Introduction
In chapter 15, King Solomon continues exploring the power of the tongue: the tongue of the wise that makes knowledge good versus the mouth of fools that pours forth foolishness. Within this sequence come two verses that we will examine: the verse concerning the eyes of Hashem observing everywhere, and the verse concerning the healing power of the tongue versus its perverseness. Underlying both is the same principle: speech carries weight, it incurs retribution, and it has the power to heal or to shatter.
"In Every Place the Eyes of Hashem" - Retribution for Speech
בְּכָל מָקוֹם עֵינֵי יְהֹוָה צֹפוֹת רָעִים וְטוֹבִים׃ (ט״ו, ג) - In every place the eyes of Hashem are watching, observing the evil and the good (15:3).
Rabbeinu Yonah explains that this verse is a direct continuation of the preceding one. We learned that there is a fool who pours forth foolishness, and there is the tongue of the wise that makes knowledge good - and to this the verse declares: know that the Holy One, blessed be He, metes out retribution for the foolish words uttered by the mouth of fools, and likewise grants a good reward for the good words spoken by upright and righteous people. No word falls away into a void.
The Vilna Gaon's Explanation: Providence Over the Wicked as Well
The Vilna Gaon explains that one might easily have thought that the Holy One, blessed be He, exercises providence only over the good. Why? Because how could Hashem watch over the wicked - after all, they commit wicked deeds, and as it were, the Holy One, blessed be He, does not wish to be in a place of impurity, filth, and wickedness, nor do His eyes rove there, since He does not want to gaze upon such acts. To this the verse states: that is not so. "In every place the eyes of Hashem" - Hashem looks upon both good deeds and evil deeds alike.
The Vilna Gaon offers an additional explanation. A person might ask: Why does the way of the wicked prosper? The answer is that "in every place the eyes of Hashem are watching" - the Holy One, blessed be He, looks into the far distance. That is, He sees what the future holds, He sees the ultimate purpose, He sees what will result from each event. You see that things go badly for a righteous person, but Hashem sees the ultimate end - that good will emerge from it for him. And you see that things go well for a wicked person, "they sprout like grass" - yet the Holy One, blessed be He, looks into the far distance and knows that He is paying him his reward in this world in order to deprive him of the World to Come. Thus, it is precisely the watchful eyes of Hashem that account for what appears to our eyes as injustice: the Holy One, blessed be He, foresees what will be in the end.
Nor does this apply only to matters of the World to Come, but also in this world. As the Sages expressed it: "For my own good, my cow's leg was broken." In the present moment, the cow's leg is broken, and a person cries out: Master of the Universe, where is the justice? Here is suffering, torment, and grief! But the eyes of Hashem look into the far distance, and He who looks into the distance knows that ultimately this will turn out for that person's good.
And the same is true on the other side: sometimes you see a wicked person who persists in his wickedness for a long time. The eyes of Hashem are watching - the Holy One, blessed be He, knows that this person's deeds are terrible, yet a righteous son is destined to descend from him. Because a righteous son is destined to descend from him, He leaves him in this world, even while his current actions remain wicked. According to this, one can interpret "watching the evil and the good" as meaning that Hashem watches over the evil because He knows that good will emerge from them. You do not know what will come from him in the future, but the Holy One, blessed be He, knows, and therefore keeps him here.
This is analogous to Moshe Rabbeinu, who, before killing the Egyptian, "turned this way and that and saw that there was no man" - he looked and saw that no righteous descendant was destined to emerge from him; he was of entirely evil root. Had there been even a prospect that many hundreds of generations later someone destined to convert would descend from him, Moshe would not have killed him. A human being cannot possess such knowledge unless endowed with prophecy, whereas the eyes of the Holy One, blessed be He, watch over the evil - knowing that good may yet descend from them; or, as we mentioned, because Hashem wishes to reward him in this world so that he forfeits his portion in the World to Come, and so on.
The Malbim's Explanation: "Tzofot" - An Eye of Providence
The Malbim explains: although many believe that Divine Providence is directed solely toward the righteous and not the wicked - for "He has not beheld iniquity in Yaakov, neither has He seen perverseness in Yisrael" (Bamidbar 23:21), suggesting as it were that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not gaze upon evil deeds - the verse comes to teach that this is not so; rather, in every place the eyes of Hashem watch over both the evil and the good.
And what is the definition of "in every place"? Here it is worth introducing what Rav Chaim of Volozhin explains at length in Nefesh HaChaim regarding the concept of makom (place), based on the rabbinic dictum, "that one should not be wicked for even a single moment before HaMakom" - the Omnipresent One, blessed be He. In short, people often imagine that Hashem exists within the world - that there is a world, and the Holy One, blessed be He, is located here - but the truth is precisely the opposite. The Holy One, blessed be He, is the place of the world. There is the Holy One, blessed be He, and the entire universe exists within Him, blessed be He, for there is nothing besides Him. The Holy One, blessed be He, fills all space, fills all worlds and surrounds all worlds; and when He creates something, He creates it "here," meaning within the Holy One, blessed be He. It follows that the true place of everything that exists here is Hashem, blessed be He, for "there is no place devoid of Him."
