SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM
Day 49 ¨C Harmful Information
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Condition #7:
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As noted above, the permissibility of speaking negatively for a constructive purpose is based upon the principle that it is not lowly to relate negative information for a positive reason.
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This applies only to information which is derogatory but harmless.? However, it is forbidden to relate harmful information for a constructive purpose.? The only exception to this rule is where one has determined that halachah allows for the subject to be harmed
in that manner.
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SEFER SHMIRAS HALOSHON
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The Sin of the Spies
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In the second year of the Jews¡¯ sojourn in the Wilderness, Moshe sent twelve great men, one from each tribe, to scout out the Land of Canaan in advance of Israel¡¯s conquest of it. When they returned from their mission, ten of the Spies delivered a slanderous,
demoralizing report about the Land and the Jews¡¯ ability to conquer it. The people accepted this report as fact and wept throughout the night.
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R¡¯ Yochanan said: The Spies returned on the eve of Tishah B¡¯Av. The Holy One, Blessed is He, said, ¡°You wept in vain. I will establish it [i.e. this night] for you as a time of weeping for all generations¡± (Ta¡¯anis 28b).
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God decreed that, because of this sin, the Jews would wander in the Wilderness for forty years and all adult males of that generation would not enter the Land (see Bamidbar chs. 13-14).
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How could the Spies, each one a leader among his people, have sinned so grievously? Where did they go wrong?
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The evil inclination uses contrasting approaches to entice people to sin. At times, it fills a person¡¯s heart with arrogance, so that the person becomes convinced that he is among the God-fearing, or even among those who have true love of God, a yet higher
level. The person therefore sees no reason for self-improvement and is content with his mediocre service of Hashem.
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The evil inclination also employs an opposite approach. It can cause a person to dwell upon his past sins, though he has long repented and has ceased to repeat them. The person finds himself in a constant state of spiritual despair. When the opportunity for
a mitzvah presents itself, the person tells himself, ¡°Such acts are befitting the righteous, not sinners like myself.¡¯¡¯
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It was such an attitude that was at the root of the Spies¡¯ error, as we shall explain. |
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