I discovered an odd statistic the other day: of the 43 sins collectively confessed on Yom Kippur, 11 relate to some form of speech. One particular sin, lashon hara, literally, an ‘evil tongue’ or malicious gossip, has been on my mind lately as our national politics grows ever more venomous, and I encounter more and more emails and delusional denunciations of the President and his view of Israel. It seems to me that today, guarding one’s tongue should also encompass the all-too-quick pressing of the “send” and “forward” buttons to broadcast or spread misguided or outright mistaken information. read more »