NUM114 One who speaks lashon hara transgresses the positive commandment of זָכֹ֕ור אֵ֧ת אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֛ה יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ לְמִרְיָ֑ם בַּדֶּ֖רֶךְ, “Remember what Hashem, your G-d, did to Miriam on the way" (Devarim 24:9). With this commandment, the Torah instructs us to constantly recall, verbally, the severe punishment that Hashem brought upon the righteous prophetess Miriam for speaking about Moshe. Miriam spoke only about her brother, whom she loved as herself, and whom she helped to raise as a child; she even risked her life to save him from the water. When she spoke about him, she did not denigrate him, but merely equated him to other prophets. Furthermore, she did not embarrass him by speaking in his presence, nor did she speak about him publicly. Rather, she spoke about him to her holy brother Aharon, in private. Moshe was not even offended by anything she said, as the pasuk states: והאיש משה ענו מאד, “And the man, Moshe, was very humble" (Bamidbar 12:3). Nevertheless, all of her good deeds did not help her, and she was still punished with tzaraas for what she did. If so, those foolish individuals who constantly relate terrible lashon hara about others will certainly be punished severely.

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NUM140 See [[GEN1437]] Genesis 37:2 reports SEFER 31-2

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NUM200 Blessed is Hashem, the G-d of Israel, Who separated us from all other nations, gave us His Torah, and brought us into Eretz Yisrael so that we would have the opportunity to fulfill all of His mitzvos. His sole intention in doing this was for our benefit, to enable us to become holy-- as the pasuk says: לְמַ֣עַן תִּזְכְּר֔וּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֶת־כָּל־מִצְוֹתָ֑י וִהְיִיתֶ֥ם קְדֹשִׁ֖ים לֵֽאלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃, "In order that you remember and perform My commandments and be holy unto your G-d" (Bamidbar 15:40)--and to enable us to receive His goodness and abundant kindness in this world and in the World to Come, as the pasuk says:... ָ֚ה יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ שֹׁאֵ֖ל מֵעִמָּ֑ךְ כִּ֣י אִם־וגו׳ לִשְׁמֹ֞ר אֶת־מִצְוֹ֤ת יְהוָה֙ וְאֶת־חֻקֹּתָ֔יו אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיֹּ֑ום לְטֹ֖וב לָֽךְ, "What does Hashem, your G-d, ask of you but... to observe Hashem’s commandments and laws, which I am commanding you today for your benefit" (Devarim 10:12). (Refer to the Ramban's commentary on that pasuk, where he explains that the words לְטֹ֖וב לָֽךְ, "for your benefit," refer back to the beginning of the pasuk, which says:ָ֚מה יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ שֹׁאֵ֖ל מֵעִמָּ֑ךְ "What does Hashem, your G-d ask of you." [This indicates that the sole purpose of Hashem's “request” that we keep the mitzvos is for our benefit.])

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NUM227 If one's words cause or strengthen a dispute, then he violates another prohibition, that of לא יהיה כקרח וכעדתו, “Do not be like Korach and his assembly" (Bamidbar 17:5), which cautions one against strengthening a dispute, as explained in Sanhedrin 110a.

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NUM380 If a person suffered a loss of income and he does not know who caused it, then it is forbidden for him to suspect any Jew, for we may not freely label people reshaim. This halachah would apply, for example, to one who loses the contract he previously had with a government official, and does not know if someone informed on him to his boss; or if his boss decided of his own accord to fire him; or if something else happened. Regarding cases like these, the pasuk says בְּצֶ֖דֶק תִּשְׁפֹּ֥ט עֲמִיתֶֽךָ׃, “Judge your fellow favorably” (Vayikra 19:15). (However, if there is clear evidence that proves that a particular person was responsible for what happened--and the evidence meets the criteria below that delineate what constitutes clear evidence--then he is permitted to believe in his heart that this person was in fact responsible. Nevertheless, it is forbidden for him to harm that person based on this evidence, as we will explain later.) Even if he heard that a particular individual was responsible for causing him the damage, he may only consider the possibility that the information is true, and may not definitively believe it to be the truth. Furthermore, even if people confronted the individual and told him that he was rumored to have committed a terrible offence by causing harm to a fellow Jew, and the person was silent in the face of their accusation, one still cannot assume that his silence proves that the accusation is true. Although it is, in fact, a mitzvah for one to clear himself of suspicion and explain to the person who suspects him why he is innocent--as the pasuk says: וִהְיִיתֶ֧ם נְקִיִּ֛ים מֵיְהוָ֖ה וּמִיִּשְׂרָאֵ֑ל “And you shall be clean [of suspicion] before Hashem and Yisrael” (Bamidbar 32:22)--it is nevertheless possible that he felt that in this case it was better to keep quiet. Perhaps he realized that these people have so firmly believed the lashon hara and decisively concluded that he is indeed the responsible party, that they will not accept any answer he gives. He therefore decided that it is better for him to remain silent and be among those “who are insulted but do not insult, who listened to their disgrace and do not respond.” [apparently referencing Yoma 23a—AJL].

