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Sefer Chafetz Chayim
Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara
Kelal Yud - Halachah 14

the presence of three people.” It goes without saying that if this speaker
himself first reprimanded “this person” and he refused to accept the rebuke,
in this circumstance disclosing what had happened “in the presence of
th
three people” is not needed as I wrote above in the 15 notation. But even
if this speaker did not first reprimand “this person” because he assessed
“this person” and concluded he would not accept rebuke, still it seems to
me this speaker would not have to disclose his comments “in the presence
of three people” because here Rabbeinu Yonah’s reason (for the leniency
of “three people”), as he expresses it in section #228) is not applicable, that
society will not suspect the speaker of being a flatterer or a liar since they
see his sole intention in telling his story is only to reach a useful outcome
as I wrote above.

Daily Halacha: Leap Year- 26 Kislev, 6 Nissan, 16 Av
Mekor Hachayim

K10/14. However, people must be very, very careful in using this
leniency (telling others about the harm done by “this person” to
others or to the speaker himself) not to neglect any of the details
of the seven rules brought at the beginning of this Kelal. Because
if they are not especially careful, it will be so easy for them to be VOL-3
trapped by their Yetzer Hara and become habitual speakers of Lashon
Hara in violation of strict Torah law, all because they misapplied the
leniency described above. Because it is so easy to fall into Lashon 13
Hara , I am going to explain again here all of the rules described
above (that would permit this leniency) and add some additional
details. These rules in summary are as follows: After he (the
speaker) knows (36) that his fellow Jew has still not changed his
attitude in the issue between them and the speaker’s intention is to
achieve a useful outcome, as we explained, it is permissible to tell
others what happened as long as these following conditions are not
omitted:

The First Condition: The speaker must have seen the event himself
and not that he came to know about it because he heard it from
someone else. (Because if this was not the case) Although the

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