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Sefer Chafetz Chayim םייח ץפח רפס 13 VOL-4
Ilustrative Examples םירויצ
Example 9 ז רויצ

is obvious that if this case came before the Beit Din the court would not 'ט ללכב ליעל ונבתכ רשאכ ךודישה ינינעב דואמ
have broken off the engagement based on what the father said outside of
the Beit Din (as long as the father did not say this in the Beit Din, that .'ד ק"ס ח"מבב
he had no intention of keeping his word to the groom) since the father
had already obligated himself to legally fulfill his promise with a formal, ןושארה טרפד ,טרפ םוש ךירצ ןיא הזבו .ךירצ )ט(
legally binding guarantee (known as a “Kinyan Gamoor”), his subsequent .הזב ךייש וניאד טושפ ,ער ןינע אוה םא ןנובתיש
remarks are meaningless. The groom can legally force the father to fulfill
\ implement all of the promises he made to him in that “Kinyan Gamoor.” ,איהש הממ רתוי הלועה תא לידגי אלש ינשה טרפו
Moreover, this is comparable to someone who says- “I am going to go ןמ טעמ ו"ח וב שי םא וליפאד ,הזב ךייש וניא כ"ג
and cut down (lit., kill) Plony’s date-palm tree,” that Chazal teach in ,רהזיל ךירצ ךא .ךתימע ללכמ אצי כ"ג הזמ טעמה
Gemara Shevu’ot (46a) “People often exaggerate their intentions but do
not implement them.” Even though it is obviously permissible to tell the ,עמש קר ,רבד הזמ עדוי וניא ומצעב אוה םאש
owner of the date-palm tree the threat made by Plony in order that he ,תוסרוקיפא וב ומצעב עדוי אוהש רמאי אלש
should protect that tree, as we have already explained in the second half
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of this sefer at the beginning of the 9 Kelal (1 notation in the Be’er ול שוחל קר רתומ וניא ומצעב אוה וליפא אלהד
Mayim Chayim), that the Torah’s Lav of “Do not stand by passively while 'גה טרפו .ומצעב עדוי אוהש רמאי ךיאו ,ינירחאלו
your fellow Jew’s life is in danger” also applies to his financial assets (and
not just literally to his life) but only when we know beforehand that after הצעב בבסל לוכי םא 'דה טרפו ,תלעותל ןיוכיש
hearing the report he will not react (in a way that would be inconsistent ללכב 'א קלחב ל"נכו ,הזב ךייש וניא כ"ג ,תרחא
with the way a Beit Din would have decided) except to protect himself
(his date-palm tree). But in our discussion, where we are speaking of a .ש"יע ה"ס 'ח
case where he (the groom) will react to the speaker’s report (contrary to
the way a Beit Din would react), as I discussed above, Chazal’s reasoning םיסנמה םיכירצ הזב םג ךא .רבדב וצרתנ )י(
is obviously applicable “people tend to exaggerate their intentions but do לובג הזיא דע ךודישה ןינע יפל בטיה בשייתהל
not generally implement their threats,” meaning (that Chazal reason that)
people generally regret the threats they made and will not implement any ולידגי אלשו ,הרותב ולש העידיה עיגהל הכירצ
action that is contrary to the Torah. Therefore, most certainly it is forbidden יכה ואל יאד ,אוהש הממ רתוי ותעידי ןורסח תא
for the speaker to (disclose his “report” to the groom and subsequently)
cause any damage or loss, even if he conforms to all of the conditions listed אתיירואד ערה ןושלד ואלב ולשכיש דואמ לולע
in the 9 Kelal since a Beit Din would not have broken the engagement
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based on this “report” and if the groom does break the engagement because .הז ידי לע
of the report, he would have done more than the Beit Din would have
done under similar circumstances. [This case is comparable to Rabbeinu
Yonah’s commentary in Shaare Teshuvah, in the 3 sha’ar, section #215, םייחה רוקמ
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that if someone sees a person commit a sin, it is forbidden to disclose it
to other people because perhaps this person subsequently did Teshuvah. אנידּ ןכּ םגּ ,ןָתּחְמה ןינִע תא ןָתחל תוֹלּגל ןידּה אוּהו .ז
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Even though Rabbeinu Yonah was only addressing an issue between man
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and his personal relationship with G-d, that is because when dealing with ,תכדּשְׁמבּ שׁיֶּשׁ תיִמינְפּה יִלֹח עדֵוֹי אוּה םִא ,וּניהדּ ,ל"נּכּ
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monetary matters we cannot assume that person did Teshuvah until he
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first returns the money \ the assets he took back to their proper owner, as רוּסִּא שַׁשׁח הלּגְמה לע ןיא ,ןָתחהֵמ םירִיִתּסמ םה ךְא
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