LEV534 The most common misuse of speech, even among "observant" Jews, is lashon hara, a sin that has been so neglected in the past that the greatest decisor of the twentieth Century, Rabbi Yisroel Meir HaCohen, wrote an entire volume on this one sin and is universally known by name associated with the book, the Chafetz Chaim. Some of the excesses of the sin are outlined in earlier sources. The prohibition in the Torah [this verse] is actually against a talebearer. However, both in the Talmud and later commentaries (Ibn Ezra, commentary on this verse), the Hebrew term for talebearer, rachil, actually means a merchant. This merchant, however, uses information about people as his goods, picking up some hear and dropping off some there. Maimonides (Hilchot De'ot, chap. 7) describes the details of these laws at length and shows how serious this offense really is. For example, he points out (Hilchot De'ot 7:2) that a talebearer denies God's existence. Someone who speaks ill about others helps to destroy the world (Hilchot De'ot 7:2), and he who listens is deemed even more culpable than the speaker, since if no one would listen, this sin could not be committed (Hilchot De'ot 7:3). Even if one speaks well of a particular person, it could still be improper (Hilchot De'ot 7:4) based on a passage in the Talmud (Arachin 16a). Positive comments can easily lead to additional negative comments either about that person or about another person as a reaction to the positive statement. Similarly, even joking about a person, with no maliciousness intended, is forbidden (Hilchot De'ot 7:4), since this can easily lead to real lashon hara. In short, any kind of speech about individuals is forbidden since it is so easy to cross over the line and really sin. There is no question that, like any act, man can use speech either to make himself and God holy or to desecrate them both. This gift from God can either raise man above all other creatures or help him commit acts that make him no better and possibly worse than animals. By developing a true sensitivity to the specialness of speech, man can learn to maximize this unique gift for good.