Al Chet 18

Category: Al Chet (Confession)

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Exploring the Al Chet Prayer
Rabbi Shraga Simmons

18. For the mistakes we committed before You with vulgar speech.
Did you ever find yourself in the middle of a distasteful joke? It can be insidious, but all of a sudden you find yourself dragged into a discussion that has taken a turn for the worse. Learn to switch tracks. Monitor your conversations, and when you notice them slipping off track, pull them back, gently and subtly.

Ask yourself:
Did I contaminate my mouth with vulgar speech?
Did I listen to vulgar speech or jokes?
Did I protest when I heard vulgar speech?
Do I always express myself in the most pleasant way possible?

Al Chet # 18
44 Roots of Mistakes
by George Brock

The Sin:  The Mistakes we committed before You with vulgar speech.

• Did you ever find yourself in the middle of a distasteful joke?
• Did you contaminate your mouth with vulgar speech?
• Did you listen to vulgar speech or distasteful jokes?
• Did you protest when you heard vulgar speech?
• Do you express yourself in the most pleasant way possible?

The Battle:  Negative speech {vs} Positive speech.

The Cause:  The mouth (speech) is the 'vent' to one's inner feelings.

• Speech will reveal whether one accepts G-d's Kingship or not.
• When one accepts G-d's Kingship- One's mouth actually becomes a holy mouth.
• Have a mouth suitable for Holiness, Torah and Prayer.

The Victory:  Comes when one realizes that the Torah is Spiritual. However, when one's mouth is 'foul'

• The words of the Torah one speaks lose their Spirituality.
• The Torah's life becomes dimmed.

One's words are like a 'mirror'- they simply reflect back on oneself.

• When the words become dimmed; one will began to forget the Torah one has already learned.

The Goal:  The ultimate goal of truth is when one's speech expresses the Kingship of G-d.

• Will not one's vulgar speech, cause one to lose the joy one should have shared with the Holy One- who truly loves you.
• Vulgar speech is like a rock hidden beneath the water; which seeks one no harm, yet can cause great harm spiritually.

“ The misguided- do not respond to truth, therefore no one can speak truth to them.  Those who are guided by truth, respond to truth. 
  Therefore, no one can speak truth against them”.