“The powerful refrain of the “G-d of the 41st day” is an incredibleway to change our mindset and remember Who is really in charge”
In the article “The Lives Lashon Hara Destroyed,” a high school bully quotes her rav as saying that, “Feeling guilty is the work of the yetzer hara and only leads someone to depression, chas v’shalom.”
I think that guilt is, first and foremost, the work of the yetzer tov. It directs us to where we need to regret, repent, repair, and change. Only after that does it become a tool of the yetzer hara, if we become immobilized or crippled by it.
If the protagonist of this story recognized the deep and lasting damage her cruel participation in mocking and bullying caused, it didn’t come across in the article. Nor did she acknowledge that a high school girl is old enough to know better.
It’s likely that telling a prospective chassan about the middos of this girl, if asked, is in the category of l’to’eles, though a she’ilah should be asked.
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