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Sefer Chafetz Chayim החיתפ
Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara םייח ץפח רפסל
Kelal Aleph ‑ Halachah 1 די-גי השע - ןישע

summon someone to the court) and reported to the judges what this person .ןויס ג"י 'א רדא 'ג ,ירשת ד"כ - תרבועמ הנש .ןויס ג"כ ,טבש ג"כ ,ירשת ד"כ - הטושפ הנש :ימוי חול
told him (that he refused to be summoned and he cursed and humiliated
the agent), the agent’s remarks are not to be categorized as Lashon Hara, םייחה רוקמ
as the pasuk says (Bamidbar 16:14) “even if you would gouge out our
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(lit., their) eyes” . Please see Rashi’s commentary on that page (in the רפּסְמ אוּה םִא וּלִּפא אוּה הָתּע דע וּנרְבּדֶּשׁ הז לכו )גי(
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gemara), the citation beginning with the words “and if he disgraces” where
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Rashi explains that the agent of the Beit Din was disgraced and humiliated וֹא ערָה ןוֹשׁלה ךְוֹתבּ םִא לבא ,וֹרבח לע תמא רבדּ
and the agent then reported back to the court what had happened.
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וֹתצקְִמבּ רקֶֶשׁ לֶשׁ תברֲֹעַתּ )גי( ברֵעְתנ וֹלֶּשׁ תוּליִכרְה
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Regarding this (the agent’s report), the gemara derives a proof from the
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pasuk “even if you would gouge out their eyes,” that their (Datan and :)'ז ג"כ תוֹמְשׁ( הרָוֹתּבּ בוּתכֶּשׁ הֵשֲׂע תוצִמ לע ןכּ םגּ רבוֹע
Aviram’s) threat was directed against the Beit Din’s agent and as a matter
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of routine procedure the agent reported their remarks back to Moshe הז ידֵי לע םגְפִל וֹמְשׁ הנַּתְּשׁנ םגו ,"קחרְִתּ רקֶֶשׁ רבדִּמ"
Rabbeinu, as Rashi explains in his commentary, citation beginning with הבּרְה רוּמח וֹשׁנעו ,ערָ םָשׁ איִצוֹמ םֵשׁבּ הָתּע ארֵקִּהל
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the words “even if…eyes.” From this we see that the agent of the Beit
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Din was permitted to report back what happened. Based on this, we see .תוּליִכרְוּ ערָה ןוֹשׁל םַתסִּמ רֵתוֹי
that Rashi understands the issue here (in telling the Beit Din what Datan
and Aviram said) is one of Lashon Hara. The agent himself knew that the
facts he was reporting were true, that Datan and Aviram disgraced him םייח םימ ראב
by saying “even if you gouged out their eyes” (expressing their curse in
the third person while in fact they were referring to themselves), as Rashi תועובשמ היארו .רקש לש תבורעת 'וכו ונרבדש הז לכו )גי(
explains in the Chumash. And yet the implication of the gemara is that
if this person was not representing the Beit Din and reported what had ןיעכ הארנ קר וליפא אוה םשד ,ארמגה לש םירויצה לכב א"ל
happened to him, his remarks would have been Lashon Hara and making איהו ,רבועד יאדוב שממ רקש לש תבורעת ןכש לכו ,רקש
those remarks would have been forbidden.
ארוסיא םינפ לכ לעו ,ז"ק ןישע ג"מסה תעדל הרומג השע תוצמ
Even according to the text version of the Rosh (Gemara Moed Katan, 3
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perek, 5 paragraph) (and the Ran) [and the Nimukei Yosef] (commenting .תועידה לכל אוה אתיירואד
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on the Rif, page 8a), that the subject of the gemara is Rechilut, as I will וינפב אלשו וינפבו תוליכרו ערה ןושלב ונייה רבועד ש"מו
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explain shortly (in the 2 Kelal, 2 notation of the Be’er Mayim Chayim)
nevertheless, regarding this issue of law, we do not find that the Ran and .דבל רפסמהלו
the Rosh argue on any point of law with Rashi. According to the Rosh and
the Ran, the gemara is discussing Rechilut, and we see from the gemara ןכ 'וכו רומח ושנועו ער םש איצומ הז רובע ארקנש ש"מו
that it would be forbidden, even if it were true, unless an agent of the .ש"יע ושארב תועד תוכלהמ ז"פ ם"במרב אתיא
court was reporting it, as I will explain with Hashem’s help further on
in the beginning of the second section dealing with the laws of Esurei
םייחה רוקמ
4 Moshe Rabbeinu sent an agent to summon Datan and Aviram to court. They
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refused to come, saying that even if “their” eyes were gouged out they would ָתּכלהו"דּ הֵשֲׂע תוצִמ לע םגּ רבוֹעֶשׁ )די( הארְנ דוֹע )די(
not appear in court. The cited Gemara Moed Katan (16b) explains their
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remarks as demeaning the authority invested in the agent by the Beit Din (and שׁוֹדקּה לֶשׁ ויָתוֹדִּמבּ ךְליל הזבּ וּניוּטצנֶּשׁ ,"ויכרָדְִבּ
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