#196

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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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No Credibility
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When one is told loshon hora and attempts to follow the Torah’s command to reject it as false, the evil inclination often counters with the following argument: “How can you not accept this report as fact? Dare you accuse the speaker of lying, of transgressing the prohibition, ‘Distance yourself from falsehood’? ” (Shemos 23:7).
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The response to this is as follows: If you were to see a Jew [who is knowledgeable in the laws of Jewish observance] flagrantly violate Torah law, would you then accept as fact whatever information he has to offer about others? Certainly not! Surely one cannot trust the word of one who openly flouts Hashem’s will.
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A Jew who speaks ill of his fellow has transgressed “You shall not be a gossipmonger among your people” (Vayikra?19:16), a most severe prohibition. As the halachah makes clear, this prohibition is violated even when the report is true. Thus, the speaker is guilty of severe transgression and, as such, has no credibility.?
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#201

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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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Source of Merit
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To reject loshon hora as false is an exceedingly great source of merit — especially if the subject of the report is respected as a man of spiritual stature. Tanna D’Vei Eliyahu (II, ch. 7) states:
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It is said of Yeravam ben Yoash that he was a man who accorded the prophets honor. Therefore, those nations which the Holy One, Blessed is He, did not give over into the hands of Yehoshua bin Nun or David, King of Israel, He gave over into the hands of Yeravam ben Yoash, as it is written, “He [Yeravam] returned the borders of Israel from the approach to Chamas until the sea of Aravah ...” (II Melachim?14:25). Why did Yeravam, who was an idol worshiper, merit this? Because he did not accept loshon hora regarding the prophet Amos. ...At that moment [when he rejected the report against the prophet], God said, “Though the generation is guilty of idol worship and its leader is guilty of idol worship, nevertheless, the land which I promised to Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov will be given over into his [Yeravam’s] hands.”
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#202

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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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Pure and Wholesome
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By rejecting loshon hora as false, one ensures that his study of Torah and fulfillment of other mitzvos remain wholesome and untainted.
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One who is in the habit of listening to loshon hora is liable to lose thousands of mitzvos which he could have performed — specifically, the many responses of “Amen” and “Yehei Shemei Rabbah”, and the many minutes of Torah study that can be lost while listening to gossip. Generally speaking, gossipmongers are eager to sell their “wares” to anyone who is willing to listen and at any time, even in the synagogue while prayers are in progress and in the study hall while Torah is being learned. They carry on conversations while Kaddish is being recited, during the chazzan’s repetition of the Shemoneh Esrei, and during the public Torah reading.
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When a person is known to refrain from listening to loshon hora, gossipmongers will avoid speaking in his presence, even when their words are intended for others to hear and not for him.
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One who seeks to be completely innocent of the sin of accepting loshon hora should, on a steady basis, speak to the members of his immediate family regarding the imperative of shmiras haloshon. He should tell them of both the great reward for being zealous in matters of speech and the severe retribution that one may incur for transgressing the sins of speaking and accepting loshon hora.

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#205

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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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Sound Advice
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I offer the following advice to anyone who seeks to guard his tongue from speaking the forbidden: Train yourself to refrain from engaging in any conversation while in a beis midrash (study hall) or beis haknesses (synagogue). The benefits of this practice are many:
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(1) One fulfills the great mitzvah of displaying respect for the awesome sanctity of these places.1
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(2) His Torah study is untainted by disruption (see Day 61) and his prayers are likewise uninterrupted and not lacking even one Amen or Yehei Shemei Rabba, each a priceless, irreplaceable treasure. Conversely, to disregard these responses is a serious sin.
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(3) The average Jewish male spends approximately four hours a day in the beis haknesses for the three daily prayers. (This figure takes into account the fact that most people remain in the synagogue [studying and praying privately] for a while after the prayer has ended.2) He spends another two hours in the beis hamidrash studying Torah — a total of six hours, or one-fourth of each twenty four period. Thus, one who scrupulously avoids idle conversation in halls of Divine service is assured of having spent at least one-fourth of his lifetime on this earth engaged in Torah study and prayer and having avoided all forms of forbidden speech.
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(4) Having trained oneself to avoid conversation for these six hours, one will find it relatively easy to refrain from speaking loshon hora the remainder of the day.
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1. The Torah states, “Observe My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary — I am Hashem” (Vayikra 26:2). The status of the synagogue and study hall as “miniature sanctuaries” demands proper reverence. “Regarding synagogues, one may not conduct himself with levity in them, one may not eat in them, nor may one drink in them, nor may one adorn himself in them, nor may one stroll around in them, nor may one enter them in the summer to escape the heat or in the rainy season to escape the rain ...” (Megillah 28a). Included under “levity” is mundane conversation, such as matters pertaining to business (see Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 151:1).
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2. The Chofetz Chaim wrote these words in the late 1800’s.

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Keep reading Day 63, the lesson for Shabbos

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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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Talking During the Torah Reading
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Unfortunately, idle conversations often begin with stories that are filled from beginning to end with loshon hora. When held in the synagogue, such conversations usually begin prior to the Torah reading, but when the reading commences, the speaker continues his narrative so that he speaks loshon hora even as the words of our holy Torah are being read. Often, this person is among the distinguished members of the congregation whose seat is at the eastern wall, so that his sin is committed in full view of everyone. In this way, one is guilty of desecrating Hashem’s Name in public, meaning, in the presence of ten Jews, a most severe form of chilul Hashem.
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Note how many prohibitions this man has transgressed:
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(1) The prohibition against speaking loshon hora, aside from numerous other commandments both positive and negative [which one might transgress when speaking loshon hora].
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(2) The sin of “You shall not desecrate My Holy Name” (Vayikra?22:32), which, as mentioned above, was transgressed in public.
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(3) He has ignored the Torah reading; even if he has missed a single verse or even a single word, his sin is enormous. For our Sages consider it a serious sin even to leave the synagogue while the Torah reading is in progress; how much more so regarding one who is present in the beis haknesses (synagogue) and whose craving for idle conversation and loshon hora causes him to ignore the word of the Living God! Often, this occurs on Shabbos, when the sin is far greater than on a weekday, as is stated in many holy works.
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To all of the above is added the sin of engaging in idle conversation in the beis haknesses or beis midrash, which is a great sin as stated in Shulchan Aruch — and certainly when such conversation is in the form of loshon hora