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Sefer Chafetz Chayim
Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara

Kelal Dalet - Halachah 5

appropriate to disclose his actions) to the relatives of the sinner (24)
providing he would accept their reprimand. Please reference the
Be’er Mayim Chayim.

Note the sole motivation of the one who is reporting this person’s
actions must be to uphold the Torah for the sake of Heaven and to be
zealous for Hashem, and not for any other reasons of hatred or other
ulterior motive that he may have. Also, the judicial authorities must
chastise this person discretely (25) and not shame him publicly, as
the Torah teaches (Vayikrah 19:17) “Reprimand your fellow Jew
but don’t come to sin because of him.” All of this is relevant if two
people saw this person committing the transgression, but if only one
person witnessed it, he may not testify against his fellow Jew (26)
since his solitary testimony would be pointless and would carry no
judicial weight, as the Torah teaches (Devarim 19:15) “A solitary
witness may not step forward and testify against another Jew in
any intentional crime or unintentional offense” and if he does step
forward he is doing nothing more than slandering this person.

Our sages have taught (Gemara Pesachim 113b) that any solitary
witness who steps forward to testify against his fellow Jew, etc. (the
Beit Din will administer whiplashes to this solitary witness since
his testimony is Lashon Hara). Furthermore, our sages of blessed
memory have taught (113b) that HaKadosh Baruch Hu hates three
people, one of whom being a solitary witness to an offense, such
as adultery, who steps forward and testifies as to what he saw (this
is hateful to Hashem because no judicial outcome can result from
this testimony and so it is nothing more than a slander against these
kinds of people). However this witness may disclose it discretely
(27) to his rebbe or to someone who will keep the disclosure secret
providing they would believe his sole testimony with the same
authority as two witnesses (28). It is permissible for his rebbe to
hate this person (the adulterer) and to distance himself from him
until the matter is resolved and this person did appropriate Teshuvah.
But it is forbidden for this rebbe to relate this story to others since
that would be no better than if he himself witnessed this person’s
actions and could not disclose it to anyone else because he was
only a solitary witness, as I discussed in the prior 4th halacha of this
Kelal.

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