1) Just as it is forbidden to talk Nivul Peh so too it is forbidden to hear it from someone else. (See Sha'arei Teshuva Sha'ar 3 Siman 229. See also Talmud Kesubos 5b that Hashem created the earlobe soft and flexible so that it can be inserted in the ear to block out any forbidden speech one may hear, including Nivul Peh.)
Just as by Devarim SheBikedusah there is a concept of Shomea K'Oneh, where one who hears a holy utterance is as if he himself said it, so too with Nivul Peh, one who hears it [and is able to walk away or otherwise not hear it] is considered as if he himself is speaking it. (Shla Hakadosh, Sha'ar HaOsiyos, Kedusha)
2) One who [deliberately and constantly] defiles his mouth with Nivul Peh will as a result cause his mouth to be an unacceptable vehicle for holy utterances, and thus any Torah or Tefilos that the defiled mouth utters will not be accepted by Hashem, just as a precious gift delivered in a repulsive utensil will be rejected by its intended recipient. (See Chofetz Chaim in Sefer Nidchei Yisroel Perek 20 and 23 and in Sefer Z'chor L'Miriam Perek 8. See also Chayei Adam Klal 143 in his Pirush on Vidui, on the stanza"Dibarnu Dofi")
Furthermore, additional heavenly punishment will be necessary for the Chutzpa (audacity) of trying to present Hashem such holy utterances via such a defiled mouth, similar to one who recites a bracha over stolen food, where Chazal teach us that the bracha is considered an audacity. (Shla ibid. See Talmud Sanhedrin 6b)
Of course, once one does Teshuva for regularly speaking Nivul Peh, his mouth is cleansed and is once again acceptable for holy utterances.
QUESTION & ANSWER CORNER
Reader Submitted Questions of interest on topics related to Halachos we covered, as well as other interesting topic and Answers.
These Q&A are taken from the Q & A pages on the Halacha For Today website.
Although the answers I give to questions are taken directly from the Sifrei HaPoskim, and aren't my own, they are still for study purposes only, NOT for Psak Halacha.
Questions can be emailed to HalachaForToday@Gmail.com
Reader's Question:
On Motzai Shabbos, does one say "Shir Hamalos" before birchas hamazon [or Al Naharos Bavel like another weekday]?
Answer:
According to Maran Rav Chaim Kanievsky Shlita, in Sefer Sh'eilas Rav page 338, on Motzei Shabbos we say Al Naharos Bavel like on any other weekday.
CHIZUK CORNER
This section is dedicated L'Ilui Nishmas the late Telzer Rosh Yeshiva , HaRav Chaim Yaakov ben Rav Binyomin Moshe Stein Zatzal.
We will B'Ezras Hashem post here each day a short inspirational thought to help us all improve our lives and grow in our service of our Father in heaven, HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
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THANK YOU AND תזכו למצות!
זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה
Question:
What do you say to a non-religious Jew who says, "Why do you need religion? It's enough to be a good person!"
Answer by HaRav Avigdor Miller zatzal:
Let me tell you. I go in the streets everyday and I watch the people at the fruit stores,; customers. They stop and they eat cherries just to taste them, and don't buy. They pick grapes, eat them and don't buy. They pick peanuts and eat them, don't buy. Apricots; taste them, eat them, don't buy. So the whole world is a world of crooks. The irreligious are Mamaesh Ganovim. You have to learn that to take a fruit - a peanut today costs a penny;- it's Gezel (theft).
Without learning Torah, without Yiras Shomayim, you will never know how to be a decent person. It's a fundamental error; you can not be good without Torah. You do harm to your fellow man all the time. And therefore you have to learn Bava Kama to know not to damage other peoples property. You have to learn Bava Metziah to know that if you find something, you have to return it. All kinds of Bain Adam L'chaveiro, Onoas Devorim, Dinim of Nezikin, everywhere; and that you can never know.
That's why it's so good when they start teaching little boys Bava Kama. Once a man complained, "My little son he said, they're making a lawyer out of him in the yeshiva!" In Bava Kama they're teaching him laws. I said, not my own, an Adam Gadol said, you have to take a little boy and start teaching him to have respect for other peoples money. If you don't teach him when he's little, he'll never learn, so start with the little boys, Dinai Mo'monos, they'll learn how to respect other peoples' money.
You have to start as early as possible, because later in life, people that didn't learn Torah and start learning later in life will find it difficult to think about that. A man once walked into our Shul, a Baal Teshuva boy, wanted to open a window, so he pushed his hand against the glass and he pushed out the pane, broke the pane. So I announced that you have to pay for it. It was a big Chidush to him that you have to pay. A man is Chayiv even B'shogaig if he's Mazik. But if you never learned it, "I didn't mean any harm," he thinks. He did me a favor and wanted to give me money. I said, don't give me the money, I have to go get a glazier, I can't find a glazier, do it yourself. So he had to go and find a glazier to put in the pane because he broke it.
And therefore when you didn't learn, nothing means anything to you in Dinai Mo'monos, you'll always have excuses. There is no such thing as being good without Torah.
Important Numbers
