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Sefer Chafetz Chayim
Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara

Kelal Gimal

Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara

Kelal Gimal (K3 – 3rd chapter)

The absence of a distinction (meaning, that it is
equally forbidden) if the Lashon Hara is spoken
in the presence of the “victim” (the subject of the
Lashon Hara) or in his absence. The Lashon Hara
is forbidden even if it is expressed as a joke or
even if at the time the Lashon Hara is spoken the
identity of the victim is not revealed. There are other
details, explained in this 3rd Kelal which contains 8

halachot.

Mekor Hachayim Be'er Mayim Chayim on page 83

K 3/1. (Emphatically) How severe is this sin of Lashon Hara, as

the Torah forbids it in all circumstances even if the remarks are
true! It is not enough if the speaker disciplines himself to express
his remarks privately and cautions the listener that he may not
repeat those remarks to the “victim,” the remarks are (nevertheless)
forbidden! In so doing the speaker invokes upon himself the
(Torah’s) curse (Devarim 27:24) “Cursed is the person who hits his
‘friend \ his fellow Jew’ secretly.” Even if the speaker knows that
(if he confronted this “victim”) he would (still) make those same
remarks in front of him (1), even so, the remarks are forbidden and
they are categorized as Lashon Hara.

From another perspective, confronting the “victim” directly with
Lashon Hara is a greater sin than speaking Lashon Hara about him
when he is not present to hear the remarks. In making those remarks
directly to the “victim,” besides violating the esur of Lashon Hara,

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