SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM
Day 71 ¨C Possible Harm???????
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Unlike other cases of constructive purpose, protecting someone from possible harm is permissible even when no firsthand information is available.? If one happens to hear that one Jew is plotting to harm another, it is permissible
to advise the potential victim to beware of the suspected plotter.? In such a case, where the suspicions are based on hearsay, the information must not be presented as fact.? It should be clearly stated that the concerns stem from unconfirmed secondhand information
that may or may not be true.
The Chofetz Chaim maintains that although one who fails to warn his fellow Jew of impending danger is in violation of, ¡°Do not stand aside while your fellow¡¯s blood is being shed,¡± this does not apply when one is unable to personally verify that danger does,
indeed, exist.? Nevertheless, it is proper to convey even secondhand information if this might spare someone harm.
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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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Self-Destruction
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In his last will and testament, Rambam writes: ¡°Prophets prophesied and wise men spoke many words of wisdom regarding the wickedness of strife ¡ª and they did not plumb its full depth.¡¯¡¯ Thus, any attempt to fully describe the great destructiveness of strife
will be insufficient. We will therefore offer only brief citations concerning this matter, and allow the man of intellect to ponder it further.
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The Midrash states:
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R¡¯ Berechiah said: How destructive is strife! The Heavenly Court does not exact punishment [from the living] until the age of twenty; the [Jewish] courts on this earth do not punish until the age of thirteen [for a male]; yet in the dispute involving Korach,
infants were swallowed up into the abyss, as it is written, ¡°... with their wives, children, and infants ... The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them and their households .... they and all that was theirs descended alive to the pit¡± (Bamidbar?16:27,
32-33).
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The Sages taught: Four are classified as ¡°wicked¡¯¡¯: one who extends his hand to strike his fellow, even if he does not actually strike him; one who borrows and does not repay; a brazen person who has no sense of shame before those of greater stature than himself;
and one who engages in strife. Regarding this last sinner, it is written, ¡°Turn away now from the tents of these wicked men [i.e. Korach and his group]¡¯¡¯ (ibid. v. 26).
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How much inner shame should one feel for having been the cause of dispute! Would a person not be unforgiving if someone called him a rasha (wicked person) even in private, with no one else present? Should not a person be overcome with shame for having caused
himself to be deserving of this description?! |
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???????????? Keep reading for Day 72, the learning for Shabbos
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SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM
Day 72 ¨C Overhearing a Threat
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An obvious case where conveying negative information is required is where a person is overheard plotting to harm someone.? While we have seen that when a Jew may be in danger, even secondhand information can be related, it is
imperative that one first determine that the plot is apparently serious and not a bad joke.?
The condition that one first reprove the person against whom he intends to speak (see Day 45) applies only if one believes he can change the alleged plotter¡¯s attitude.? Otherwise, warning him would only induce him to modify the plot to ensure that it not be
uncovered.
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The remaining conditions are required here no less than in an ordinary case of constructive speech:? One¡¯s intent must be solely to avert harm (and not, for example, for the pleasure of thwarting the plotter); if an alternative exists ¨C including not revealing
the identity of the plotter ¨C then that avenue must be pursued.? Also, one must be reasonably sure that the plotter will not be caused undue harm.? If the potential victim is known to be hot-tempered and can be expected to take revenge, he cannot be spoken
to.? Alternative means would have to be found to protect the victim without endangering the plotter.? (The case of one who overhears a plotter will be discussed in greater detail in the laws of rechilus, gossipmongering.)
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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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The Work of Satan
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Much of Satan¡¯s efforts are directed toward inciting strife, and toward ensuring that once a feud has erupted, it does not end quickly. The Talmud relates:
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There were two people whom Satan regularly incited, so that at every twilight period [on the eve of Shabbos] they fought with one another. R¡¯ Meir visited there and restrained them for three such twilight periods until he made peace between them. He subsequently
heard Satan say: ¡°Woe, that R¡¯ Meir has removed that one [i.e. Satan] from his house [i.e. from the place where he was previously welcome]!¡¯¡¯ (Gittin 52a).
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The Midrash states that the Hebrew word for ?¡°dispute¡± is an acronym for plague; ?wrath; affliction; curse; conclusion; for ultimately, strife brings destruction upon man.
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The greater the stature of the disputant, the greater is his sin. This is why the Torah underscores the fact that those who joined Korach in his rebellion were ¡°leaders of the assembly, those summoned for meeting, men of renown¡± (Bamidbar 16:2). |
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