? SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM ? Day 169 ¨C Believing Rechilus
? The prohibition which forbids acceptance of loshon hora or rechilus, which we have translated ¡°Do not accept a false report,¡± uses the term ¡°shav,¡± which literally means vain or meaningless. Clearly, the inference is that negative
speech is not often to be given credence.
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It is often difficult, if not impossible, for a speaker to convey every detail and all background information that is crucial for an accurate understanding of a given occurrence. Certainly, if the speaker is violating halachah by relating rechilus, one dare
not assume that he is being careful to speak only the truth. Therefore, as in the case of loshon hora, belief of secondhand information in a way that could cause ill feelings among people is unjustified and prohibited.
? ? SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON ?
Lying in Disgrace
? The obligation to bury a meis mitzvah, unattended corpse, rests upon all Jews without exception. The Talmud (Berachos 19b) states that even a Kohen Gadol (High Priest), a nazir,1 or someone who is on his way to the Temple to bring
a Pesach offering must attend to a meis mitzvah.
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Sefer Chareidim (105:261) writes that a mitzvah which the current generation is neglecting is akin to a meis mitzvah. When no one pursues a given mitzvah ¡ª pursue it! Otherwise, that mitzvah ascends before the Heavenly Throne and complains, ¡°How lowly I am,
for I am all but forgotten from among the people.¡¯¡¯
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What is an actual meis mitzvah? A lifeless corpse. The Torah is stringent regarding its burial, not because of what it is now, but because of what it once was ¡ª an abode for a Jewish soul. It is thus that the Torah requires that a Kohen Gadol ¡ª who is not permitted
to attend to the corpse of even his own father or mother ¡ª attend to a meis mitzvah, so that it not lie in disgrace. Surely, then, if a mitzvah of the Torah ¡ª which is more precious than gems (Mishlei 3:13) and is the ¡°daily delight¡± of the One Above (ibid.
8:30) ¡ª is lying in disgrace, it is our obligation to strengthen ourselves in its observance, so that it not be cause for indictment of our generation before Hashem.
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To our misfortune, the concept of loshon hora is woefully ignored by many in our generation, thus making it a ¡°meis mitzvah¡± of our day. How great then is the reward of those who rescue this mitzvah from disgrace by faithfully adhering to the laws of shmiras
haloshon.
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1. The voluntary vow which makes a person a nazir (lit., one who is separated) requires him to abstain from eating grapes or their derivatives; from cutting his hair; and from coming in contact with a human corpse (see Bamidbar ch. 6).
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