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Sefer Chafetz Chayim םייח ץפח רפס
Hilchot Esurei Rechilut תוליכר ירוסיא תוכלה
Kelal Tet - Halachah 2 ב הכלה - ט ללכ

“since he (Gedaliah Ben Achikam) should have given some credence to קזיה בבוסי ורוביד י"ע םא ןכ ןיאש המ ,אוה תמא
the report of Yochanan Ben Koreach (and taken steps to protect himself
from being assassinated by Yishmael Ben Netanya, but did not), (Chazal) ונחכוהש ומכו רוסאד יאדוב הלגמ אוהש ימ לע שממ
consider him (Gedaliah) as though he killed his own supporters.” The .הרומג היארב ל"קס ח"מבב ]'ו[ 'ז ללכב 'א קלחב
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Rosh writes in his commentary on that gemara (9 perek, 5 paragraph)
in relation to its impact on the law as follows: “In this specific regard one ורוביד י"ע קזיה םורגיש האור אוה םא ,וננינעב כ"או
should give some credibility to the (gossip) Lashon Hara wherever there בבסמ היה םא ומכ ,רוסאד רשפא ,הלגמ אוהש ימ לע
is a possibility that some harm or loss will follow to him or to others if
the gossip would be ignored completely, like the case of Gedaliah Ben ורוביד י"עש רשפא יכ ,ורוביד י"ע שממ קזיה ול
Achikam.” From this we see that if someone hears something that could שקיע שיאל ףתושהו ,בנגל הזה תרשמה לכל םסרפתי
result in harm or a loss to others, for example- someone wants to hurt them
or the caretaker that someone is considering hiring is a thief (or something ,ש"היא רפסה ףוסב ואוביש םירויצה לכב הזב אצויכו
comparable, as will be illustrated in the coming examples), even though עמשש רבדה ןפו ,םשפנ תא תויחהל המב ואצמי אלו
the law forbids believing the gossip or the Lashon Hara, nevertheless one
may suspect that the report might be true and one must warn these other םוש ונל ןיא כ"ג ל"נה ם"בשרהמו .רקש אוה וילע
people so that they can protect themselves. .לודג ןויע ךירצו ,הזב אצויכב לקהל היאר

This is also seen clearly in the Rashbam in his commentary on Gemara תא ומצעב ריכה אל םאד ,טושפ הארנ פ"כע ךא
Babba Batra (39b) in the citation beginning with the words “and the
authority who holds”…“it is a mitzvah” and (also) in the citation beginning ,םירויצה לכב הזב אצויכו ,בנג אוהש הזה תרשמה
with “Here...” that even if he himself (Shimon) did not hear what “Reuven” רפסל רתומד רמאנ םא ףא ,ןכ ול ורפיס םישנא קר
said about Plony (who is holding onto the field now) that he (Plony) was a
thief, but that it was told to him by others, this too would be permissible to לכמ ,ל"נכו ונממ ומצע תא רומשיש ידכ ןודינל
tell Plony since his primary motivation is not to convey gossip but rather עדוי אוה ולאכ עמשמ היהיד ,םתס ול רפסי אל םוקמ
to warn Plony to protect his purchase-contract. The Rashbam expressed
this as “or to tell others to tell him (to tell the one who is currently on the ךכ ינולפ לע יתעמש רמאי קר ,רבדה ןכש ומצעב
field),” because if not for this reason (of wanting to protect someone from תא רומשל שוחל ךל ןוכנ ןכ לע רבדה תמא ןפו ךכו
injury) most certainly other people would not have the authority to tell the
person now residing on the field that Reuven called him a thief. Therefore ןושארה רויצב יתבתכש המ ןיבת הזבו .ונממ ךמצע
the law must necessarily be as I stated it. And so even though they 'וכו בטיה ריכמ אוהו ה"יא רפסה ףוסב אוביש
themselves are forbidden to believe these two witnesses who told them
about Reuven, that he called Plony a thief, and to conclude a definitive ,ןתח וא ,דמלממ דבל( םירויצה לכב אנווג יאהכו
opinion, (because if they would definitely believe it, then either way one
of these men is a Rasha, either the thief (Plony) or “Reuven” who defamed יתבתכו ןושלה יתיניש ,ו"ח תונימ ץמש םהב שיש
him, and a person does not have the right to assume others are Resha’im, םא ףא )ז"יע יוצמש הלודגה אתועירה תמחמ ,יתעמש
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as we explained in the first part of this sefer, in the 3 halacha of the 7
Kelal, that it is forbidden to believe Lashon Hara even if it is reported אל םלועהד םושמ ,אמלעב העימש ימנ ינהמד אמינ
by two people if their testimony is made outside of the Beit Din). Still ןושל עמשמ היהיש ןושלב ןודינל ורפסיו הזב ורהזי
it is necessary to suspect the Lashon Hara and maybe Reuven did call
Plony a thief. Therefore Shimon must inform the intended victim so that תלבק רוסיא ןידב םיאיקב םניא םהש ינפמ יאדו

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