Our Sages ask rhetorically:(Arakhin 16b):”What is different about the punishment of one afflicted by tzaraat, from all other impure persons, that the Torah says about him:”He shall dwell alone in a habitation, oitside the camp”?”
Answer the Sages:”He separated” by his לשון הרע: malicious speech “husband and wife, or man and his fellow man therefore, said the Torah:”he shall dwell alone”- his punishment being measure-for-measure, for his misdeed.

Rabbi David Hofstedter adds:”One who engages in malicious speech, seeks to raise himself in the eyes of people, thinking that by relating faults in others, his standing will correspondingly grow in their eyes.
“Therefore, measure for measure, his punishment is, that, instead of lowering the standing of the objects of his malicious speech, his own standing is lowered, by the punishment meted out to him: the affliction of tzaraat, his banishment from the presence of others, and the humiliation he is commanded to suffer.
“Adds the Chafetz Chaim: since his transgression in speaking lashon ha”ra arises from his sense of pride, from his desire to find favor in the eyes of others, says the Torah: his punishment is to be shamed and humbled, his clothes disheveled, and his appearance unkempt – and all this in public – to break his pride, and to bring him back to the path of humility.”

Rabbi Bahya ibn Pakuda, in his mussar masterpiece חובות הלבבות: Duties of the Hearts, proffers another wondrous punishment, that is imposed from Above, for malicious speech.
He expounds:”My brother, have pity on your own good deeds, that their merit not be lost without you being aware of it as it is related of one, of whom another spoke badly, that the object of his lashon ha”ra wrote to him: I have received your “gift of the merits of your deeds, for which I send you an offering, in return.
“A wise man explained: Many people will come to the Day of Judgement, and when shown their recorded deeds, will find themselves credited with good deeds that they did not perform when they query this, they will be told: true, you did not perform these good deeds, but they are credited to you, because the one who did perform them, spoke lashon ha”ra against you, and thereby forfeited them to you.
“Similarly, when the one who spoke lashon ha”ra finds on that fateful day, that he is “missing” credit for good deeds he performed, should he query this, he will be told that that they were “taken” from you, when you spoke badly of others, and credited to them, as a result.”

Rav Eliyahu Dessler offers a beautiful exposition of this wondrous matter:”In the world-to-come, one who transgresses in their speech, is taught this lesson in the way of measure for measure: his intention was to be honored at the expense of those he spoke against, by means of false and deceitful talk, seeking to lessen the honor of the objects, has the very opposite result: his merits are taken from him, and, further, the faults of the objects of their talk, are taken from those objects, and debited to the speaker.
“When they inevitably query this, the speakers of lashon ha”ra, are answered:”True this is not the true picture, but, just as you sought undeserved honor, by speaking falsely and deceitfully of others, so too, measure for measure, this is the appropriate punishment for you.
“This is why, only in regard to speaking lashon ha”ra – and not in regard to any other transgression – we find this “transference”, so that the offendors will understand the falsehood and dishonesty that underlies malicious speech”.

Rav Ephraim Luntschitz, the author of “Kli Yakar”, in his sefer Ir Giborim, expounds the measure for measure punishment of speakers of lashon ha”ra, in a different way:”Our Sages teach that the speakers of lashon ha”ra are afflicted by tzaraat they also teach that the fault and defect that they seek to find in others, in fact, in the end, is in themselves.
“The explanation is: If you find some-one who speaks badly of another, he assuredly does so because of a defect in himself, and, to divert attention from his own defect, seeks to attach it to others, by his malicious speech, thinking that he will thereby be more honored, in comparison to his targets.
“Therefore our Sages, in their holy wisdom, say that one who finds fault in others is likely himself “defective” in some way, and his punishment from Above is tzaraat.
“This is, in fact, stated in the Torah:(Emor 24:19)”A man who inflicts a מום: a defect upon his fellow man, just as he did, so shall be done to him”.”

A concluding gem from Rav Avigdor Nebenzahl: The exceptionally harsh punishment that is imposed by the Torah for lashon ha”ra – and the exceptional severity of this offence, it being likened to the three most grievous transgressions – is due to “another” victim of malicious speech: the divine image in which the speaker, like his target, is created.
This is why we find several instances, such as Moshe speaking unfavorably of Bnei Israel before Hashem, which has no deletirious effect on others, still being punished – because it offended against the speaker”s own neshama.

לרפואת נועם עליזה בת זהבה רבקה ונחום אלימלך רפאל בן זהבה רבקה, בתוך שאר חולי עמנו.