Why Is It Said That “Evil Speech Kills Three: The Speaker, the Listener, and the One Spoken Of”?

It is because if we speak ill of someone, we speak against the very force that created and sustains us all. There is nothing but this force. So, by engaging in slander, we thus harm the system of connection, the deeper structure in nature where we all belong. This does not apply to criticism in practical matters like work or tasks. It rather refers to ideological, internal, and spiritual slander, where we speak out against the force of love, bestowal, and connection. That is where the real harm lies.

What Is the Meaning of the Saying, “Love Those Who Rebuke and Hate Those Who Praise”?

It might sound like masochism, but it is not. The one who rebukes helps us by cutting at our ego, which lets the light in. “Light” here means the quality of love, bestowal, and connection dwelling in nature, or in other words, the quality of the Creator.

When we hear words that deflate our pride, we can draw closer to the Creator.

Egoism, our desire to enjoy at others’ expense, is the wall, and rebuke is the hammer. If we aim ourselves at correcting our ego in order to resemble the Creator, then we will not rejoice in humiliation, but we will use it.

A Kabbalist might appear angry or indignant, but on the inside, he is grateful. He knows that this is help, a tool for elevating his soul to more closeness with the Creator.