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Sefer Chafetz Chayim םייח ץפח רפס
Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara ערה ןושל ירוסיא תוכלה
Kelal Yud - Halachah 7 ו הכלה - י ללכ

to him and will not accept his rebuke, then he has no obligation to .ר"השל ללכב אוהש ןידה ןמ בטיה ןנובתיש )ב
rebuke the sinner. But when he does disclose this sinner’s behavior,
he must be careful to do so “in the presence of three people” because .איהש הממ רתוי הלועה וילע לידגי אלש )ג
if he discloses the sinner’s remarks to only one or two people he
will give the appearance of someone whose intention is not to have אלו םינפב הז ףיעסב ש"מכ תלעותל ןיוכיש )ד
word of his disclosure get back to the victim. In so doing he will
appear as being someone whose only intention is to take pleasure in .האנש דצמ
speaking Lashon Hara about others by publicly flattering the sinner,
to deceive him, and then privately degrading him. Another reason ליעויש רעשמ אוה םא ,הזב יולת החכוהד טרפה )ה
the disclosure must be made to three people is that if it isn’t, people קר ,םירחאל התע תעל וילע רפסי אל ותחכותב ול
will suspect him and say that most certainly what he said was not לע רפיסש ערה ןושל רופיסה לע הלחתמ ונחיכוי
true and that he was fabricating a lie, because if not, then why didn’t
he go and make his remarks directly to that person (the “sinner”)? ערה ןושל דוע רפסל אלש ענמי ז"יע ילוא ,ורבח
And if all this happens nothing useful at all will come from his ,ול ליעות אל ותחכותש רעשמ אוה םא לבא ,וילע
th
disclosure, as was explained above in the 4 halacha of this Kelal. חיכויש ז"יע יכ ,דחא ,הז ןינעב ללכ ומע חכותי אל
Therefore this speaker must publicly disclose his remarks, meaning
in front of (at least) three people, which is tantamount to disclosing ,שממ וינפב ףכית רתוי ותוא תוזבל ףיסוי ,ותוא
it to the victim (because of the rule “word will get out”). In so וחבשב םדא רפסי לא ל"זח ורמאש הממ ערג אלו
doing people will not suspect his motives because it is hardly likely תאצל דואמ בורק יכ ,דועו .'וכו ךותמש וריבח לש
that someone with an already strong presumption of legitimacy (the
speaker) will make a public statement that is fundamentally a lie. הז ןינעב ומע םחלנ דחאש עדישכ יכ ,ז"יע לוקלק
םידקיו ,ומע ןידהש לכל תוארהל דואמ הצור היהי
Now, even though it is forbidden (24) for these listeners to accept ויתפשב דחאו דחא לכ ינפל רבדה רפסל ומצע
the speaker’s remarks and conclude an opinion that diminishes the
esteem of this person (the “sinner”), as was explained above in הזל ול השק היהי בושו ,המרמ םיאלמה תוקלקלחה
the 7 Kelal, in the 1 halacha, because even though the remark רבדל אלש רתוי בוט ןכ לע .םבלמ רבדה איצוהל
th
st
was fundamentally not a lie, nevertheless perhaps some detail .הלחתמ הז ןינעב ללכ ומע
was omitted by the speaker in making his disclosure and because
of that omission all of the events of that story were completely ןיאד טושפ הארנ אפוג םעטה הז תמחמ אליממו
misrepresented from beginning to end. Therefore, it is forbidden
at this moment to conclude a derogatory opinion of this person רבדה םסרפתי אלש ידכ ,אתלת יפאב כ"ג ךירצ
(the “victim”) because of that disclosure. However, the listeners איבא טושפ רבדהש ףאו .ל"נכו לגרמהל עדווי אלו
should pay attention to the disclosure and investigate it to determine ר"השל רבדל רתיה ןינעב אבוהש הממ הז לע היאר
whether or not it is true and rebuke this person accordingly, and if
the Lashon Hara spoken against him was true he should be rebuked. אובא ינאו רמאש ,ןתנמ היאר ,תקולחמה ילעב לע
Perhaps he will then listen to them (and change his ways to do good) בותכב םש חכומ ירהו ,ךירבד תא יתאלמו ךירחא

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