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NUM426 At times, one also violates the prohibition of flattery, which according to many Ge’onim (namely, the Tosafist Rabbi Eliezer of Metz, the Gaon, and Rabbi Shlomo ben Gevirol) is considered a full-fledged Torah prohibition, derived from the pasuk: וְלֹא־תַחֲנִ֣יפוּ אֶת־הָאָ֗רֶץ  “Do not corrupt the land” (Bamidbar 35:33). For example, if one speaks lashon hara or rechilus with the intention of flattering the listener--for he knows that this listener already hates the person being spoken about, and he hopes to find favor in the listener's eyes by disparaging that person—then he transgresses this prohibition. This is a terrible sin, for not only does the speaker fail to rebuke the listener for hating the other person--in fulfillment of the mitzvah of giving rebuke (which is a positive Torah commandment--his words also reinforce the hatred that already exists between the two. Because of him, the listener will repeat his sinful actions over and over again, and a new dispute will arise, as will several other problems; Hashem should save us. Note that unfortunately, this prohibition is violated very frequently. For instance, when someone speaks disparagingly of another person, then even though the listener realizes that what we said was against halachah, he might nevertheless nod his head in agreement. He might also embellish the story by adding a few negative words of his own, because at times the speaker is a prominent person from whom the listener has received favors, or because the listener is afraid that if he does not speak up he will be considered unintelligent or the like. The yetzer hara will therefore be able to convince him to yield to the pressure and show his approval to the speaker. However, my brother, you should know that this is essentially a violation of the prohibition of flattery, even if the listener adds only a few words. It is regarding such circumstances that the pasuk says: וְשַׂמְתָּ֣ שַׂכִּ֣ין בְּלֹעֶ֑ךָ אִם־בַּ֖עַל נֶ֣פֶשׁ אָֽתָּה׃ “And you shall place a knife in your throat if you are a man of spirit” (Mishlei 23:2). A person is obligated to endanger his life rather than incur such a grievous sin. According to the Torah, if a person finds himself in such a situation he must, at minimum, exert a great deal of self-control and ensure that he does not encourage the speaker by making even one gesture that indicates that he approves of his words. It is about situations like these that Chazal said (Eduyos 5:2): “Better that a person be called a fool his entire life than be considered wicked in the eyes of Hashem for even one moment.” This is relevant even when one knows that the speaker will not be influenced by his rebuke. However, if there is a possibility that his rebuke may be effective, then he is certainly obligated to reprove the speaker as well...

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DEUT283 In addition to all this, one who speaks or listens to lashon hara also transgresses the commandment of אֶת־יְהוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ תִּירָ֖א, “You shall fear Hashem, your G-d” (Devarim 6:13), which requires us to fear Hashem all our lives. If a person is in a position to sin, this mitzvos requires him to remind himself at that moment that Hashem is aware of a person’s every action and will punish him in accordance to the severity of the offense. This realization will prevent a person from contravening the will of Hashem. Therefore, one who allows himself to commit this severe sin of lashon hara and rechilus definitely transgressive this commandment.

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DEUT372 One who speaks lashon hara also transgresses the prohibition of הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֔ פֶּן־תִּשְׁכַּ֖ח אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ, “Guard yourself, lest you forget Hashem, your G-d" (Devarim 8:10), which cautions against arrogance. One who ridicules and mocks another person presumably considers himself wiser and more distinguished than others, for if he recognized his own flaws, he would not ridicule another person. There is a well-known statement of Chazal (Sotah 4b), which describes the severity of the sin of arrogance: one who is arrogant will not merit to have his remains rise for techiyas hameisim (the resurrection of the dead); he is considered as one who worships idols and other forces; the Shechinah wails over him; and he is called “abominable.” In particular, if one glorifies himself by degrading another person, then he certainly violates this prohibition, besides forfeiting his share in the World to Come, for Chazal, in their Divine wisdom, excised such a person from the World to Come, as they said, “One who glorifies himself through the degradation of another person has no share in the World to Come.”

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DEUT424 See [[NUM200]] Numbers 15:40 in order SEFER 10

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DEUT476 All that we have written above applies even if one speaks disparagingly of another person in private. However, if one joins a group of unscrupulous baalei lashon hara in order to tell them derogatory information about another person or in order to listen to their lashon hara, then he also transgresses the mitzvah of וּבֹ֣ו תִדְבָּ֔ק “And to Him you shall cling" (Devarim 10:20). Chazal (Kesubos 111b) explain that this mitzvah obligates us to associate with talmidei chachamim in every possible way and constantly be in their company. One should even eat and drink with talmidei chachamim, do business with them, and attach himself to them any way he can, in order to learn from their ways. Consequently, someone who does the opposite of this and associates with a group of wicked people certainly transgresses this commandment.

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