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Sefer Chafetz Chayim םייח ץפח רפס
Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara ערה ןושל ירוסיא תוכלה
Kelal Zayin - Halachah 10 י הכלה - ז ללכ

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the 7 halacha (please see those references). And the expression I used ידכמ רמאק ט"מ כ"או םירכינה םירבד םש היה
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“character flaws” is as I explained above in the 5 Kelal beginning with
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the 2 halacha. .ל"נכ כ"ע אלא הייזח
(K7/10/3)-(24)..because he is an average person: This is relevant שממ םירכינה םירבד אלבד ונירבד לכמ אצויה
if the speaker said this (average) person did something or said something ןרקש התע דע אצמנ אל םא וליפא ןימאהל רוסא
that was inappropriate. Even if the speaker said something about this person
that (only) involved a character flaw, it is obvious that the listener in tacitly אצמנ וליפא רתומ שממ םירכינ םירבדבו ,רבדב
encouraging the speaker to speak about this person’s flaws in intelligence ןינעל יריימ ארמגב םשו ,תרחא םעפב ןרקש
or in some other quality causes this person to become humiliated and
diminished in esteem even if the remarks are true, and places him in the אטשפ עמשמ ןכו ,ר"השלב ה"ה אמתסמו תוליכר
catgegory of those who accept Lashon Hara as truth because of the evil יתבתכ ז"פעו ,ינומיימ תוהגהו ג"מסד אנשילד
disposition of this listener in electing to condemn this person and enjoy his
disgrace. As Rabbeinu Yonah writes in the 3 sha’ar of Shaare Teshuvah, התעו ,'י ףיעס ףוסב םירכינה םירבדד אריתיה
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section # 217: “because the nature of an honest \ straight person is to cover ומוקמ לע טרפ לכ םינפבש ונירבד לכ ראבל אובנ
up another person’s flaws and to praise him for his good qualities. But an
imbecile strives to find fault in people, to find their shame and to slander .ה"זעב ונכרדכו
them and never speak praises of their good qualities.” This is as I wrote
above in the 6 Kelal, the 9 halacha, that whenever it is forbidden for a
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speaker to make these remarks, it is forbidden for the listener to accept :ה"הגה
them (and they are both punished‑ the listener more severely).
תרחא ארמימ ןמש אישוקב הלחתמ ארמגה הראשנ אלה הז דבלו *
(K7/10/4)-(25)..believe the comments and accept them as truth: םירבדד םושמ כ"עו ש"ע ערה ןושל דוד לביק אלש עמשמ ברד
Understand clearly – that all this is relevant if some future benefit will
accrue from listening and accepting the remarks as truth. For example, to והל אריבס יכיה אפוג בר ירבדב אקיפס שיד ןויכו היב אזח םירכינה
be extremely cautious of this person in the future and to distance oneself יכאלמ די רפסב בתכ הז ללכו הכלהמ לאומש ירבד תוחדל ונל ןיא
from him until such time that one knows that he changed his evil lifestyle .םינושארה םשב א"נק ןמיסב
for the better (or something comparable). In this circumstance the speaker
would also not be forbidden to make his remarks, because if this weren’t so
it would be forbidden to listen to the speaker’s remarks, since in providing
an audience to the speaker, the listener causes him to sin, as I wrote above :ה"הגה
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in the 4 Kelal, the 11 halacha.
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אביצ םע תשוביפמ אב אלש המד הזב רחא ךרד רמול רשפא דועו
Understand something more; that which we permitted above applies even ילכואמ היה אלה יכ שממ םירכינה םירבד דוד לצא בושח היה דודל
if the speaker is a slave or a woman. Even if we found that he had lied
in the past, that he denigrated this particular person once before in some ואצמ אל םא ךכלו ולצא ודבל אביצ אב וישכעו ארקב ש"מכ ונחלוש
other regard and we discovered he lied, even so, here, if the circumstantial חכומ היה אליממ תשוביפמ םע םלש ובל ןיאש רחא םעפב אביצל
evidence against this person is valid \ strong, it is permitted to believe
him, as the gemara teaches in the cited Masechet Shabbat (56a), “since he םא אמתסמ יכ דוד םע םלש ובל ןיאש תשוביפמ ומע אב אלש הזמ
(David) saw that he (Tzevah) lied once before.” Tzevah was a slave and רומחה תא שובחל אביצל הוצמ היה ,היה חספש ףא אובל הצור היה

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