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Gossip — I am Nobody’s Friend

June 17, 2014 1 Comment

Snake tongueLashon hara is the Hebrew phrase for the “evil tongue” and it refers to gossip, slander and all sorts of malicious speech. It was a source of great concern to rabbis down through the centuries, including Jesus. Below is a poem about gossip that is very wise.

 

 

Nobody’s Friend

My name is Gossip.

I have no respect for justice.

 

I maim without killing.

I break hearts and ruin lives.

 

I am cunning and malicious

and gather strength with age.

 

The more I am quoted,

the more I am believed.

 

My victims are helpless.

They cannot protect themselves against me

because I have no name or face.

 

To track me down is impossible.

The harder you try,

the more elusive I become.

 

I am nobody’s friend.

 

Once I tarnish a reputation,

it is never the same.

 

I topple governments

and wreck marriages.

 

I ruin careers

and cause sleepless nights,

heartaches and indignation.

 

I make innocent people

cry in their pillows.

 

Even my name hisses.

I am called Gossip.

 

(author unknown)

~~~~~

For more, see the article: Putting Out a Tongue of Fire

Also, see the chapter called “How to Have a Kosher Mouth” in Walking in the Dust of Rabbi Jesus.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: gossip, Lashon Hara

Comments

  1. Bobbie Jo Asbury Smith says

    February 27, 2025 at 8:47 pm

    Does anyone know where this poem/saying came from? Would like to know because in 1985 when my sister was brutally murdered in Phoenix Arizona; (going on 40 years, March 21, 2025, a very cold case today), I wrote a very similar poem to this. and a few others, but I called this one just “GOSSIP” and it’s worded a little bit differently. I wrote mine under the name BJ Asbury, and mine is just a little bit longer version. I was 25 years old when I wrote my version in California.

    Reply

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