Power of Lashon Hara

Rabbi Elazar Abuchatzeira זצ״ל, commented on Moshe being told by Hashem that it was safe to return to Egypt. Those who wished to harm him, were no longer alive.

Rashi says this refers to Moshe’s primary agitators, Datan and Aviram. They didn’t exactly die, but they became impoverished, and a poor person is like a dead person, and they have no power to harm.

Rav Elazar explains that Moshe didn’t need to fear Pharoah, because he could have been bribed, or his stepmother, Batya, could have convinced her father not to harm him.

It was the power of Lashon Hara that Moshe needed to fear. One who speaks it, is usually, a very arrogant person. And arrogant people are usually wealthy. When someone loses all his money, he is humbled quite a bit.

Hashem is telling Moshe never to minimize the power of Lashon Hara, but in his case, he no longer needed to worry about it harming him.