In Parshat Devarim, Chapter 1, verse 27, Moshe states: “You kill (vatarugnu) in your tents and said Gd hates us and brought us out of Egypt to give us to the Amorites to destroy us.”  The Hebrew word “vatarugnu” usually means “kill” but Rashi translates it as lashon harah.  That is simple enough to understand. We often hear the lashon hora is tantamount to killing a person. But why must the Torah include “speak badly/kill in their tents.”

Why “in their tents.”?

The Shikker Dovid would like to offer an explanation. Sometimes it is easy to believe that when we speak in a low tone, or in a private place, it really isnt lashon hora. We think no one else will hear other than the few people in the limited area.  That simply isn’t true. Lashon Hora has legs. When we speak badly, it gets out.