According to the understanding of the concept of tzimtzum (contraction) in the approach of Rav Chaim of Volozhin and his school of thought, the meaning is that nothing truly exists other than Hashem, blessed be He. Even what appears here as human beings and distinct objects is all Him, blessed be He. For if one were to say that a certain object is not Him, then there would be a place devoid of Him. If one were to say that the table is not Hashem, blessed be He, then there would be a place where Hashem is absent, occupied by a table. Rather, everything is essentially Him, blessed be He, except that the Holy One, blessed be He, concealed His presence - and this is a vast topic in its own right.
The insight to be drawn from this is the deeper meaning of "in every place the eyes of Hashem." People tend to envision the Holy One, blessed be He, as sitting on high and looking down from His holy abode at what takes place below - but this is a misconception. If this table is Hashem, who is watching right now? Hashem. From where? From here, from the table - these are the eyes of Hashem. The chair is Hashem; the wall is Hashem. "The beams of a person's house testify against him" - what are the beams of his house? Hashem. For there is nothing other than Hashem, and He is the One Who fills all worlds. Consequently, this is not Someone looking in from the outside and from above, who might look at one thing and overlook another; rather, in every place and in every thing, the eyes of Hashem are watching. From anything one looks upon, one can understand that the watchful eyes of Hashem are present right there.
And why does the verse say tzofot (watching) rather than ro'ot (seeing)? Because this is not mere passive seeing. A person might see his fellow desecrating Shabbat, and the latter might say to him, "So, you saw me; what difference does it make to you?" With the Holy One, blessed be He, this is not the case, because His sight is not mere looking, but tzofot. Tzofot, the Malbim explains, means that Hashem sees what will develop and what will become of a person in the future, and everything unfolds according to His providence. This is not an observation that is recorded and then forgotten, but a seeing from which consequence flows - either divine bounty, or Heaven forbid the opposite, all in accordance with a person's deeds. These are eyes of providence: Hashem oversees man's actions and anticipates what will happen with him in the future, whether for bad or for good, for "there is no place devoid of Him" and nothing is hidden from His glorious eyes - the Holy One, blessed be He, sees all.
"The Healing of the Tongue Is a Tree of Life" - The Best Medicine in the World
מַרְפֵּא לָשׁוֹן עֵץ חַיִּים וְסֶלֶף בָּהּ שֶׁבֶר בְּרוּחַ׃ (ט״ו, ד) - "A healing tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it is a breaking of the spirit." (15:4)
Rabbeinu Yonah explains: the healing of the tongue is exceedingly noble, superior to all forms of medical cure. Why? Because all physical remedies sometimes help and sometimes do not. Moreover, as Rabbeinu Yonah noted in the previous chapter, any remedy that benefits one part of the body may cause harm to another. Today this is widely recognized in medicine: any medication one takes, if one can avoid it, it is best avoided, since while it heals one condition, it may cause harm elsewhere. Medications are therefore the sort of thing that should be taken only in the strictly necessary dosage: what one must take, one takes; and what one can do without, is better avoided. By contrast, the tongue is the best medicine of all; there is no circumstance where it fails to benefit, and certainly no circumstance where the healing of the tongue causes harm.
What Is the Healing of the Tongue?
And what is the healing of the tongue? It is when a person sees his fellow doing something improper and offers him constructive rebuke: speaking to him with pleasant words, offering guidance that resonates with his heart so that he will desist from that behavior. Once, twice, and again, until he succeeds in influencing him. Through speech, one heals him of the illness within him, of his flaw, and of the wrong deeds he commits.
However, this will not succeed if the one offering rebuke gives up in despair, or if the recipient turns a deaf ear. Rebuke requires two parties: one to offer it, and one willing to receive it. As has already been noted, today there is hardly anyone who knows how to rebuke properly, just as there is hardly anyone willing to accept rebuke. Therefore, nowadays one must exercise extreme care in this: when wishing to reprove someone, one must verify that the person is genuinely receptive and willing to listen, and express the message in a manner that will be embraced.
This is the meaning of "a tree of life." If there is a tree bearing fruit that gives life to those who eat it, will everyone present live simply because the tree is there? No, only the one who takes from the fruit and eats. The same is true of rebuke: the healing of the tongue is like a tree of life, but one must take and partake, and only then does one receive life from the tree of life. If a person accepts the rebuke, it becomes for him a tree of life; he will improve his ways, elevate his conduct, and become righteous. But if he refuses to accept the rebuke, that tongue has accomplished nothing: it has not healed, it has not rectified, and it has effected nothing at all.
