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Mekor Hachayim Sefer Chafetz Chayim
Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara

Kelal Vav

language that is forbidden (16) or he is able to excuse himself and
leave the group (17) but he is too lazy to do so, or if he recognizes
the men in the group and knows their personality is to speak Lashon
Hara, that their passion is to constantly put down their fellow Jews
and still he joins them, then even if he does not help them at all in
conversation and he gains no benefit from them, he is nevertheless
called a conscious sinner just like them because he transgressed
the teachings of Chazal (18) who commanded us to stay away from
listening to inappropriate language. And all the more so this is
true if this listener intentionally joins the group (19) to listen to
their conversation, his sin is unbearably great and his name will
be engraved in the Heavenly records as an evil person, one who
is an habitual speaker of Lashon Hara (who will never merit to
sit in G‑d’s presence, G‑d forbid). (This warning not to associate
with groups who speak Lashon Hara) is brought down in Pirkei
De’Rebbe Eliezer. In his will, Rebbe Eliezer the Great charged his
son Hurkanos as follows: “My son, do not associate with groups of
people who criticize and denigrate their fellow Jews because when
their words ascend to Heaven they are transcribed into The Book,
and whoever is standing in that group (even if he is passive) will be
inscribed in it as being part of a group of wicked, evil persons and
habitual speakers of Lashon Hara.” Therefore, one must stay very,
very far away from this type of evil group.

Be'er Mayim Chayim on page 345

K6/7. Understand clearly that what I wrote in the name of our

Authorities that just as the Torah forbids believing the stories
people say about others in order to demean and degrade them, so
too does the Torah forbid believing these people even when one
knows they are telling the truth but that the victim’s actions can be
interpreted in several ways and this speaker judged him unfavorably
and chose to interpret it in a way that denigrated the victim. It is
well known that it is a mitzvah for the listener to judge the victim
favorably (that law is expressed in Gemara Shvu’ot (30a) and it
is a mitzvat Aseh from the Torah according to many Authorities).
Thus someone who violates this law and does not judge the victim

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