24 Amy Scheinerman
communication with others. Legion are the reports of children engaging in cruel gossip using Instant Messenger tools, email, and texting. These teachings should become a staple of every religious school curriculum from the earliest age and taught often in an ageappropriate manner.
Conclusion
We live in a society that thrives on gossip. Alice Roosevelt Longworth is said to have quipped,“If you haven’t got anything good to say about anyone, come and sit by me.” Norman Rockwell ’s painting“The Gossips” lovingly depicts 14 people transmitting a tantalizing bit of gossip. The number 14 seems quaint when we consider the numbers of people one can reach on the Internet via email, facebook , and twitter with just one click.
Rabbi Israel Salanter said,“Man is a drop of intellect drowning in a sea of instincts.”*® Considering human nature, we cannot realistically say to people,“Don’t read what comes around.” But we can remind them that our tradition places a moral premium on avoiding lashon hara, rechilut, and motzi shem ra for the sake of human dignity and causes emotional harm. We can encourage people to critically filter what they read, and forward, post, or disseminate only that which they are certain rises to the level our tradition approves. We can remind them that what they do may influence and affect many others, and redouble our efforts to teach the principles of lashon hara especially in connection with use of the Internet.
[ began with the story of the feathers scattered abroad. Presciently, our Rabbis understood that lashon hara has a broad range of operation. As Bereishit Rabbah observes,“it is uttered in Rome and kills in Syria .”
Midrash Tehillin expresses it this way: