Mishnah
Mishnah

Musar su Pirkei Avoth 5:18

כָּל הַמְזַכֶּה אֶת הָרַבִּים, אֵין חֵטְא בָּא עַל יָדוֹ. וְכָל הַמַּחֲטִיא אֶת הָרַבִּים, אֵין מַסְפִּיקִין בְּיָדוֹ לַעֲשׂוֹת תְּשׁוּבָה. משֶׁה זָכָה וְזִכָּה אֶת הָרַבִּים, זְכוּת הָרַבִּים תָּלוּי בּוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים לג) צִדְקַת ה' עָשָׂה וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו עִם יִשְׂרָאֵל. יָרָבְעָם חָטָא וְהֶחֱטִיא אֶת הָרַבִּים, חֵטְא הָרַבִּים תָּלוּי בּוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (מלכים א טו) עַל חַטֹּאות יָרָבְעָם (בֶּן נְבָט) אֲשֶׁר חָטָא וַאֲשֶׁר הֶחֱטִיא אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל:

Se uno porta merito ai molti, il peccato non viene dalla sua mano, [in modo che non sia a Gehinnom e ai suoi discepoli a Gan Eden]; e se uno fa peccare i molti, non gli viene data l'opportunità di pentirsi, [così da non essere in Gan Eden e i suoi discepoli in Gehinnom.] Mosè fu meritorio e portò merito a molti [(Insegnò la Tora a tutti di Israele)]— il merito di molti è attribuito a lui, come è scritto (Deuteronomio 33:21): "Ha fatto la giustizia della L e [ha fatto] i suoi giudizi con Israele" [vale a dire, "I suoi giudizi che sono con Israele " — è come se lui (Mosè) li avesse fatti.] Yeravam peccò e fece peccare molti —il peccato di molti è attribuito a lui, come è scritto (I Re 15:30): "Per i peccati di Yeravam, che ha commesso e che ha fatto commettere ad Israele". [Non essere scritto "per i peccati di Yaravam e Israele" implica che tutto è attribuito a Yeravam.]

Shemirat HaLashon

And more, if he habituates himself, G-d forbid, to this grave sin, and becomes a "man of lashon hara," it is known that it is the way of a man like this, who speaks demeaningly, constantly, of his friend, to assemble people to him and to defend his words until they are enticed to accept his lashon hara. And, sometimes, they also become thereby bearers of lashon hara against that man and against others. Now if we stop to consider the greatness of the sin of this man of lashon hara, words do not suffice. For aside from corrupting himself, he also corrupts all those who "walk in innocence" and who are enticed by his wicked words. For through him they become accepters of lashon hara and speakers of lashon hara. And sometimes much falsehood and levity is intermixed in what they relate, so that they also become part of the class of liars and scoffers. And certainly, all those who join this wicked company will be punished in the end. As Chazal have said (Makkoth 5b): "Scripture has punished accessories of transgressors." And they have also said: "Lashon hara kills three: the speaker, the accepter and the object [of the lashon hara]." And all of them [the speakers and the receivers] will be inscribed above as "a wicked company," as Chazal have said. Therefore, aside from the great punishment which will be exacted of him in the world to come, his punishment in this world is that he is not given an opportunity to repent. As Chazal have said (Avoth 5:18): "If one causes many to transgress, he is not given the opportunity to repent." Therefore, take great care, my brother, have pity and compassion on your soul and on the souls of the other people of Israel, and cease creating companies for Gehinnom by your wicked ways.
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Shemirat HaLashon

Therefore, if one wishes to cleanse his soul, let him reflect upon the greatness of the issur of levity in several respects. For aside from the fact that he [the mocker] sins himself, it [levity] being one of the four things because of which one does not receive the Shechinah, as Chazal have said (Sotah 42a), he also causes many to sin, bringing them to multiply mockery. And the punishment of causing many to sin is well known, it not being granted one to repent because of this, as Chazal have stated (Avoth 5:18). And, aside from all this, involvement in idle talk, even if it contained nothing forbidden, causes one to lose the time that he could have spent in Torah study and the acquisition of the world to come. And he gives the impression that he scorns the words of the L-rd and the reward of the world to come, as stated in Sanhedrin 99a on the verse (Bamidbar 15:31): "For he has scorned the word of the L-rd" — R. Nehorai said: ['This refers to] one who could have studied Torah but did not do so.'"
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Shenei Luchot HaBerit

This is described in verse 14 where the prophet says: כאשר שממו עליך רבים כן משחת מאיש מראהו ותוארו מבני אדם. "Just as the many were appalled at him, so marred was his appearance, unlike that of man, his form beyond human semblance." The מראהו מאיש the appearance unlike man that the prophet speaks of refers to Moses. The תוארו, "semblance" refers to Moses after his forehead radiated light. Alas, during the many generations which form the subject of the verse described by the prophet he was אחד מן העם, just like one of the common people. The whole of chapter 53 in Isaiah commencing with מי האמין refers to Moses and graphically describes his experiences; he even shared a grave outside the Holy Land as did the wicked people of the generation of the Exodus. When verse 12 speaks of: לכן אחלק לו ברבים this is an allusion to Moses' being involved in the סוד העיבור "the secret of possible existence" [my translation. Ed.] of all these generations who were "wicked people" compared to him. Moses will receive some reward in respect of each of these generations because of his share in whatever merits any generation accumulated. This is how we must understand the Mechilta Beshalach 15,1: that Moses was "equal" to all of the people of Israel. He provided spiritual input into every generation following him because G–d involved him in the סוד העיבור. When Isaiah 53,12 speaks about: ואת עצומים יחלק שלל, "He shall receive the powerful ones as his spoils," the meaning is none other than that G–d directly will give Moses his reward, whereas the other righteous people will receive it by way of Moses. The prophet goes on to say: תחת אשר הערה למות נפשו, "because he exposed himself to death," i.e. in each and every one of the generations since he died until the advent of the Messiah. Perhaps the fact that G–d repeated his name during their first encounter at the burning bush (Exodus 3,4) [unlike when the angel called to Abraham in Genesis 22,11, where the Torah has a line separating the two names i.e. אברהם৷ אברהם. Ed.] maybe an indication that there will be a "Moses" in every generation. When Isaiah continues: ואת פשעים נמנה, והוא חטא רבים נשא ולפשעים יפגיע, "and he was numbered among the sinners, whereas he bore the guilt of many and made intercession for sinners," this means that the final forgiveness of these sinners will be achieved through Moses' intercession. Thus far the comments in the writings of Rabbi Chayim.
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