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Sefer Chafetz Chayim םייח ץפח רפס
Hilchot Esurei Lashon Hara ערה ןושל ירוסיא תוכלה
Kelal Zayin 'ז ללכ - םייחה רוקמ

a Jew who until now has had an absolute presumption of legitimacy
in society? Someone (a speaker) who is suspect of violating the
Lav of Lashon Hara is also suspect of lying and twisting events and
adding things (that never happened) to a story.
'ז ללכּ
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And what difference does it make \ why is it more credible if two
people spoke Lashon Hara! Even if there were many more (than
two speakers), the number of people in a group of evil people is רַמֱאנ םִא ,ערָָה ןוֹשׁל תלבּקַ רוּסִּא רַאֹבי הז ללכבּ
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irrelevant (quoting from Gemara Sanhedrin 6a). But even if the
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remarks are such that the speakers are not categorized as Rasha’im הֵבּרְַהֵמ רוּפּסַּה עַמָשׁ םִא ןידִו .וינפבּ וֹא הָשׁלְֹשׁ ינפבּ
because their remarks are true, even so it is forbidden to accept ,וֹמּתּ יפל ַחיסֵמִּמ וֹא ,ריִעבּ אֵצוֹי לוֹקֶּשׁ וֹא ,םיִשׁנֲא
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them as truth (6) and to believe the remarks and form an opinion (7)
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because these speakers cannot be invested with the authority of two .םיפיִעס ד"י וֹבוּ ,ירֵתּ יֵבכּ הּל ןָמיֵהְמִּמ וֹא
witnesses, even if there are more than two witnesses, unless their
testimony is presented in a Beit Din. But outside of a Beit Din they
do not have the status of two witnesses and if they lied they would
not be called false witnesses but rather they would be categorized רפּסְמ רפּסְמה םִא וּלִּפא אוּה ערָה ןוֹשׁל תלבּקַ רוּסִּא .א
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as slanderers (as the Se’Mak lists this as Lav # 6).
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ןכ יִפּ לע ףא ,םיִשׁנא המּכּ ינְפִל )א( םוּסרְִפבּ םירִבדּה תא
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All of this, though, is in the context of forming a definitive opinion
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(of the victim solely on the basis of the speaker’s Lashon Hara םיִעְמוֹשּׁהל שׁי קרַ ,תמא רבדּהֶשׁ ,הז תמחֵמ טיִלחהל ןיא
remarks) but it is permitted to (merely) suspect the truth of those
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רבדּהֶשׁ ,םהל ררֵבְּתי םִאו ,רבדּה תא רקֹחלו הזל שׁוּחל
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Mekor Hachayim Be'er Mayim Chayim on page 111 רפּסְמה םִא וּלִּפא ,ערָה ןוֹשׁלבּ ןיִמאהל רֵתּה םוּשׁ ןיא .ב
remarks even if he heard them spoken by only one person.
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.הז לע וּהוּחיִכוֹי ,תמא
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K7/4. This is the law if a rumor (Lashon Hara) circulated about
a person (8), that he did something or said something inappropriate
from the perspective of the Torah, whether the offense was very
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serious or minor, even so, it is forbidden to accept it as truth and
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to form an opinion. However, one can suspect the veracity of the
rumor until such time that it is substantiated as truth (and then וּנְעמָשׁ אלֶֹּשׁ ןויכּ ,וינפבּ ערָה ןוֹשׁלה )ב( וילע רפִּס
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הָתּע רפּסְמ ןיא םִא ןכֶּשׁ לכו ,ןוֹדּנּה יִפִּמ הז לע האדוֹה
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conclude an opinion). How much even more so must one be very
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careful in repeating the rumor to others not to intentionally repeat it ,וינפבּ וּלּא םירִבדּה תא רֵמוֹא היהֶשׁ ,רֵמוֹא קרַ ,וינפבּ
for the sake of more broadly publicizing (9) it, as I explained above םלוֹעה ,םיִבּרַה וּניֵתוֹנוֲֹעבוּ ,הז םעטִּמ וֹניִמאהל רוּסאדּ
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nd
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in the Kelal, in the halacha. Please review that reference
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carefully. העָשׁבּ ,הָתּע קֵתוֹשׁ אוּה םִא וּלִּפאו )ג( .דֹאְמ הזבּ ןיִלָשׁכנ

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