Pimple on the tongue- Lashon Hara?

Chaya123

Thu, Dec 13 2018, 12:10 pm

Every once in a while, I get an annoying painful pimple somewhere on my tongue. As a girl, I was told this comes from speaking LH. Anyone else heard this? Is it true?

amother

Linen

Thu, Dec 13 2018, 12:13 pm

Ouch, that can be so annoying and painful. I think to specifically determine it’s because of LH is one of those Frum urban myths, though every inch of discomfort and pain comes for a reason.

zaq

Thu, Dec 13 2018, 12:25 pm

The exact scientific cause of canker sores is unknown but may include vitamin deficiency, stress, a minor injury from overzealous toothbrushing ,or accidentally biting oneself . Rinsing your mouth with salt water several times a day may sting but may also help clear it up. Whether or not you care to believe that your canker sore is a punishment for a sin, and whether or not you wish to believe that that sin was LH, is up to you. Very young children who are incapable of speaking LH because they're just learning to talk sometimes get canker sores, too. But if this condition inspires you to stop speaking LH, yiyshar kochech.

zaq

Thu, Dec 13 2018, 2:10 pm

Sounds like a throwaway line a parent uses on a kid who's being annoying. It makes total sense in a way, though in fact the Biblical punishment for LH was tzaraat, a skin disease which is often translated as "leprosy" but probably isn't.

WastingTime

Thu, Dec 13 2018, 2:37 pm

I HATE when ppl play Gd and let us know the 'reason' for our suffering
Ppl do bad things
Bad things happen to ppl
Correlation does not equal causation!

amother

Magenta

Thu, Dec 13 2018, 2:46 pm

Here's a weird experience I went through.

In the beginning of high school I listened to non-jewish music. Then I stopped (was not easy!). I got my own car after seminary and the cd player wasn't working. I cant say I know why I did it but I turned on the radio and was hooked Sad

. A few days later my ear started hurting badly. It was during the summer and was doing a lot of driving. One day it hit me that maybe it was because of the music. I took it as a sign to stop and I bh did. The pain in my ear went away the next day.

Although I do believe they were connected, I don't think that every person whose ear is hurting them is in pain because they are listening to non-jewish music and stopping to do so will cure them.

So maybe one person spoke terrible lashon hara and then got a pimple and stopped and it went away and somehow this rumor started?

zaq

Thu, Dec 13 2018, 4:55 pm

I hasten to add that when I said "it makes sense", I meant that it's easy to see why someone might make such a connection, not that I think there is in fact a connection. As Ruchel points out, things don't really work that way nowadays. But if someone wants to see such a connection and uses that as a basis for self-improvement, who are we to quibble, as long as that person doesn't avoid seeking medical care when needed?

The basic premise of the movement known as "Christian Science", which should really be called "Christian Anti-Science", is that all illness is punishment for sin, and only prayer will cure it. They do not go to doctors. Hence the horrifying news stories about CS parents who do nothing but pray over gravely ill or injured people, even children, rather than take them to a doctor or hospital where modern medicine could save them.

Let's use our noodle and not be that way.

zaq

Thu, Dec 13 2018, 4:57 pm

amother wrote:

So maybe one person spoke terrible lashon hara and then got a pimple and stopped and it went away and somehow this rumor started?

That's how a lot of narishkeit gets started.

thunderstorm

Thu, Dec 13 2018, 5:02 pm

I agree that we should not play God when it comes to these things and we don't have direct signs like back in biblical times.
I for myself though, use my pain as a hisorerus for myself. I don't think of it as a "punishment for a sin" but rather as a wake up call that maybe I'm not using a certain body part correctly. If I get painful stuff in my mouth, I do think to myself " How have I been using my mouth lately?" Have I spoken nivul peh? Lashon harah? Hurt someone's feelings? Etc. and I try to better myself in that area.
But I would never tell another person that she has a sore in her mouth because she may have sinned with her mouth. I use it as my own personal "shofar" in a way...to do some self work.

amother

Fuchsia

Thu, Dec 13 2018, 6:08 pm

sequoia wrote:

Nah, canker sores just happen...

I respect your opinion but I do find that sometimes you are anti-religious.
I have to say that I disagree with you and my experience has shown me that if I spoke LH I always got punished.

amother

Maroon

Thu, Dec 13 2018, 6:23 pm

amother wrote:

I respect your opinion but I do find that sometimes you are anti-religious.
I have to say that I disagree with you and my experience has shown me that if I spoke LH I always got punished.

I’m trying to figure out how you connect the dots. “Canker sore must have happened because I did something bad. Either I spoke LH or maybe it came due to sticking my tongue out at someone or the drooling over a friends house...” It would just go downhill from here.

pizza4

Thu, Dec 13 2018, 6:32 pm

I think it's a higher way of living, a level of emuna that when something happens to us, we inspect what might need correcting. Personally when I start with those things I go nuts, because my eye hurting could mean too many things! Sometimes I'll say, Hashem I don't know what you want me to correct, I'll try to be better in xyz in a small measure and take the pain away. And don't forget to be grateful for all the times you don't have that pain! But usually I don't go in that direction...

zaq

Fri, Dec 14 2018, 11:10 am

mirror wrote:

If only life were that simple then no one would speak Loshon Hora.

Not necessarily. Surely you know people who get severe indigestion or heartburn from, say, pizza, or break out in zits from chocolate, but eat it anyway? Surely you know people who say "I'll regret this tomorrow but I'm gonna do XYZ anyway"?

BoomChickaPop

Fri, Dec 14 2018, 11:31 am

I wouldn't think it's connected...recently my entire face is broken out (not that my skin was ever great), maybe I have tzoraas?