Rabbi Yudin on Shofar vs. the Mouth

With G-d's help this is the first of our series about improving our speech, in memory of Saul Bruckner, may he rest in peace.

Rabbi Yudin has a great message about the ill effects of problematic speech in the following Dvar Torah:

"The Bais Halevi (Drush 15) notes a startling understanding of shofar as prayer. A prayer is as effective as the source from which it emanates. Indeed, the spoken word is the distinctive mark of man. The Torah (Braishis 2:7) states that Hashem blew into man’s nostrils the soul of life, which the Targum translates as "ruach mi-mal’lah" (a spirit of intelligent speech). However, over the course of time, man sullies and misuses his divine gift of speech. Lashon Harah, r’chilus, and nivul peh are not only forbidden forms of speech, but they limit the effectiveness and proficiency of the mouth. And thus the quality of the spoken prayer is often significantly diminished. Therefore, Hashem in His kindness allows us to communicate with a region that is deeper than the spoken words, namely the ruach – the spirit of man. When Hashem blew of His existence into man, it meant that part of the divine is present in man. It is from this holy and pure source that the sounds of the shofar emanate. As this part of man is more holy, the prayer that issues forth is holier, and thus the concluding blessing asking G-d to accept the shofar sound of His people Israel with mercy is most understandable."

This is taken from the following page:
http://www.torahweb.org/torah/2002/moadim/ryud_roshHashana.html

Shana Tova and Hatima Tova,
EAC