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Sefer Chafetz Chayim םייח ץפח רפס
Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara ערה ןושל ירוסיא תוכלה
Kelal Het 'ט ללכ - םייחה רוקמ

is true and not be quick in relying on what he heard from others םהֶשׁ ,םינּטְקּה וֹתִּבוּ וֹנבִל עמָשׁ םִא וּלִּפאדּ ,עדַו .ה
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(that what they say about this child‑victim is true), as I will explain
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further on in the 10 Kelal (in the notation of the Be’er Mayim ,*הזִּמ םָשׁירְִפהלוּ םהבּ רֹעגִל הוצִמ ,ערָה ןוֹשׁל םירִבּדְַמ
Chayim, please review that reference carefully). Before making ,'וֹגו "וֹכּרְדּ יִפּ לע רענּל ךְֹנח" :)'ו ב"כ ילְשִׁמ( ביִתכדִכּ
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his remarks, the speaker must have the foresight (7) to consider the ֵ
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possible consequences of his remarks because it often happens in לכּ ןינִעל )'א ףיִעס ג"מש ןמיִסבּ( םייּח חרַֹאבּ ראבְּתנֶּשׁ וֹמכוּ
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such cases that the punishment meted out to this child far exceeds
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the severity of his crime. .הרָוֹתּבֶּשׁ םירִוּסִּא
ךְכּ רחא רפּסל וֹל רוּסא ,רבדּ הזיא )וט( וֹרבחל רֵמוֹאה .ו
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K8/4. Understand clearly that the esur of Lashon Hara applies
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just as well to a simple, unlearned person because he is also part of םִא אקָודַו ,הז לע תוּשׁרְ וֹל ןַתנ ןכּ םִא אלּא ,םירִחאל
G‑d’s people whom He freed from Egyptian slavery. And all the .)ערָה ןוֹשׁל וֹבּ ןיאֶשׁ( אָשׁיִבּ אנָשִּׁל הּבּ תילדּ רבדּ אוּה
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more so is the sin much greater if someone speaks Lashon Hara ָ ָ ֵ
against a Talmid Chacham. Chazal have taught (Gemara Berachot
19a) that whoever criticizes a Talmid Chacham, either behind his
back or after his death, will be punished in Gehinnom. Very often
the speaker will be guilty of humiliating a Torah Scholar and the
great severity of the punishment of this person is very well known,
as Chazal teach in Gemara Sanhedrin (99b) (and as the law was
Mekor Hachayim Word…he will have his very soul cut off.”
decided in Yoreh De’Ah, section # , paragraph #6) he is included
in the Torah’s warning (Bamidbar 1 : 1) “because he belittled G‑d’s
However, a person’s Yetzer Hara persuades him to believe that this
warning against belittling a Torah scholar was relevant only during
the period of the gemara but does not apply at all today because the
scholars then were much greater than the scholars of today. But this
thinking is a profound mistake. Each generation has Torah Scholars
that are appropriate to it (and they are to be revered irrespective of
the epoch in which they live). Even in our generation, one who is
capable of rendering legal decisions and toils in Torah is called a
Torah Scholar (and in a relative sense, he is the equal of any Torah
scholar that ever lived and is entitled to the respect and honor that
the Torah demands we extend to a Talmid Chacham). Anyone who
humiliates him or shows him disrespect, even verbally and even

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