שם ומלכות

Recently was involved in an argument culminating in my being accused of wrongdoing in front of about 100 people, not my brightest moment. In any event, it's a funny thing really. At that moment, while you're being yelled at by someone with 100 onlookers bending their ears, you're really helpless. There's no way to defend yourself. There's no way to share the prior sequence of events and informational context with the onlookers, no way to coordinate or convey your set of information with theirs (the accuser himself knew he was distorting events but the onlookers have no way of knowing). In short there is no way to express your Truth. Your שם is completely vulnerable and exposed to manipulation and distortion with nothing that you can do about it.

My insight being this:  שם is the one part of a person that's not immediately within his existential control. You could be truly good, truly Just within yourself and someone can still distort your image and action as that of a monster. Similarly to what I discussed  here. Hence then the ספירה of מלכות, being true emergent expression of existential self, is directly an issue of שם and directly כנגד those sins which most endanger שם i.e. לשון הרע ומוציא שם רע.

Note then the common theme throughout תהלים of לשון הרע and שמירת הלשון.

Hence the לשון מדברת גדולות of תנא דבי ר' ישמעאל in ערכין being equivalent to the ג' חמורות since it's כנגד the רגל רביעי of מלכות.

Note then that חילול השם is unique in it's being a demand on the external resultant image that is produced, not a commandment of one's own inner existential integrity as are all other מצוות. Hence אחד שוגג ואחד מזיד בחילול השם. Hence a better understanding of ר' ישמעאל in the Sifra that while the ג' חמורות בצנעא are יעבור ואל יהרג [because all parties involved know that the act performed is not true to the person's inner רצון], it's דוקא חילול השם ברבים which is יהרג ואל יעבור -- because ultimately in the eyes of the onlookers, Creation's true nature is being betrayed, and that is something that cannot be allowed. See further here.

Hence it's easy to understand how שבועת שקר is more חמור than נדר despite the fact that נדר is of a greater  level (as is the seeming contradiction in the zohar)-- it's specifically the realm of שם שמים which can be so often distorted and betrayed, it then being that much more vulnerable, hence the greater response of עונש in return.

And so then it's in a world of asymmetric information among separate entities (עולם של פירוד) in which such horrific accusations, distortions, and manipulations can be made. Starting from that point of שם, expression, and reputation --- ומשם יפרד והיה לארבעה ראשים. Hence the evolution of שם with negative connotations in english-- Shame.

[ומתוך דברינו מובן "וענשו אותו מאה כסף" דמוציא שם רע בבחינת מ"ה ה' אלקיך שואל מעמך ובבחינת מאה אדניה של מלכות]

[ואולי ניתן לומר בתוך מתק לשונו של הרמב"ם ריש הל' יסודי התורה "יסוד היסודות ועמוד החכמות לידע שי"ש ש"ם מצוי ראשון" דהיינו ישות ההויה של יהו' ושם ומלכות של ה' אחרונה, שביחד מהווים יהו"ה]