Lashon Hara is one of the most accessible and easily justifiable Issurim in the Torah. Every person encounters countless Lashon Hara opportunities each day, and has various strategies to overcome these challenges. Some extreme machmirim have taken up the practice of doing a routine Taanis Dibur (refraining from speech for an extended period of time).
Rav Daniel Kalish, however, strongly opposes this solution, and even goes so far as to say that it doesn’t address the core issue of Lashon Hara! How could this be—by not talking, you alleviate every possible opportunity for Lashon Hara!
In discussing the process for establishing Tzara’az with a Kohen, the Torah says “וראה הכהן אחרי הכבס את הנגע והנה לא הפך הנגע את עינו והמגע לא פשע טמא,” “And if, after the affected article has been washed, the priest sees that the affection has not changed color and that it has not spread, it is impure.” (VaYikra 13:55). The Pshat of this Pasuk is that once the Kohen sees that the צרעת hasn’t changed, he deems it טמא.
Rabbi Bernstein, in his sefer, offers an alternative perspective: לא הפך הנגע את עינו means that the צרעת has not yet influenced his עיניים - the way he perceives people. Only once he works on that could he truly be healed from Tzara’at.
Rabbi Kalish suggests that this is the core of Lashon Hara. In order to truly alleviate every Lashon Hara opportunity, we must look at our family and peers without judgment, not avoid speaking at all.