By all indications, the song is geared toward children.
However cute, clever, or catchy the lyrics might be, I have very serious doubts as to whether invoking hell is really the way to go when teaching children (or adults, either, for that matter) about why speaking לשון הרע is very wrong.
Anything is possible. (Although to say that one has not even the slightest doubt is a much stronger claim!)
But that only begs the question. Because, where would children get a hell-ish mindset to begin with?
But no doubt you are right. I am making much too big a deal of this. Gosh, it's just a kids' song!
But with that said: I can only speak personally. I was raised in a strictly Torah-observant home, and I cannot recall that my parents even once ever made recourse (or needed to) to גיהנם or hell in order to teach me and my siblings the difference between right and wrong, and why I should care about the difference.
No worries at all, Just Curious! We are all on the same page. I am convinced of that.
I am [unspecified number] decades old, and beginning from my earliest youth I had 14 years of intensive Yeshiva education.
Yet, incredibly, I've never before heard of that song, until I just read about it in your post.
While it is arguably cute, I would venture that its premise is, linguistically speaking, something of a stretch.
The girsa I heard in day school growing up was: "Lashon hara lamed hei, go to hell the easy way!"
(R' David's version is admittedly more clever, but this one seems to better fit the meter)
By all indications, the song is geared toward children.
However cute, clever, or catchy the lyrics might be, I have very serious doubts as to whether invoking hell is really the way to go when teaching children (or adults, either, for that matter) about why speaking לשון הרע is very wrong.
Knowing children, I haven't the slightest doubt that this little ditty was made up *by* children, not taught to them as a pedagogical device.
Anything is possible. (Although to say that one has not even the slightest doubt is a much stronger claim!)
But that only begs the question. Because, where would children get a hell-ish mindset to begin with?
But no doubt you are right. I am making much too big a deal of this. Gosh, it's just a kids' song!
But with that said: I can only speak personally. I was raised in a strictly Torah-observant home, and I cannot recall that my parents even once ever made recourse (or needed to) to גיהנם or hell in order to teach me and my siblings the difference between right and wrong, and why I should care about the difference.
No worries at all, Just Curious! We are all on the same page. I am convinced of that.
Thanks for bearing, and have a great shabbos. :-)