LEV731 One who speaks or believes lashon hara also transgresses the positive commandment of וְאָֽהַבְתָּ֥ לְרֵעֲךָ֖ כָּמֹ֑וךָ , “And you shall love your fellow as yourself” (Vayikra 19:18). This mitzvah requires one to be as concerned about another person's money as he is about his own; it also requires us to be sensitive to another person's honor, and to speak well of him, just as one is mindful of his own honor. Someone who speaks or believes lashon hara or rechilus about another person--even if the information is true--truly demonstrates that he does not love that other person at all, and is certainly not fulfilling the mitzvah of loving him as himself. The strongest proof of this is that every person knows his own faults, yet he still would not want anyone else to find out about even one thousandth of his faults under any circumstances. If by chance someone discovered a few of his shortcomings, and went around telling others about them, he would still hope that Hashem would cause the listeners not to believe the speaker's words. This is also so that others will not view him as a person who is not respectable--even though he knows he has committed many more sins than that which the other person revealed. Nevertheless, the great love that he has for himself overrides all that. This is precisely the approach that Torah requires one to take with regard to a fellow Jew’s honor; (Continued at [[GEN742]] Genesis 9:23 covered SEFER 51).

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LEV765 "You shall fear my sacred place". We are obligated to act with reference when we enter a shul or Bais Medrash since they are considered a mikdosh m'at -- a minor scale Bais Hamikdosh (Yeraim 344; Mishnah Brurah 151:1). Anyone who speaks loshon hora in a shul or Bais Medrash violates this commandment.

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LEV776 One who speaks with lashon hara or rechilus about an elderly person in his presence, thereby demeaning him, also transgresses the commandment of וְהָדַרְתָּ֖ פְּנֵ֣י זָקֵ֑ן, “And you shall honor an elderly person” (Vayikra 19:32). (Even though the זָקֵ֑ן mentioned in the pasuk refers to a talmid chaham, Chazal nevertheless explain that this commandment of honoring also refers to a שֵׂיבָה֙, an elderly person, who is mentioned in the earlier part of the pasuk). This mitzvah requires one to honor an elderly person verbally, by speaking to him in a respectful and submissive manner. When one demeans an elderly person, he is certainly not honoring him, and he therefore transgresses this commandment. This commandment is also transgressed when one speaks lashon hara about a talmid chaham in his presence, even if he is not elderly, for Chazal say that the word זָקֵ֑ן in the pasuk refers to a talmid chaham; the word זָקֵ֑ן is expounded as זה שקנה חכמה, one who has acquired wisdom.... If one speaks lashon hara about someone who is both elderly and a talmid chaham, then he transgresses this commandment doubly.

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LEV874 If one speaks lashon hara about a kohen in his presence, thereby demeaning him, he transgresses the commandment of וְקִדַּשְׁתֹּ֔ו, “And you shall sanctify Him” (Vayikra 21:8), which obligates us to accord much honor to kohanim. One who speaks lashon hara or rechilus about a kohen and degrades him is certainly not honoring him, and therefore transgresses this commandment.

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LEV897 ... on the subject of the severe prohibition of idle chatter in a shul, it is worthwhile to mention the grave consequences that result from this practice. Unfortunately, it frequently happens in shul that before the Torah reading, a person will start telling a friend his stories, which are full of lashon hara and rechilus from beginning to end. Before he finishes these stories, the congregation will begin reading from the Torah, yet his yetzer hara it will convince him not to stop in the middle of the story, but rather to continue his lashon hara during the Torah reading. Often, the speaker is a prestigious person who stands at the front of the shul, which means that his sin is witnessed by everyone, resulting in a public desecration of Hashem's Name (public meaning in the presence of ten Jews). His sin is therefore much worse than an ordinary chillul Hashem, as the Rambam explains in negative commitment three of his Sefer Hamitzvos, and he also violates the prohibition of וְלֹ֤א תְחַלְּלוּ֙ אֶת־שֵׁ֣ם קָדְשִׁ֔י, “Do not desecrate My holy Name” (Vayikra 22:32).

