SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM
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Day 57 ¨C Loshon Hora and the Non-Observant
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Based on the rules we have just studied, the rules of loshon hora vis-a-vis the totally non-observant Jew become clear.
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(1) The average non-observant Jew today has been deprived of a meaningful Jewish education.? Whether or not he has been exposed to Orthodox Jewish life, society has prevented him from taking Torah seriously.? Rambam compares such a person to a tinok shenishbah,
a kidnapped Jewish child whose kidnappers reared him with non-Torah ideals, and whose transgressions are committed out of ignorance.? Such a person may be in the category of both amecha, your people and amiso, his fellow.? It is our obligation to educate him
with love, care, and sensitivity and it is strictly forbidden to speak loshon hora against him.
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(2) A non-observant Jew who did receive a meaningful Jewish education, has been taught Torah values and knows that what he is doing is wrong, but claims that observance is too difficult, is a rebel due to temptation.? He is considered part of amecha, your people,
which means that loshon hora may be spoken of him only if it is for a constructive purpose.? However, he is not considered amisecha, your fellow, and consequently the prohibition of onaas devarim, causing hurt through the spoken word (Vayikra 25:17), will
not apply in his case.? Social pressure may be used to encourage observance even if he will suffer embarrassment in the process, provided that all the conditions of constructive speech are met.? Non-constructive speech that is either derogatory or harmful
would constitute loshon hora.
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(3) The classic apikores (heretic) who is knowledgeable but rebels is considered neither your brother nor a part of your people.? If there exists such a person today, one may speak about him without any preconditions.
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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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The Gaon¡¯s Will
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In his ethical will to his family, the Vilna Gaon wrote:
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One will stand judgment for every utterance; even a light remark will not be ignored.... The sin of forbidden speech is the worst of all, as our Sages have stated: ¡°These are the sins whose fruits [i.e. secondary punishments] are exacted from the person in
this world, while the principal [i.e. primary punishment] remains for him in the World to Come ... and loshon hora is equivalent to them all.¡± What more need be said concerning this most severe of sins? To the verse, ¡°All man¡¯s toil is for his mouth¡± (Koheles
6:7), the Sages comment (Koheles Rabbah 6:6) that all the mitzvos and Torah study of a person are not sufficient to negate that which he utters [sinfully]. They further state: ¡°Which craft should man pursue in this world? He should strive to emulate a mute
[to avoid evil talk] (Chullin 89a), and press his lips together like two millstones [which grind against one another].¡±
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... Not a single [such] utterance escapes from being recorded Above. Heavenly angels are forever being sent to each person to record his every utterance. ¡°For a bird of the sky will carry the sound, and a winged creature will relate the matter¡± (Koheles 10:20).
¡°Let not your mouth bring guilt on your flesh and do not tell the emissary that it was an error¡± (ibid. 5:5).
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