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LEVITICUS — 19:16 talebearer

Torah Book & Portion, Book of Leviticus, Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1–20:27), Source Book Keys, TEMIMAH-LEV
Page(s): 334
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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