Therefore it is written, "Do not reprove a scorner, lest he hate you" (Mishlei 9:8), and it is said, "He who corrects a scorner acquires shame for himself" (Mishlei 9:7): the one who reproves brings shame upon himself, for the scorner will not only refuse to accept the words, but will even mock you, bringing you nothing but disgrace. It emerges that everything we have said in praise of the tongue - that it is the finest cure - is only in the category of a tree of life for one who is willing to eat and taste from the tree of life.
"And Perverseness in It Is a Breach in the Spirit" - The Tongue's Most Severe Illness
And this corresponds to that: just as the tongue is the best remedy, Rabbeinu Yonah explains - know that the illness of the tongue is the most severe. And what is the illness of the tongue? Lashon hara (derogatory speech). One who speaks lashon hara, or speaks words that grieve the heart and distress people with his lips - this is "and perverseness in it." Instead of using the tongue in the finest, upright way, he distorts his speech, uttering depressing words, distressing words, words of disparagement. And such a person causes "a breach in the spirit." When evil is spoken about someone, his spirit is broken, and at times it would have been better for him had you struck him physically rather than spoken ill of him.
Indeed, consider: if you examine why people take their own lives, you will almost never find that they did so due to physical suffering; someone who commits suicide does so because of emotional anguish. Emotional and mental pain is far harder to bear than physical suffering. A person can withstand physical pain, to certain degrees; but under emotional and spiritual torment, a person can reach the point of taking his own life. And this is tragic and astounding: he imagines that he will thereby escape his emotional pain, whereas in truth that is where his true troubles begin, for all he experienced until now is nothing compared to the spiritual suffering his soul is destined to endure. Thus, when a person speaks words of distortion, falsehood, slander, lashon hara, and matters that grieve their listeners, it is not physical harm, but a breach in the spirit: you break that person's spirit, and that is the most devastating injury of all.
The Power of Spirit and the Power of a Breach
There can be a mighty, powerful, and valiant nation, but if its spirit is crushed, it may have the finest army in the world and still lose the battle. It may possess atomic bombs, aircraft, and the most advanced weaponry, yet someone small with a few crude explosives can push it back, and even a child with a stone can drive it away. Why? Because there is a breach in the spirit - a broken-spirited nation that no longer has the resolve for war, that is not even sure it belongs where it is, and is uncertain whether the battle it fights is just. In contrast, when the spirit is strong, a mere handful - Matisyahu and his sons - come and drive out an entire Greek empire, because their spirit is resolute. The worst calamity of all is a breach in the spirit.
Indeed, this is what we see in the media today - this is precisely "perverseness in it": falsehood, disparagement, pitting communities against one another, and leading people to think that we have no reason to be here, that we are the evil ones, that we mistreat the enemies around us and violate agreements. They stage spectacles depicting soldiers abusing 'unfortunates' who merely wanted to come and blow themselves up here. And as if that were not enough, people call universities abroad and tell them: do not accept lecturers from here, sever ties with universities here. Spreading evil reports about us - from among our very own people. This is "perverseness in it." And when living in a world of distortion and falsehood, the result is a breach in the spirit: the nation's spirit is crushed, until it no longer understands what it is doing here and why it must fight. And when there is no clarity of purpose, the nations only grow bolder, saying to themselves: let us wait a little longer, in the end we will subdue them, for those among them are already doing our work for us and will destroy this people from within.
"Your destroyers and your demolishers shall emerge from you" (Yeshayahu 49:17) - and this is said specifically of the Jewish people, not of the other nations. You will not find one among them who will say: "We are deceivers and liars, we have no intention of making peace, we are only looking for ways to undermine it, and we will never agree to their presence here." Even though everyone knows this, you will never hear a single one of them say it; and if anyone even dared to hint at it, they would take his head off immediately. Only among the Jewish people do we find "your destroyers and your demolishers shall emerge from you," and that is the breach in the spirit.
This is also what is written elsewhere, in chapter 18: "The spirit of a man will sustain his illness, but a crushed spirit, who can bear?" (Mishlei 18:14). We will elaborate on this when we study that verse in its place, but how wondrous and fitting it is here: a person can suffer from the most severe illness, Heaven spare us, yet if his spirit is strong, he will endure it and even recover. For what sustains him? "The spirit of a man," when the spirit is healthy and steadfast. But if the spirit is crushed - who can bear it?
In Summary:
The two verses we have studied unite into a single theme: speech is not trivial. "In every place the eyes of Hashem watch the evil and the good" - no place is devoid of Hashem's presence, and this is not mere passive observation but watchful Providence, seeing the purpose and the future, and dispensing reward and consequence for the words of the wise and the words of fools alike. From this comes the understanding of "A soothing tongue is a tree of life": speech is the finest medicine, bearing no adverse harm, provided that the one offering reproof knows how to rebuke with pleasantness and the listener is receptive to taste of the fruit. On the other hand, "and perverseness in it is a breach in the spirit" - speech of falsehood, disparagement, and grief does not wound the body, but breaks the spirit, and that is the most devastating injury of all. Guarding one's speech and transforming it into a vessel of healing is the way to be among the "good" upon whom Hashem's eyes gaze with favor.