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LEV899 One who speaks or listens to lashon hara also transgresses the prohibition of לֹ֤א תְחַלְּלוּ֙ אֶת־שֵׁ֣ם קָדְשִׁ֔י, “Do not desecrate My holy Name” (Vayikra 22:32). Since a person has no physical desire for or benefit from lashon hara through which the yetzer hara can prevail over him, this sin is viewed as an act of rebelling and casting off the yoke of Heaven, and constitutes a desecration of Hashem’s name. This applies even to an average Jew, and is especially relevant to a distinguished individual. Since everyone observes such a person's actions, he unquestionably desecrates Hashem’s Name by speaking or listening to lashon hara. Moreover, if one commits this sin publicly, then his sin is all that much worse, for he enters the category of one who desecrates Hashem’s Name publicly.

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LEV995 Chazal say that the pasuk: וְלֹ֤א תֹונוּ֙ אִ֣ישׁ אֶת־עֲמִיתֹ֔ו, “Do not distress a member of your nation” (Vayikra 25:17), refers only to someone who behaves like a member of your nation, by keeping the Torah and mitzvos. To such a person, one may not speak in a way that causes him distress. If one does not take the words of Hashem seriously, however, one may humiliate him by mentioning his wrongdoings, publicizing his vile actions, and degrading him. Chazal also say (Yoma 86b) that one should publicize the actions of fakers in order to prevent chillul Hashem (desecration of Hashem's Name) [which may occur if others mistakenly think that these people are righteous and consequently learn from their behavior]. If one already reproved the sinner but he did not mend his ways, then it is all the more permitted to expose him, reveal his sins publicly, and heap scorn on him until he improves his behavior, as the Rambam writes at the end of the sixth perek of Hilchos Dei’os. However, one must take care not to overlook the specific conditions that must be met in order for this heter to apply.

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LEV996 See [[LEV515]] Leviticus 19:16 talebearer SEFER 283-5

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LEV997 Speaking lashon hara very often involves another prohibition, that of onaas devarim (hurting someone with words). This prohibition is commonly violated when one humiliates another person by mentioning his past misdeeds, a flaw in his family, his minimal knowledge in Torah or in his line of work (each person according to his particular field), or by making any other comment that upsets or unnerves the other person and leaves him defenseless. One who makes such a comment transgresses the prohibition of לֹ֤א תֹונוּ֙ אִ֣ישׁ אֶת־עֲמִיתֹ֔ו, “Do not distress a member of your nation” (Vayikra 25:17), which refers to onaas devarim, as explained in Bava Metzia (58b). This prohibition applies even if the speaker offends the other person in private, and it applies all the more if he offends the other person in the presence of others. Accordingly, one who disparages another person before others by speaking lashon hara or rechilus about him and his presence not only violates the prohibitions of lashon hara and rechilus, as we wrote above, but also violates the prohibition of onaas devarim.

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LEV1032 If one debases another person through his lashon hara or rechilus to the extent that the person loses his livelihood, then the speaker transgresses another positive commandment. For example, if someone mean-spiritedly announces that another person is dishonest, or is not qualified for the type of work he does, or the like, then he violates the positive commandment גֵּ֧ר וְתֹושָׁ֛ב וָחַ֖י עִמָּֽךְ׃וְחֵ֥י אָחִ֖יךָ עִמָּֽךְ׃…, “A convert or resident, and he shall live with you... and your brother shall live with you” (Vayikra 25:35-36). This mitzvah obligates us to help a Jew who is poor--by giving him a donation or a loan, or by entering a business partnership with him, or by finding him a job--in order to strengthen his financial standing so that he will not collapse and become dependent on people. We are all obligated all the more not to cause a person to lose his livelihood.

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