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Sefer Chafetz Chayim םייח ץפח רפס
Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara ערה ןושל ירוסיא תוכלה
Kelal Yud - Halachah 2 ד הכלה - י ללכ

Be’er Mayim ליעלדל המוד וניאו .'וכו ארבח ךרבחד )חי(

(K10/2/3)-(7) .. first rebuke the sinner: This is the opinion of ןיידע הלגתנ אל םא וליפא ונרתהש 'א ףיעסב
rd
Rabbeinu Yonah in the 3 sha’ar of Shaare Teshuvah, section #221 where ומכ אוה םש םעטה אלהד ,קזינהו לזגנהל רבדה
he writes “however, he has a responsibility to first rebuke this person.”
Even though he writes later on in section #228 regarding “those people לכב רתומד דחא דעד אימוד י"ר םשב ונבתכש
who do good (meaning those people who want to be untarnished from רעשמ אוה םא קר ךייש וניא הזו ,דיעהל ינווג
speaking even Avak Lashon Hara), their personality is such as to first
speak to the sinner.” The implication of that statement to someone who ןיא ךכל ,ןוממ ןינעב תלעות הזמ אובל לכותש
carefully analyzes it is that the approach – to first speak to the sinner – is כ"אשמ ,דחא דעד אימוד ול הלגתיש ןיששוח ונא
(only) a rabbinical obligation, because if that was not so the remarks (the
reprimand) would be categorized as Avak Lashon Hara and there, in the תלעות םיעמושה י"ע היהת אלש רעשמש וננינעב
cited Rabbeinu Yonah, the only subject he was discussing was Lashon תונגה אוהו ר"השל רוסיאהד יהנ ,ןוממ ןינעב
Hara. But regarding the mitzvah to rebuke one’s fellow Jew, the law
demands that one speak to the sinner first before publicizing his sin since ןויכ ,וננינעב ונניא םדא ינב ינפב ותוא הנגמש
we are only discussing an ordinary Jew who has no prior reputation for תא םינגמש םדא ינב ואריש ידכ אוה ותנווכ רקיעד
being a Rasha and most certainly he falls within the category of “your
brother.” One is obligated to reprimand him (before taking any public ,הערה םכרדב ךלילמ וקחרתי ז"יעו ןוא ילעופ
action) because it is possible that he will accept the rebuke and there would
be no need to publicize his sin. הארנה יפלו .ךלה ןכיה תוליכר רוסיאה פ"כע

Thus even if someone wanted to publicize this sinner’s actions in the ז"יע בבוסיו ןודינל הלגתי ןפ לוקלקה ה"ועב
presence of three people, and those remarks would therefore be exempt
from the esur of Avak Lashon Hara, as Rabbeinu Yonah states at the end עודיכ( תלעות אללו תומוצעו תובר תוקולחמ
of that reference (section #228 - please see that reference), still it would be VOL-3 וברי אלש ידכ אוה תוליכר רוסיא םעטה רקיעד
forbidden to disclose those actions before first (attempting to) rebuke that
sinner because of the Torah’s imperative to reprimand a fellow Jew as long וקחרתיש ןוקיתהמ רתוי בורק ,)לארשיב תוקולחמ
as there is a possibility that the sinner will accept the rebuke. But if the תוירבהש םתוארב הער ךרדב ךלילמ ז"יע םדא ינב
speaker knows the sinner will not accept the reprimand, that is the context
of Rabbeinu Yonah’s leniency (at the end of section #228 and the remarks .ןוא ילעופ תונגמ
may be disclosed in front of three people). Because if you don’t agree with
what I’ve said here and you hold that one does not violate the mitzvah of ומצעב אוה ילואד ריתהל תצק ארבס שיש ףאו
“rebuking a fellow Jew” except in an instance where no rebuke is made קזיההו הליזגה בישיו םיערה ויכרדמ ז"יע בושי
at all, and here in this case, he does intend to rebuke the sinner but only
after he first publicizes the sinner’s actions, it is permitted to publicize םעטמ ותוא תונגמ תוירבהש עמשישכ וילעבל
this sinner’s actions now because the speaker is striving to reach the truth טושפ יל הארנ כ"פעא ,םינפב יתבתכש ומכו הז
and to assist the “victim” who was “injured” by this sinner’s actions. In
holding to this (incorrect) argument you would create a contradiction ןנירייאד ןויכ ,ז"יע בושי םא עדוי ימד ,רימחהל
within the statements of Rabbeinu Yonah that appear in Shaare Teshuvah ףיעסב םינפב יתבתכש ומכו ותוא חיכוה רבכש
and the statements that are quoted in his name by the Shetah Mekubetzet
that appear in Gemara Babba Batra (39b), that the Shetah Mekubetzet כ"א ,ותחכות לבקי אלש עדוי אוהש שיאב וא ,'ב
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