The power of silence and the importance of speech: When do words heal, and when do they wound?

Source: The classic dialogue: Two advocates before Hadrian

"And Miriam and Aaron spoke" — Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: All my days I grew up among the sages, and I have found nothing better for the body than silence. Our Rabbis said: Two advocates were standing before Hadrian. One of them advocated for speech, arguing that it is excellent, and one advocated for silence, arguing that it is excellent. The first said to him: My lord, there is nothing better than speech. Were it not for speech, how would brides be praised? And how would there be commerce in the world? And how would ships set sail on the sea?... Immediately, the one who advocated for silence, arguing that it is excellent, stepped up to speak. The one who advocated for speech stood up and slapped him on the mouth. The king said to him: Why did you slap him? He said to him: My lord, I advocated for speech using speech, and this one comes to advocate for his using mine?! Solomon said: The Holy One, blessed be He, did not say that you should mute your mouth and sit in silence like a deaf-mute, but rather "he who restrains his lips" (Proverbs 10:19) from talking about his fellow; pay attention so that you will not be punished!

(Book of Numbers chapter 12, verse 1; Yalkut Shimoni Torah, Remez 737)

Explanation: Who wins? When silence admits defeat

In the source before us, much like in a Platonic dialogue, two orators stand before the emperor: one is tasked with speaking in praise of speech, and his fellow in praise of silence. Without speech, how would brides be praised on their wedding day, and how would there be commerce in the world or work songs sung? If human beings fall silent, the entire world comes to a halt, argues the advocate for speech. The advocate for silence cannot even take the floor without undermining his own point, and therefore cannot defend his case. The Midrash concludes that speech has real value, so long as it does not harm or wound others. And God Himself does not remain silent in the face of injustice and harmful talk—even if you are Aaron the Priest, Miriam the Prophetess, the Prophet Elijah, or Isaiah, speaking slander.

Perspective: A culture of speech: Why Jews cannot stay silent

Eastern cultures often value silence, whereas in the West, silence is viewed as an admission of guilt, a sign of passivity and helplessness. Even though the Bible and the Jewish sages occasionally praise silence, speech remains the main thing. Of all nations, Jews are surely obsessed with words—with endless talking, whether it is casual chatter or study, a havruta (study partnership) or a heated political debate. The Midrash gently mocks silence: a silence that concedes its own weakness and inferiority, a silence that cannot explain itself—and what cannot explain itself ceases to exist. Precisely because the Jewish sages see such immense value in speech, they have every right to speak in praise of silence. Of course, a culture of speech is also a culture of idle chatter, slander, empty promises, and hollow rhetoric, and it requires careful regulation—along with the recommendation to keep silent wherever words are superfluous.

Worthy speech is an inner, essential speech of revelation, where participants open their hearts to one another and a genuine encounter takes place. Unworthy speech is one where people do not pour their hearts out, but rather spend their time "talking about their fellows"—the banter of gossips that could best be described as a "third-party conversation." When words hold nothing of genuine encounter, it is far better to stay silent.

Going Deeper: Hadrian and the war over words: Erasing the name of Israel

Hadrian, Roman emperor from 117 to 138 CE, began his reign as a moderate and patient ruler, and even briefly authorized the rebuilding of the Temple in place of the one that had been destroyed. Eventually, however, he issued brutal decrees of religious persecution targeting Shabbat, circumcision, rabbinic ordination, the operation of study halls, synagogues, and courts of law, the public reading of the Torah, and more. This long list of edicts contains numerous bans on speech—prayers, courts, study halls, and Torah learning—showing us that Hadrian understood Judea's true power all too well: the power of speech. A significant number of the Ten Martyrs were executed under his rule in a deliberate attempt to silence the Torah sages, alongside the crushing of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. It was Hadrian who renamed Judea 'Palestine' and Jerusalem 'Aelia Capitolina,' aiming to silence and wipe out the very name of Israel. All of his decrees were ultimately overturned, except for one that remains with us to this day: the decree renaming the Land of Israel 'Palestine,' after the Philistines who had vanished from the land roughly six hundred years before the Bar Kokhba Revolt—a name the State of Israel still contends with on the global stage. Such is the power of a word. Before you is a coin from that period, inscribed with the words 'For the Redemption of Is[rael].'

Culture: The coin that restored speech: From 'Palestine' to 'E.I.'

Throughout the history of coinage, coins served not only an economic purpose, but also as a definitive statement of sovereignty. During the Bar Kokhba Revolt, coins were repeatedly minted with Jewish symbols such as the lulav, the Temple, and the date palm, alongside the inscriptions 'For the Freedom of Jerusalem' and 'For the Redemption of Israel' (image on the left). The image on the right shows a mil coin minted by the British Mandate in 1927. One side reads 'Palestine (E.I.)'—an acronym for Eretz Israel, the Land of Israel—and the other features an olive branch. Thus, for the first time in nearly eighteen hundred years, speech was returned to the Jewish people, and the land was once again called by its true name, albeit in parentheses and as an abbreviation: E.I. By the way, the Israeli children's game for heads or tails, etz o pali (literally 'tree or Pali'), comes directly from the two sides of that British mil coin: the olive branch (etz, tree) or Palestine, nicknamed pali. Hadrian attempted to rename the Land of Israel and erase our historic bond with it, but the coin came along and restored speech; within those two words, 'Eretz Israel,' the Jewish people rose again.