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).