SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM
Day 54 ¨C The Habitual Sinner????
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In the case of a habitual sinner who ignores a particular commandment altogether, one is to assume that even a questionable act is, in fact, a transgression of that commandment.? ¡°Judge your fellow favorably¡± demands fairness,
not naivet¨¦.
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Having concluded that the person did transgress, one must then seek to understand why he frequently commits this sin.? It may be due to ignorance ¨C he may be totally unaware that the act is forbidden, or he might not realize the severity of the prohibition.?
Should this be the case, one must find some way of enlightening the person without hurting his feelings.? Discussing his behavior with others constitutes speaking loshon hora.? (This situation is common among those who were raised in communities where there
is widespread violation of certain laws.? In such instances, people mistakenly view those who observe these laws as machmirim, individuals who are stringent beyond the letter of the law.)
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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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Most Severe
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R¡¯ Yehoshua ben Levi said: Whoever relates loshon hora accumulates sins which reach the heavens, as it is written (Tehillim 73:9), ¡°They direct their mouths to the heavens, their tongue struts on earth¡± (Arachin 15b).
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As mentioned above, the sin of loshon hora can result in an accumulation of sins greater than the Three Cardinal Sins. This refers not only to the sins¡¯ severity, but to their punishment as well. As Talmud Yerushalmi states (Pe¡¯ah 1:1), ¡°There are four sins
for which retribution is exacted in this world while the principal [i.e. primary punishment] remains for the World to Come: idol worship, immorality, murder ¡ª and loshon hora is equal to them all.¡¯¡¯
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In Tanna D¡¯Vei Eliyahu (I, ch. 15) we read: ¡°Those who strike their fellow stealthily [through loshon hora],1 those who desecrate the Name in public, those who belittle their neighbors with words, and those who incite strife, their end will be that of Korach;
regarding them does the Torah state: ¡®The earth covered them over [and they were lost from among the congregation]¡¯ ¡± (Bamidbar?16:33).
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1. The Torah states: ¡°Accursed is one who strikes his fellow stealthily; and the entire people shall say, ¡® Amen.¡¯ ¡± (Deuteronomy 27:24). Rashi interprets this as referring to the sin of loshon hora.
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