When we speak lashon hara about someone else, it essentially allows the Satan to speak lashon hara about us.  By speaking lashon hara, we literally give the Heavenly prosecutor the right to prosecute us for our sins. This is measure for measure – we spoke about someone else, so the Satan could speak about us.

Let’s not give him the opportunity!

Going into Rosh Hashana, we all want to have a good year.  We know that we blow 100 kolos from the shofar.  What do they represent?   Ramchal says the first 30 are an atonement for gilu arayos, the second 30 are for shefichas damim, the third 30 is for avoda zara and the last 10 are an atonement for Lashon Hara.  Why is lashon hara included with the three cardinal sins?  Because on Rosh Hashana, we need to remove the power of the Satan and prevent him from prosecuting us for our sins.

Furthermore, consider the following:  What did the holiest person (the kohein gadol), on the holiest day (Yom Kippur) in the holiest place (the Beis Hamikdash) do?  You would imagine that whatever he did at that time is essential.  What did he do?  He burned ketores.  Why? Because burning ketores is an atonement for none other than lashon hara!  That is how important it is to refrain from speaking lashon hara.

Therefore, let’s make an extra effort not to speak lashon hara.  If cutting it out completely is too difficult, pick certain times of the day to refrain from speaking it.  Preferably, a time that you might typically speak lashon hara.  Then, slowly increase those times.  You have no idea how beneficial it will be to refrain from speaking lashon hara even one time.  Start small and slowly you will get there.

Another good idea would be to implement a No Lashon Hara Policy whenever you sit down to eat a meal with people.  I would suggest you implement this at any meal, but certainly on Shabbos and Yom Tov.  Make an announcement before the meal that you have a “No Lashon Hara at the Meal Policy” that you have taken on and are committed to.  People will respect that.  I have tried this before and it works!