LEV538 We are forbidden to speak against others. This is the prohibition dealing specifically with loshon hara and r'chilus. Loshon hara is the term used for a derogatory or damaging statement about someone. R'chilus is the term used for a report that someone has spoken or acted against the listener. For example, you tell Reuven that Shimon said he is lazy. [Transcriber's note: Author provides extensive discussion of laws with many illustrative examples].

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LEV515 A person buys something in a store, and finalizes the sale in accordance with halachah. Afterward, he shows the item to his friend, to find out whether the item is really worth the price that he paid for it. In response, the friend not only fails to compliment him on his purchase, he also disparages it by telling him that the seller really cheated him. The friend is not particularly meticulous with his assessment at that point, and speaks without determining the item’s precise current market value. This is a mistake, because prices often fluctuate within a short period of time. Furthermore, the friend does not calculate how much the buyer was overcharged, in order to determine whether the price constitutes overcharging according to halachah. Nor does he bother to find out when the deceitful transaction took place, in order to determine whether the window of time for showing the item to a different merchant or to a relative has already passed. If that amount of time did elapse, then there would be no point in notifying the buyer of the matter, for this information would only cause the buyer to develop intense hatred toward the seller. Under such circumstances, were he to inform the buyer of the deception, he would be considered a full-fledged rechilus speaker, who passes negative information from one person to the next. In many cases, the person who tells the buyer about the problem is motivated by his own hatred toward the seller, and it later becomes clear that the item really was worth the amount of buyer paid for it. Often, informing the buyer that he was overcharged causes the seller a financial loss, for the speaker convinces the buyer by saying, “Go return the item and throw it back at him. If you are embarrassed to do it yourself, then send the item back to him with someone else. And if the seller refuses to take it back from you, then don't pay him the money that you owe him for this item or for other merchandise you've bought from him in the past.” (At times, these actions contravene halachah, and therefore constitute outright theft.) When the buyer brings the item back to the seller, and the seller does not want to take it back--for he claims that the buyer is causing him a loss that is halachically unjustified--the two begin to quarrel and berate each other. Take note of how many wrongdoings this rechilus speaker committed. He violated the prohibition of לֹא־תֵלֵ֤ךְ רָכִיל֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָ, “Do not go as a talebearer among your nation” (Vayikra 19:16) (if he was not meticulous to fulfill the conditions we listed above). He violated the prohibition of לִפְנֵ֣י עִוֵּ֔ר לֹ֥א תִתֵּ֖ן מִכְשֹׁ֑ל, “Before a blind person do not place a stumbling block” (Vayikra 19:14), by advising his friend to return the item in contravention of halachah, or by causing him to harm the seller in other ways. He also caused his friend to enter a dispute, in violation of the prohibition of לֹ֤א תֹונוּ֙ אִ֣ישׁ אֶת־עֲמִיתֹ֔, “Do not distress a member of your nation” (Vayikra 25:17), as well as several other prohibitions that are transgressed in the course of a dispute, Hashem should only save us. Therefore, it is highly advisable to refrain from involving oneself in matters like these unless one thoroughly contemplates all that we have discussed. Then, Hashem will help him, so that his actions will not lead to any adverse results.

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LEV518 However, if one surmises that nothing constructive will result from informing other people what was done, then it is forbidden to tell them. For example, if the people to whom one wants to report the offense are themselves wrongdoers, who have committed similar offenses against others at times and do not consider such behavior sinful at all, then one should refrain from sharing any such information with them. Aside from the fact that nothing constructive will result from his report, it could also lead to a disastrous outcome, for the listeners may approach the one who stole, cheated, or humiliated and tell him what was said about him, and thus violate the negative commandment of לֹא־תֵלֵ֤ךְ רָכִיל֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָ, “Do not go as a talebearer among your nation” (Leviticus 19:16). Such incidents frequently result in terrible disputes as well. In particular, if there is a possibility that reporting the information could lead to malshinus (informing), Heaven forbid, then even if all of the conditions above are fulfilled, it is forbidden to relate any of the information.

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LEV522 It is forbidden to speak negatively about another person even if what one says is entirely true. The term that Chazal used to refer to such speech is “lashon hara.” (If one mixes some falsehood into his words, then he enters the category of motzi shem ra, a slanderer, and his transgression is far worse.) Someone who speaks lashon hara violates the negative commandment of לֹא־תֵלֵ֤ךְ רָכִיל֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָ “Do not go as a talebearer among your nation (Vayikra 19:16), for lashon hara is also considered “talebearing.”

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LEV526 One who gossips about his friend transgresses a prohibition, as it says: לֹא־תֵלֵ֤ךְ רָכִיל֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָ. “Do not go as a talebearer among your nation" (Vayikra 19:16). Who is a “talebearer”? One who goes from one person to another saying, “So-and-so said this about you,” or “I heard that so- and-so did this to you.” Even if what he says is true, he is still considered a “talebearer,” and he brings destruction to the world. There is a sin that is far worse than this, and that is lashon hara. Lashon hara--which means speaking disparagingly of another person, even if what one says is true--is also considered “tale bearing” and is included in the above prohibition. One who relates false information about another person, however, is considered a motzi shem ra (slanderer).

