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Sefer Chafetz Chayim םייח ץפח רפס
Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara ערה ןושל ירוסיא תוכלה
Kelal Zayin - Halachah 8 ז הכלה - ז ללכ

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cause a financial loss (15) to this person (the “victim”) or, G‑d תוּנגִל וֹרבח תא וֹבִּלבּ טיִלחהל רוּסא ןכּ םגּ לבּקְַמַהלוּ
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forbid, damage him in any way because of what he heard.
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הלבּקּה רוּסִּא דבלִּמוּ( 'ז ףיִעס 'ו ללכִבּ ל"נּכו ,הז רוּבֲע
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Be’er Mayim Chayim המּכּ םִע "לוֹשׁכִמ ןֵתִּת אלֹ רוִּע ינְפִל"דּ ואל לע רבוֹע
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רפּסְמהֶשׁ ןויכּ ,החיִתְפּבּ ליֵעל ןירִאֹבְמה ןיואלו ןיִשֲׂע
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(K7/8/1)-(14)..he only heard it from others: (This is because)
perhaps those “other” people were lying. Even if the speaker said he heard ,םיקִסוֹפּה לכבּ ראֹבְמכּ ,ערָה ןוֹשׁל רוּסִּא לע רבוֹע יאדּובּ
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it from someone whom he trusts with the same authority as two witnesses,
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nevertheless, it seems to me to still be forbidden to believe the essence of וֹאיִבה וֹתעיִמְשִׁבּ אוּהו ,תמא לע וּלִּפא אוּה ערָה ןוֹשׁלדּ
what he is saying based on what I wrote further on in the second half of this
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sefer in the 6 Kelal, 6 halacha, quoting a responsa of the Maharik. The היה אלֹ ,וֹתִּאֵמ עֹמְשִׁל הצוֹר היה אלֹ וּלִּאדּ ,הז רוּסִּאל
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reason for this is that in order to be able to apply this leniency of believing ירֵבדּ וינפל רֵתוֹי לבּקְַתיֶּשׁ לכו ,רוּסִּא ללכִל אבּ וֹרבח
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the speaker because the listener trusts him as he would trust two witnesses,
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he must be very familiar with the nature of the speaker and knows him םגּ לבּקְַמהל עוּרגּ רֵתוֹי היהי ,ויָשֲׂעמ וּנּהא היהיו רפּסְמה
never to lie at all for any reason. But this is not possible if the speaker said
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that he has no first-hand knowledge of the incident but that he only heard .)הזכּ לוֹדגּ רוּסִּאל וֹרבח אבּ וֹדי לעֶשׁ ,ןכּ
about it from another person whom he (the speaker) trusts with the same
authority as two witnesses (and the presumption of “as authoritative as
two witnesses” is irrelevant to this other person). This entire leniency is
based solely on the subjective assessment of the speaker’s character (that םייח םימ ראב
he does not lie), and without his (the speaker) seeing it first-hand there ראבב הז ללכב ליעל ןייע .היבוטד השעמב )בי(
can be no such assessment by the listener because it is not at all likely that
the speaker can accurately portray the incident (this hearsay) without ever .ארמגב ב"ע ג"יק םיחספבו 'ז ק"ס םייח םימ
making any mistakes. Based on what I explained further on in the section
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of the sefer dealing with the Laws of Rechilut in the 6 Kelal, 7 halacha, רבדב וריבחל םדא ןיבב םג 'יפ הזב אצויכו כ"שמו
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that logic dictates a person to believe that nowadays we do not say at all ורוסיא םסרופמ ןיאש רבד אוה םאו .לכל םסרופמה
that we can believe someone with the same authority as two witnesses. All
the more so, we cannot use this concept if the speaker says he did not see הזב הלוע השע הרותה יפ לע תמאבש קר לארשיב
the incident first-hand but that he was only repeating what he heard from תמאל אנקל ידכ קר אוה רפסמה תנוכו ,וריבחל
someone else whom he knows is as trustworthy as two witnesses and does
not lie – most certainly it is forbidden to believe him. ןושל םושמ הזב ןיאד ףא ,ול םשא רשאל רוזעלו
הבושת ירעשב הנוי 'ר בתכש ומכ רפסמהל ערה
(K7/8/2)-(15)..one may not cause a financial loss: This is the law
brought down in Ehven HaEzer in section #115 (paragraph #7) and #178 ללכב ןמקל ראבנש םיטרפה יפ לעו א"כר רמאמב
(paragraph #8), that even if this solitary witness is believed by the husband ןויכ השעמה םצעב ונימאהל רתומ עמושה םגו ,'י
with the same authority as two witnesses, he is only believed to forbid his
wife to him (and he divorces her) but his “testimony” cannot deprive his ןויכ םוקמ לכמ ,ירת יבכ היל ןמיהמ ול רפסמהד
wife of her Ketubah. This is the language of the Maharik in Source #82, אלש תוכז ףכל ותוא ןודל עמושהל היל רשפאד
that regarding the issue of depriving her of her Ketubah, a solitary witness
is definitely not believed even if the husband declares that he believes this וטילחהל ול רוסא הזב אצויכו ורוסיא תא עדי
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