Parashat Tesaveh is the only Parasha in the Torah after the account of Moshe’s birth in which his name does not appear.
Why?
Because when HaShem threatened to destroy us for the golden calf idol, Moses told God Forgive, please, their sin, and if not, erase me from Your book which You have written (Shemot/Exodus 32:32).
According to R. Eli Mansour in his Weekly Parasha Insight http://www.dailyhalacha.com/WeeklyParasha.asp for February 6, 2014, A statement made even on condition – especially when made by a Sadik – has a certain power and will be fulfilled, in one way or another.
Beside HaShem's response to Moses' plea, R. Mansour notes that Yaakob told Laban that the person who stole his idols “shall not live” (Bereshit/Geneses 31:32), and as a result, Rahel, who had taken the idols, died young. The rabbis say that Yehuda declared to Yaakob that he would renounce his share in the next world if he did not bring Binyamin home safely from Egypt. Although he succeeded in bringing Binyamin back, he was nevertheless denied entry into the next world for 250 years until Moshe Rabbenu prayed on his behalf.
A tongue is soft and looks innocuous, but it can be a very dangerous weapon, even against oneself.
He continues that Rav Haim Palachi, the great Rabbi of Izmir, Turkey (1788-1869), once spoke about his righteous grandmother, and described how when she became angry and felt the urge to curse someone, she would exclaim, “Ha’mavet Al Yafrid Benenu” – “Death shall not separate between us.” She accustomed herself to this exclamation so that her mention of “death” would always be made in a positive context. Negative words are so damaging that the Sefer Hasidim (Rabbenu Yehuda Ha’hasid, Germany, late 12th-early 13th century) writes that if one lives near people who curse, he must move away.
This is especially important when it comes to parenting. Unfortunately, many parents speak very harshly when they become aggravated by their children, and make comments such as “I am going to kill you,” “I am going to wring your neck,” and the like. Besides the emotional damage such comments cause to impressionable children, they are also dangerous, plain and simple. We must recognize the unique power of words and ensure to speak with care and discretion, so that our words will bring only blessing and happiness, and not, Heaven forbid, the opposite.
Interestingly, R. Mansour ignored the חָפֵץ חַיִּים in citing famous rabbis who warned against thoughtless speech. Granted, he was more concerned with "lashon hara" (לשון הרע) - words spoken against another person (see http://chofetzchaim.shemayisrael.com/lesson/lesson2.htm).
R. Kagan, a/k/a the Chofetz Chaim, is perhaps best known for his campaign to teach his fellow Jews about the laws of Lashon Hara (forbidden speech). When he was 35 (1873) he published his first book, Chofetz Chaim, which was devoted to this topic. (The name comes from Tehillim (Psalms) 34, “Who is the man that desires life (chofetz chaim)… keep your tongue from evil….” He later published two more books on this subject.
I left all the authors' spellings/transliterations from Hebrew as they appeared in the source documents.
