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Sefer Chafetz Chayim םייח ץפח רפס
Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara ערה ןושל ירוסיא תוכלה
Kelal Zayin - Halachah 9 ז-ו הכלה - ז ללכ

from the Gemara Bavli or Yerushalmi that it is permitted to believe in one’s םייחה רוקמ
heart the Lashon Hara incidentally related about another Jew (because
anything more than that is definitely forbidden, as I will demonstrate וֹרוּפִּס ךְוֹתבוּ וינינִע תא וֹל רפּסְמוּ וֹלצא אבּ דחא םִאו .ו
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with G‑d’s help using explicit proofs). Thus I found myself obligated to
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demonstrate to everyone what constitutes “an incidental remark” so that at רָתּמ וֹניא ,וֹרבחלו וֹמצעל תוּנגּ אוּהֶשׁ ,רבדּ הזיא וֹל רפִּס
the very least no one will make a mistake in this regard.
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.וֹרבח לע אלֹו )אי( וֹמְצַע לַע קרַ ,וֹניִמֲאַהְל
First, you must know that matters of Lashon Hara are not completely
parallel to testimony regarding a woman (i.e., allowing her to remarry). In
that circumstance if a solitary Jew testifies that a woman’s husband died,
even if the statement was not incidental, meaning that his testimony was םייח םימ ראב
intentional, he is believed and (based on that statement) she is allowed to
remarry. However, here he is not believed, even if this witness \ speaker ןנירמאד הממ הזל היארו .וריבח לע אלו )אי(
is reporting how one person wronged another, in which context he would
not be culpable for speaking Lashon Hara as he can excuse himself by לע תנמאנ האמט יתרבחו ינא )ב"ע ג"כ( תובותכב
claiming that his motivation was merely to be zealous to arrive at the truth ירייאד ארמגב ש"עו התרבח לע תנמאנ הניאו המצע
(and help the “injured” party). The most we could do is only suspect the
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veracity of his comments, as I explained above in the 6 Kelal, 2 halacha קר תנמאנ הניא יכה םושמו תיבשנד םידע אכילד
[And if this incident involved the victim’s relationship with G‑d, we (the ,הרהט תקזחב תדמועד התרבח לע אלו המצע לע
Beit Din) punish the speaker with lashes for speaking Lashon Hara against
a fellow Jew, as is brought down in Gemara Pesachim (113b) regarding the דמוע לארשימ שיא םתס לכ ונינינעב ימנ יכהו
incident involving Tuvia]. (Please see that reference). Rather, everything ומצע לע קר רפסמה ןמאנ וניאו ןוגהו רשכ תקזחב
we are saying here applies even if we agree that the incidental remarks of
a Jew can be believed completely and accepted in one’s heart similar to the .וילע אלו
way we can believe a gentile, as I will explain further on (i.e., in all other
matters of “testimony” but not in matters of Lashon Hara).
Now to explain some of the details\ criteria that define “incidental .זומת א"כ ,'ב רדא א"י ,ולסכ 'ב - תרבועמ הנש .זומת ט"כ ,רדא ט"כ ,ןושח 'ל - הטושפ הנש :ימוי חול
remarks”:
This is the language used to express this law in Shulchan Aruch Ehven םייחה רוקמ
HaEzer section #17 paragraph #14: We have already said that we allow a
woman to remarry based on the statement made by a gentile who incidentally ערָה ןוֹשׁל תלבּקַ ןידּ 'ה תרַזעבּ ראבל ליִחְתנ הָתּעו .ז
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remarked he saw her husband die. How was that statement expressed? He
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was talking in general about other matters and said incidentally “what a חיִסֵמִּמ וֹא ,)םידִֵע ינְשִׁכּ( ירְֵתּ יבכּ )ןמאנ( ןמיהְמ אוּהֶשׁ ,שׁיִאֵמ
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shame so‑and‑so died, he was such a nice person, he always did favors for
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me” and similar sentiments that demonstrate to us he has no intention of םירִכּנּה םירִבדּ אוּהה רוּפִּסּה לע וֹל שׁי םִא וֹא ,וֹמּתּ יִפל
giving “testimony” but incidentally described how her husband died. In ןכ יִפּ לע ףא ,ןיוָשׁ םה םינידּה ברֹבֶּשׁ ףאו ,תמא אוּהֶשׁ
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this framework the gentile is believed. The Beit Shemuel in paragraph #36
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of that reference holds that a gentile who comes to testify in Beit Din, even ינְפִּמ ,ןמצע ינְפִבּ ןיִפיִעסִבּ דחאו דחא לכּ םָתוֹא יִתּקְלִּח
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if his comments are incidental, is not believed and we say that maybe his
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intent was to give testimony. Here too in our discussion, as long as we ,וֹרבחֵמ וֹנידִבּ דחא לכּ הנַּתְּשִׁמֶּשׁ ,םידִחא םיִטרְָפּ שׁיֶּשׁ
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