The Hafetz Hayyim and Mongolia

You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people…                                           Leviticus 19:16

It is a negative commandment not to tell anyone things that another person said about him. There is an even greater sin included within this prohibition, and that is evil gossip, which refers to one who speaks disparagingly of his fellow-man, even if he tells the truth. The Concise Book of Mitzvot compiled by Ḥafetz Ḥayyim [Negative Mitzva #77]

       My friend Barry, who took early retirement from his position as advisor to the Governor of the Bank of Israel and now works as an international consultant, recently returned from a trip to Mongolia.

Upon meeting Barry and noting his kippa, the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Mongolia asked Barry if he is familiar with Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, adding, “You might know him as the Ḥafetz Ḥayyim.”  Barry expressed curiosity about his interlocutor’s familiarity with the rabbi.

The Deputy Governor explained that he completed his doctorate in the United States where his mentor was a Jewish professor. At some point the Deputy Governor told his mentor that staff meetings at the Central Bank of Mongolia were totally unproductive, as the participants spent most of their time screaming at each other. The professor gave his student an English translation of the Ḥafetz Ḥayyim’s Shmirat haLashon (“Guarding the Tongue”), which the student read. The Deputy Governor returned to Mongolia with copies of Shmirat haLashon, and insisted that all participants in meetings read it.

Since then, the meetings at the Central Bank of Mongolia have become more civilized and productive.

This is sent in honor and appreciation of my friendship with Barry and Carol, which has already entered its fifth decade.