"Guard yourself from the plague of leprosy, and be very careful to keep and to do everything the Kohanim teach you" (Deuteronomy/Devarim 24:8)
My holy ancestor Rebbe Isaac of Komarno zt"l writes in his holy sefer Otzar HaChaim (144) that one night he was shown in a dream that he was instructed from Heaven to publish the following in his work; that when people speak against the Rabbis and the Gedolim of the generation, this causes the Galus/Exile to drag out longer.
Furthermore, the Komarno Rebbe zt"l writes in his holy sefer Adam Yashar that in the period before Moshiach there will be a spread of pandemics, and the cause of this is because people will speak out against Talmidei Chachamim and Tzaddikim. And therefore, in such a time we need to strengthen ourselves to avoid speaking negatively about such holy people, and to follow the teachings of Talmidei Chachamim and Tzaddikim with devotion.
This concept is based on the fact that contagious diseases spread due to the sin of Lashon Hara, as we see from the story of the prophetess Miriam, who spoke against her brother Moshe Rabbenu by stating that he was exhibiting arrogance by practicing abstinence, and for this reason she was afflicted with the disease of 'Tzaraas'. This is the basis for the teaching of Chazal that "tzaraas comes only because of the sin of Lashon Hara" (Midrash Devarim Rabbah – Ki Tzeitzei 6).
Actually, the Gemara (Archin 16a) states that 'Tzaraas' can come for other sins at well, such as adultery, theft, and other sins, but the main cause of all of these sins is the sin of speaking 'lasho- hara' against the Rabbonim who guide the Jewish People, because when people disrespect the Rabbis, they will not listen to their teachings, and they become spiritually deficient in all matters.
This is something we see clearly today, even in the secular world. There is an element in the public who constantly speak negatively against secular leaders, such as judges, police officers, and politicians, and this causes people not to listen to these secular leaders even in areas that are truly to one's material benefit, such as health issues or to improve the economy. This also causes criminals such as thieves and murderers to lose their fear of law enforcement. Obviously, those who spread slander harm themselves greatly. Similarly, this is true regarding spiritual matters. If someone is enticed by the zeitgeist of reckless abandon of basic morality that we find today, and insult our Torah leaders who guide us in a moral path, one is only harming himself.
Along these lines, the gaon Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt"l was once asked by a talmid chacham why his simple neighbor was able to raise his children in the proper manner, while he was not able to do so. Reb Shlomo Zalman knew both of these families well. He replied: "when you sit with your family at the Shabbos meals, you speak against this Rav and this Rebbe, and you show disrespect to them. Your child begins to believe that there is no purpose or value in Limmud HaTorah or in Rabbanim. On the other hand, your neighbor respects Torah scholars and speaks highly of them, and this is why his children want to follow their ways and become Bnei Torah".
This lesson is also important when someone has a Rov that he is connected to, but he nevertheless always speaks out against other Rabbanim, this too causes that his children will come to disrespect their own Rav just as they disrespect the other Rabbanim.
This can even lead them to become total heretics and to deny the basic ideals of our Torah faith. The Rambam write (Hilchos Tumaas Tzaraas 16:10) that the way of wicked scoffers is to speak slander against the Tzaddikim, as it is written "may the lying lips be silenced, which speak lies about a Tzaddik" (Psalms/Tehillim 31:19), as this will lead a person to speak negatively even about the Prophets and to disrespect their words, as it is said "and they began to disrespect the Angels of God, and they insulted their words and placed folly upon His prophets" (II Chronicles/Divrei HaYammim B 36:16). This can lead to speaking against God Himself and to become agnostics or atheists, as it is said "they set their mouths against Heaven and their tongue travels on the Earth" (Tehillim/Psalms 73:9), which means that by the tongue traveling on earth speaking gossip, this causes them to speak out against Heaven".
We can add to this: that those who insult the sages and saints of the generation and disparage their words, will cause that the blessings and prayers of the Tzaddikim who pray for you will be disregarded from Heaven, as is known the statement of our Sages (Sanhedrin 90a) that Hashem conducts Himself with people measure for measure. The holy Rebbe Isaac of Ziditchov zy"a also is quoted as once saying to his Chasidim that we can understand the verse "hear Heaven, and I will speak" (Deuteronomy/Devarim 32:1), when will the words of the prayers and blessings I (the Rebbe) speak be heard in Heaven, "and listen, Earth, to the words of my mouth" (ibid.), that when people here on Earth listen to me in This World.
According to this, it is possible to explain our Scripture here: "guard oneself from the plague of Tzaraas", when a contagious disease like leprosy is spreading, "to be very careful to keep and to do everything the Kohanim, the Levi'im teach you", to follow all of the words of the Rabbis and Tzaddikim in your day, who are like the Kohanim and the Levi'im were in the time of the Beis HaMikdash, when they guided the Jewish People and inspired them to do Teshuvah, "and I commanded you, you should keep to do", you should keep all of these words that I commanded them to teach you.
Concerning this, the Scripture continues and gives advice on how to avoid speaking against Rabbonim: "remember what Hashem your God did to Miriam on the way when you left Egypt", you should remember what happened during your Exodus from Egypt, which was a country filled with people who spoke 'Lashon-Hara', and at this time Miriam committed the sin of speaking against her brother Moshe Rabbenu who lead the Israelites, and for this reason Hashem smote her with the painful punishment of 'Tzaraas', and she was only healed after she repented and when Moshe Rabbenu prayed for her, in order to teach future generations that it is one of the worst sins to speak negatively against our Torah leaders, as everything we have exists in the merit of their righteousness.
This applies to every Jew in our time, as we must overcome the temptations of our era, and keep far away from places, publications, and websites that speak or write against Rabbanim and Gedolei Yisroel, and through this we can become strong in all things through their guidance, and then we will be worthy to good life.
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