The Chirping Rebuke: A Tale of Synagogue Missteps

The Torah commands a person afflicted with tzaraat to bring two birds, releasing one of them. The sages explained that this is because such afflictions are caused by lashon hara, gossip, which is akin to incessant chirping, thus requiring purification with constantly chirping birds.

In Trieste, Italy, about three hundred years ago, they took this concept a step further. The synagogue attendants and congregants prided themselves on timely, respectful, and orderly prayer. Yet, there were occasions when nine people would arrive on time, but the tenth would linger in bed, keeping everyone waiting. Or people would suddenly remember to come in the middle of the Torah reading. Where was the respect for prayer? What message were they sending the children?

The congregants decided on a unique "punishment." When someone arrived late, they would start chirping like birds, to announce the lateness. As this practice continued, it incited enthusiasm among the children and jokers, turning the spectacle into a broader ceremony. They would stomp their feet, make faces, whistle, and laugh... and the non-Jews, hearing the ruckus, would wonder about the cause of this celebration.

Rabbi Yeshayah Bassan, a prominent Italian rabbi and the mentor of Ramchal, heard of this matter and was not pleased. He immediately wrote a long and detailed letter to the scholars of Trieste, explaining that despite their good intentions to discourage disrespect toward prayer, their "punishment" was a great embarrassment—to prayer, the synagogue, and the Jewish people—and could even be dangerous due to non-Jewish perceptions.

Rabbi Yeshayah concluded: "Therefore, one must abolish this harmful practice that shows such levity towards the gates of heaven. One cannot argue that because it has become customary, it is acceptable, for such a shameful act—desecrating Hashem's house in view of the nations—cannot be condoned."