As we learned in the previous post, lashon Horah is related to arrogance. Are evil speech and haughty spirit related and separate failings or are they both manifestation of a single underlying deficiency? If former, only tsaraas can be the appropriate punishment for lashon horah as it is the one prescribed by the verses for that sin; if the latter, another remedy directed to the underlying cause may do as well. In other words, if arrogance is the root casue of the sin of evil speech, we can prevent evil speech by directly addressing arrogance.
The Chofets Chaim in Shemiras Halashon I, Ch. 6 asks why we do not find tsaraas in our own day for we know that evil speech was one of the sins that caused destruction of the Temple and our current exile. Since we are still in this exile, that sin has not been forgiven. If so, all Jews should have been branded with this punishment. One of the answers that he quotes from Davar Shebakedusha in the name of Sefer Hakaneh is that poverty is equivalent to tsaraas, apparently coming down on the side of the latter possibility. Since it is pride that is at the root both of evil speech and of haughty behavior, it is possible to address the root cause in some other fashion than through the medium of tsaraas alone. By controlling pride, lashon horah is also controlled.
Note: Shaar II, Ch. 14 is devoted to in depth exploration of pride as source and cause of evil speech
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