up to the standards of, “Who is the man who desires life.”
Rav Yannai was therefore shocked that it was a peddler who was “selling” this verse. After all, these traveling salesmen were known for their ‘gift of gab’. They would move from village to village and from house to house supplying stories as much as they hawked their wares. Let us not forget that in the era of our Talmudic Sages, peddlers were often the only link bringing news from one locale to another. No wonder than, that in classic Hebrew literature, the peddler was always portrayed as a gossip. Indeed, the very name of his profession Rochel (peddler), is related to the word for tale-bearing, Rechilus.
Rav Yannai’s surprise therefore was not regarding the practical application of the verse, but at the teacher of the lesson: “If a peddler can convince me that a person such as himself can be careful about Lashon Hara, then I must alter my perspective and realize that a person can be part of society, have interesting things to relate, and still avoid the pitfalls of gossip.”
There is one final lesson that deserves to be mentioned. Often in life we are bombarded with messages. Some of these are no doubt of vital importance, even if they may come from the most unlikely of sources. Thus it is possible that even the lowly peddler can teach a thing or two to the great Rav Yannai. It all depends on our attitude. Only someone like our willing Sage who is constantly open to the messages of life, will constantly learn and grow. To him can be applied the words, “From all my teachers I have become wise.”
It has already been pointed out that the third and central book of the Torah begins with, “Vayikra el Moshe - And he called to Moshe.” Strangely enough, the verse doesn’t actually state who called to Moshe. Although the verse later clarifies that it was Hashem who did the speaking, the commentaries wonder why the Torah is not more explicit from the get-go.
We already have our answer. Moshe knew that every calling that he heard could be nothing less than an urgent message from G-d. We too must come to recognize every calling, every event, and every situation in the same way; a wake up call from the One Above.
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