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LEV527 One who speaks rechilus violates a Torah prohibition, as it says: לֹא־תֵלֵ֤ךְ רָכִיל֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָ, “Do not go as a talebearer among your nation” (Vayikra 19:16). Rechilus is a severe sin, one that could potentially lead to the murder of many Jews. For this reason, the Torah juxtaposes this prohibition with their prohibition of לֹ֥א תַעֲמֹ֖ד עַל־דַּ֣ם רֵעֶ֑ךָ, “Do not stand idly by while your fellow’s blood is spilled.” (Ibid.) As an example of how rechilus might lead to murder, take note of what happened as a result of the rechilus spoken by Doeg the Adami-- the entire city of kohanim, Nov, was massacred. [See, 1 Samuel 21:22 – AJL]. This prohibition of rechilus that we refer to is the one that the Torah specifically wrote as an explicit prohibition, but there are many other negative and positive commandments that one transgresses when speaking rechilus, as we explained in the opening sections. What is the Torah’s definition of a “talebearer”? One who “carries words” from one person to another and goes around telling people: “This person said this about you,” or “This person did this to you,” or “I heard that this person did this to you or wants to do that to you.” even if the information being relayed is not inherently derogatory--and the speaker himself did not say it in a derogatory manner-- it is nevertheless considered rechilus [if it will cause ill feelings on the part of the listener toward the person spoken about]. It is considered rechilus to relate such information even if the speaker knows that the person whom he is speaking about would not deny the information if he were asked about the matter, whether because his behavior was justified or because his actions and words were well intended. The prohibition of rechilus applies even if the speaker does not intend to cause ill feelings on the part of the listener toward the person being spoken about. Moreover, even if the speaker feels that the person he is speaking about was justified in what he did to or said about the listener, it is still forbidden. Take, for example, a situation in which Shimon reprimands Reuven for something he said about him or did to him, and Reuven responds by claiming that his behavior was justified, as evidenced by the fact that Yehuda said the same thing about Shimon. If Reuven thinks that this statement will cause Shimon to bear ill will toward Yehudah, it is considered rechilus.

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LEV537 There is a well-known statement in the Gemara in Shevous (36a), which teaches that when the Torah uses the word אָר֗וּר, cursed, it means that one is subject to both a curse and ostracism (niduy). Therefore, any person who knows that he has not been careful with regard to this bitter sin of lashon hara should fear for his soul, for perhaps he has been ostracized in Shamayim, Heaven forbid.... this bitter sin of lashon hara results in other negative consequences, such as the terrible trait of cruelty, and the trait of anger--which is a grave sin, as Chazal has described at length in Shabbos (105b). At times, can also bring one to mockery and other bad middos. After reading these opening sections, one can understand the extent of the harm that results from the lashon hara and rechilus. For this reason, the Torah designated for us an explicit prohibition regarding lashon hara and rechilus, and wrote the specific negative commandment of לֹא־תֵלֵ֤ךְ רָכִיל֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָ, “Do not go as a talebearer among your nation” (Vayikra 19:16). In this way, lashon hara and rechilus were singled out from all the other bad middos as we wrote at the beginning of the introduction.

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LEV570 We are forbidden to hate a fellow Jew. The Talmud (Erchin 16b) and Sifra state that this verse refers only to concealed hatred, for that is the most dangerous. If someone explicitly tells another person that he hates him, although he does not violate this prohibition, he does violate the commandment of "Love your fellow man." (Chinuch 237). A person should not think that only a violent feeling of animosity is prohibited, but a slight feeling of dislike is permitted. The Torah defines hatred in terms of the relation to a brother. Any lack of the feeling of brotherly love constitutes hatred. (Ohr Hachayim, on this verse). The Chofetz Chayim writes even if someone does not say or do anything against another person, but merely refuses to talk to him, he violates the prohibition against hating others. Moreover, for every second that one feels hatred toward another person, one violates this prohibition. (Ahavas Yisroel, ch. 2 and 4). The only way to repent for hating someone is by completely uprooting the feelings of hatred from your heart. (Ahavas Yisrael, ch. 5).

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LEV549 At times, one who speaks lashon hara also violates the prohibition of, לֹֽא־תִשְׂנָ֥א אֶת־אָחִ֖יךָ בִּלְבָבֶ֑ךָ, “Do not hate your brother in your heart" (Vayikra 19:17). For example, if one acts friendly toward a particular person while in his presence, but degrades that person to others behind his back, then speaker has violated this prohibition. All the more so if the speaker explicitly instructs the listeners not to tell the person what he said about him, then the speaker definitely transgresses this prohibition.

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LEV595 We are forbidden to embarrass people. This verse prohibits us from embarrassing others, even when delivering a rebuke (Erchin 16b). If you shame someone in public, the offense is so severe that it is punishable by the loss of olam haboh (Bava Metzia 59a). In public is defined as the presence of three or more people (Chofetz Chayim, first footnote in ch. 2). [Transcriber's note: Author provides discussion of basic laws of prohibition against embarrassing others].

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