Day 75 ¨C Unsafe Products
? It is permissible to warn people that a product is dangerous ¨C that is, if the warning is truly warranted.? Countless items are potentially dangerous if misused, and many processed foods are unhealthy if consumed in large quantities;
in such cases, labeling the item ¡°dangerous¡± is wrong.? Labeling an item as unsafe is justified only if such a declaration is considered reasonable by normal standards.? (See Day 43, condition 2.)? Furthermore, if the information is not known firsthand, this
must be mentioned when relating the information (see Day 43).
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If the manufacturer is Jewish, he must be spoken to first (see Day 45).? Failure to fulfill the above conditions would render the statement loshon hora as it would cause harm to the manufacturer, as well as to the consumer who will needlessly avoid the product.
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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON ?
Disparaging a Torah Scholar ?
While it is a sin to quarrel with any Jew, the sin is greater when one initiates a feud with a Torah scholar. And when one¡¯s adversary is his own Torah teacher, the sin is magnified manifold.
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It is the way of warring parties to disparage one another, and it is regarding one who disparages a Torah scholar that our Sages apply the verse, ¡°For he scorned the word of Hashem and broke His commandment; that person will surely be cut off, his sin is upon
him¡± (Bamidbar 15:31).
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The Talmud relates (Shabbos 119b) that the sin of shaming Torah scholars led to the destruction of Jerusalem, as it is written, ¡°But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets, to a point that the anger of Hashem rose
against His people, without any possibility of abatement¡± (II Divrei HaYamim 36:16).
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The Talmud further states: ¡°R¡¯ Yehoshua ben Levi said: Whoever speaks disparagingly of a deceased Torah scholar descends into Gehinnom¡± (Berachos 19a).
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