Musar for Arakhin 29:12
אחד שהוציא שם רע על גדולה שבכהונה ועל קטנה שבישראל נותן מאה סלע
THUS IT IS FOUND THAT HE WHO SPEAKS WITH HIS MOUTH SUFFERS MORE THAN HE THAT COMMITS AN ACT.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Because he must pay a hundred sela's for bringing up an evil name against her, whereas if he himself had committed that act (before she was married) , he would have to pay but fifty sela's. (If she was betrothed and he violated or seduced her, he suffers the penalty of death, she only in case of seduction, not of course if she was violated) .');"><sup>5</sup></span>
Shemirat HaLashon
And now we shall explain in brief the episode of the spies. For, on the surface, it is cause for great wonder: What is it that caused them to sink to such depths and to mislead Israel? More than that — even Sanhedrin erred in this, it being written (Bamidbar 19:1): "And the entire congregation [the Sanhedrin (Rashi)] lifted their voices, etc." And more than this, they said (Ibid. 13:31): "For they are stronger than He," which our sages of blessed memory interpreted as: "He is unable, as it were, to rescue His vessels from there." How could they speak such nonsense?
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