Listening to Profanity

When someone uses profanity (nivul peh), he abuses the divine gift of speech, demonstrating a lack of refinement and self-control. Speaking profanity violates a biblical prohibition. There is reason to forbid not only saying profane words but even hearing them. The exact nature of this prohibition leads to practical implications.

Close Your Ears

The Gemara (Shabbos 33a) says, “Due to the sin of vulgar speech, troubles abound, and harsh decrees are renewed, and the youth among the ‘enemies of Israel’ die, and orphans and widows cry out for help and are not answered…” That is about speaking profanity, using curse words in your speech. The Gemara continues to say that anyone who speaks profanity, has Gehinnom deepened for him. Not just someone who speaks, but “even one who hears and is silent.” The Gemara assigns a serious punishment to someone who hears profanity and remains silent.

Similarly, the Gemara (Kesubos 5a-b) says, “What does it mean: ‘And you shall have a shovel among your weapons (azenecha)’ (Deut. 23:14)? Do not read it as: ’your weapons’ but as ‘your ear’ (oznecha). If a person hears something improper (davar she-eino hagun), he should put his finger into his ears.” This text addresses not speaking improperly but hearing improper speech. We are required to avoid hearing profanity and other inappropriate language by closing our ears or otherwise avoiding it.

It would seem from these two texts that we are forbidden to hear nivul peh. Even if we do not say profanity, we cannot be around people when they are speaking it. This can significantly impact with whom you spend your time. If your friends or colleagues speak profanity, it seems like you may not be around them when they speak like that.

Reasons

The question is why we are not allowed to hear nivul peh if we are not actually doing anything. We are passive recipients, not active doers. One possible reason is that someone who hears is as if he speaks (shomei’a ke-oneh). Another possibility is that we are not allowed to be around someone while he sins. Our lack of protest implies approval. Or maybe the reason is more psychological — even just hearing profanity desensitizes us to the importance of proper speech. Therefore, we are obligated to avoid even hearing profanity.

There are practical implications to the reason for this apparent prohibition. If either of the first two reasons is correct, the issue only arises when hearing someone live speak profanity. It would not apply to recorded or artificial voices, nor (possibly) remote voices (e.g. via Zoom). If the third reason is correct, then any time we hear any kind of profanity, we must protest or leave.

The only halachic text I can find that quotes these passages is Rav Yitzchak Alfasi’s (Rif, 11th cen., Spain) rendition of the Talmud (Shabbos 13b). From the context, Rif seems to rule that you may not listen to profanity. Other than that, I see the issue raised only in ethical contexts. Neither Rambam nor Rosh, Semag nor Semak, Tur nor Shulchan Aruch mention any problem with hearing profanity. Rav Avraham Gombiner (17th cen., Poland) lists a number of ethical laws in his Magen Avraham commentary (156). However, while he includes a prohibition of speaking profanity, he does not say anything about hearing it.

Lack of Refinement

In his Sha’arei Teshuvah (2:12), Rabbenu Yonah says that hearing was given to us so we can obtain guidance and rebuke. When we use it for other purposes, when we listen to improper talk, we taint this precious gift. Later in the same work (3:66), in the third section that details a long list of religious laws, Rabbenu Yonah includes hearing profanity among the sins dependent on the sense of hearing. Additionally (3:229), he includes saying and hearing profanity within the fifth of six categories of lashon hara, broadly defined. (See also his Sefer Ha-Yirah, s.v. al tazkir.)

Rav Yehudah Loewe (Maharal, 16th cen., Czech; Nesivos Olam, Nesiv Ha-Tzeni’us, ch. 3) that when you hear profanity, you damage your soul (see also Be’er Ha-Golah 3:1). Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzatto (Ramchal, 18th cen., Italy; Mesillas Yesharim, ch. 11 s.v. be-inyan ha-dibur) similarly sees listening to profanity as a descent into the world of sin and debasement.

The consensus seems to consider listening to profanity a moral stain. Willingly listening to it reflects a lack of refinement that damages the soul. We should be offended by improper speech and avoid hearing it, even protest it. However, the exclusion of this idea from normative halachic sources tells us that despite the severity of the matter, this is not an absolute prohibition. There is room to balance this issue with other pressing needs, such as family peace and earning a living. And yet, we cannot ignore ethical literature because if we do, we risk turning Judaism into a list of laws rather than a constant encounter with divinity.