EXOD745 We are forbidden to listen to loshon hara or to believe it to be true if we have heard it. This is a prohibition against accepting loshon hora (derogatory information about others). (Mechilta cited by Rashi; Pesochim 118a, Rambam, Hilchos Sanhedrin 21:7; see Chofetz Chayim, Prohibition 2.) Laws pertaining to this prohibition are dealt with at length in the book Chofetz Chayim, chapters six and seven and in an English adaptation, Guard Your Tongue. [Author lists eight "essential excerpts."]

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EXOD746 [What is the intent of this?] [The reference is to an instance in which] one said to him: "That man owes me two hundred dinars, and I have one witness. Come and join him, and you will get one hundred, and I one hundred." In this respect it is stated: "Do not place your hand with an evildoer" (Mechilta).

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EXOD749 It is a negative commandment for a judge not to hear the argument of one party to a lawsuit when the other party is not there for Scripture says, You shall not take up a false report [this verse]. A litigant (party to a dispute) is likewise adjured not to present his statement to the judge before his fellow-litigant comes; we read the text lo thissa, "you shall not take up" as though it were lo thassi, "you shall not cause to be taken up." Included in this prohibition is the rule not to accept and not to relate evil slander, and not to give false testimony.

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EXOD754 The Torah warns a judge that he shall not listen to the claims of a litigant unless the other litigant is there to hear. The reason is that when a litigant is alone with the judge, he is likely to lie when he states his claims. In order that such lies never enter the ears of our judges, the Torah forbids any judge to hear either litigant’s claims unless both litigants are present. Other prohibitions are included in this verse. The Torah warns a litigant that he may not state his claims to a judge if the other litigant is not there, even if the judge wants to hear them. The verse also prohibits us from relating or believing lashon hara [a negative, derogatory report about a fellow Jew]. Finally, the verse forbids witnesses from giving false testimony in court. Nothing is more disgusting than lies and deceit. Someone who enjoys lies is accursed, for Hashem is the God of Truth. Only truth abides by Him. Blessing accrues only to those who are truthful in word and deed, as is Hashem Himself, and who shows mercy and kindness as He does. On the other hand, when someone is attached to lies and deceit, and his words and actions are the very opposite of those of Hashem, blessing cannot rest on him. He will not merit happiness, peace or true enjoyment. The exact opposite will be his lot: He will be accursed, plagued by worries, disputes and much suffering. For this reason, the Torah commands us to distance ourselves from lies and deceit. The Torah tells us, “Distance yourself from any false matter.” Only regarding this prohibition does the Torah use the wording “distance yourself.” due to the repulsiveness of lies and deceit. The Torah wants us to stay very far away from any hint of falsehood, to avoid inclining our ear to anything that seems untrue, even if it is not clear to us that it is false.

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EXOD1075 Telling lies-- that is, knowingly and intentionally telling someone something that you know to be false--undermines people’s trust in one another. Indeed, at the extreme--that is, if everyone lied so often that one could never assume that the next person was telling the truth--social cooperation, commerce, and even friendships and family relations would become impossible. We would all be living in a fantasy world, and a terrifying one at that. It is not surprising, then, that the Torah specifically prohibits lying: “You must not carry false rumors (shaima shav, literally, “worthless words to be heard”) … Keep far from falsehood (sheker)” (Exodus 23:1, 7) and “You shall not steal; you shall not deal deceitfully nor lie to one another ” (Leviticus 19:11). The Rabbis understood the social consequences of lying: “This is the penalty for the liar: even when he tells the truth, no one believes him” (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 89b). They also condemned it as a form of theft, indeed the worst form of theft: “Stealing a person's thought [genevat da’at, i.e., deception] is the worst form of theft” (Tosefta, Bava Kamma 7:8). Why did the Rabbis think of lying as the worst form of theft? Why is it worse than stealing money or property from a person? One answer is that even though people who have been robbed often feel personally violated, in the end it is one’s property that the thief has encroached upon, not one’s person. Often the thief does not even know the person from whom he or she has stolen. Deception, though, is immediately and directly personal: the liar did not think enough of you to tell the truth, and so you rightly feel dishonored and molested. We will see below how the Rabbis make the same distinction between one's property and person with regard to slander.

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EXOD748 Gossips maybe divided into six categories. The first is he who speaks evil of people and says, "This did they do," when in fact they did not do so, and at times he will slander and honorable an innocent person--in which case he is both a liar and a gossip. And we have been warned by the Torah not to accept gossip because it may be false, as it is said, "You shall not utter a false report" (this verse). And one who speaks gossip, will also be quick to accept gossip. And you should know that if one who hears gossip endorses what he has heard, then he is just as guilty as the gossiper. For all who hear that he agreed, will say, "Since he endorses it, it must be true." And even if he does not agree, but simply listens intently to the words, and appears to believe them, in the presence of people, he causes others to believe them too, and thus he helps the gossiper. For if he were to scold the gossiper, then he might restrain him from telling more, but since he pays attention and shows that he is interested, he causes him to speak even more gossip. And, behold, we have been warned by the verse, "You shall not utter a false report" that we should not believe a gossip story in our hearts, for this would leave a strong imprint in our thoughts that the words are true and cause us to despise the object of the gossip. (Sefer Orhot Zaddikim--The Ways of the Righteous). [Continued at [[LEV1004]] Leviticus 25:17 wrong HTBAJ 206].

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EXOD752 See [[LEV336]] Leviticus 19:11 falsely OXFORD 434-5

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EXOD747 "You shall not utter a false report" This verse is also rendered as "You shall not accept a false report (Psochim 118a). This prohibition bans the speaking or accepting of loshon hara.

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EXOD750 It is forbidden by the Torah to believe lashon hara, whether it relates to bein adam l’Makom matters or bein adam l’chaveiro matters. This means that it is forbidden for us to believe in our hearts that the lashon hara we heard is true, because this will cause the subject of the lashon hara to be disgraced in our eyes. It is forbidden to believe the lashon hara even if one does not express his agreement with what was said. If one does indicate his agreement to the speaker’s negative remarks, his transgression is twofold, because then he is considered to have spoken and believed lashon hara. One who believes the lashon hara violates the negative commandment of לֹ֥א תִשָּׂ֖א שֵׁ֣מַע שָׁ֑וְא, “Do not bear a false report” (Shemos 23:1), for Chazal explained in Mechilta that this pasuk is an admonition against believing lashon hara, besides the other negative and positive commandments associated with believing lashon hora, as delineated in the opening sections. Furthermore, Chazal said that anyone who believes the lashon hara deserves to be thrown to the dogs, for the words: “Do not accept false tidings” (Shemos 23:1) immediately follow the words: לַכֶּ֖לֶב תַּשְׁלִכ֥וּן אֹתֹֽו, “To the dog you should throw it” (Shemos 22:30). Chazal also say that the punishment for one who believes the lashon hara is more severe than the punishment for one who speaks it.

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EXOD751 One is required generally to speak the truth. “Keep thee from a false matter.” (Exodus 23:7). It is forbidden to issue a false report about another. “If a man take a wife… and bring an evil name upon her… the elders shall take that man and chastise him.” Deuteronomy 22:14 It is also forbidden to receive a false report. Exodus 23:1. From the passage, “thou shalt keep thee from every evil thing” [Hebrew davar, which can also be read as ‘word’], the rabbis concluded that one is forbidden to speak ill of one’s fellow even if what is said is true. Deuteronomy 23:10

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