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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LEV514 [This] verse in Leviticus introduces the prohibition of lashon hara: "You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people." The Hebrew word for "talebearer," rachil, derives from the same root as that for peddler (rochayl). The implication is that, just as a peddler goes from house to house buying from one and selling to another, so too does a gossip. There is a peddling mentality to most gossips. Thus, if we reveal something intimate or negative about someone (Information we might have received in confidence), we expect to be told some equally intimate details about the same person or another. We "peddle" one intimacy for another. Maimonides refers to one who speaks lashon hara as a meragel, or "spy" ("Laws of Character Development" 7:1). People who spread gossip act like spies, pretending to be a person's friend (just as spies pretend to be loyal citizens) in order to procure information that can then be used to damage or destroy the person's reputation.

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LEV535 The Rabbis taught: Whence is it derived that the judge should not say: I found you innocent, but my fellow-judges found you guilty. What can I do? They are the majority. [It is derived] from: "Do not go as a tale-bearer" (Sanhedrin 31a)

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LEV524 It was taught: Whence is derived the exhortation against giving one an evil name? R. Elazar said: "Do not go as a tale-bearer" (Kethuvoth 46a)

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LEV523 It was taught in the school of R. Yishmael: Tale-bearing and slander are one and the same [Why, then, is the second denominated by the first?] R. Nechemiah taught: [to teach that] one should not be as a merchant ["rochel" (similar to "rechiluth" - tale-bearing)], who "purveys" the words of one to another (Yerushalmi Peah 1:1)

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LEV541 Who is considered a talebearer? He who loads himself with talk and goes from one person to another, saying: "This and this is what such and such said. Thus and thus have I heard about such and such." Even though what he says is true, he thereby destroys the world. We have been exhorted against this [this verse]: "Do not be a talebearer among your people." What is talebearing? Revealing to one's friend things that were said of him in secret. And we learned (Sanhedrin 31a): "How do we know that a judge emerging from a trial should not say: 'I ruled for non-liability and my colleagues for liability. What can I do if they are in the majority?' In this connection, it is written: 'Do not be a talebearer among your people,' and (Mishlei 11:13): 'One who reveals a secret is a talebearer.'" Guard yourself greatly against slander, for through it you shame yourself. All who void others are themselves unfit. They cannot speak well of others and tend to brand them with their own faults (Kiddushin 70a); the fact that they utter it with her mouths stems from the fact that it is always in their consciousness.

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LEV542 This applies not only to brothers, for it is clear that one must love one's wife also and show affection for her--as it is written in the Talmud, "One who loves his wife as himself… [is blessed]." Yebamot 72b See also what our master and teacher Meir Ben Baruch of Rothenburg wrote in his collective responsa, "As for one who beats his wife, I have learned that we deal with him more harshly than with one who beats his neighbor. For he is not obligated to honor the neighbor, but he is obligated to honor his wife." [Collected Responsa 81:30.] There is also the prohibition against casting the evil eye on his wife, especially so as to cause her to die.… Hayyim Palaggi, Responsa Hikkeke Lev

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LEV532 See [[DEUT1236]] Deuteronomy 23:10 anything SPERO 138

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