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Lashon Hara: Difference between revisions
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# One does not have license to obtain any negative information unless it is really relevant and necessary to the potential partnership. Still, even when the impetus for the fact-finding is justified, one is very much obligated to disclose his reason for asking for negative information. This is so the person answering does not relate information with the wrong intention.<ref> Chofetz Chaim, Hilchot Lashon Harah 4:11</ref> | # One does not have license to obtain any negative information unless it is really relevant and necessary to the potential partnership. Still, even when the impetus for the fact-finding is justified, one is very much obligated to disclose his reason for asking for negative information. This is so the person answering does not relate information with the wrong intention.<ref> Chofetz Chaim, Hilchot Lashon Harah 4:11</ref> | ||
==Additional safeguards== | ==Additional safeguards== | ||
# Certain forms of speech are not intrinsically prohibited but are nonetheless instituted rabbinically as safeguards to protect people from speaking Lashon Harah ("Avak Lashon Hara" / אבק לשון הרע). For example, one is not allowed to say, "Who would believe that he would turn out so well?" or "Let's not discuss him, because I do not want to say what he did." | # Certain forms of speech are not intrinsically prohibited but are nonetheless instituted rabbinically as safeguards to protect people from speaking Lashon Harah ("Avak Lashon Hara" / אבק לשון הרע). For example, one is not allowed to say, "Who would believe that he would turn out so well?" or "Let's not discuss him, because I do not want to say what he did." <ref> Chofetz Chaim, Hilchot Lashon Harah 9:1 </ref> | ||
# | # Also, one may not talk about others in a positive way if doing so will cause the subject suffering or other problems – such as highlighting someone's extraordinary generosity, as the donor may then be overwhelmed from all the unsolicited attention.<ref>Chofetz Chaim, Hilchot Lashon Harah 9:1-3</ref> | ||
===Inappropriate Praise===# One must be careful not to praise his friend in front of others who think negatively about him as this may lead them to speak negatively about him. It is also not allowed to speak excessively positively about any individual, as eventually the speaker or listener might be tempted to highlight some of the subject's negative characteristics as well.<ref> Chafetz Chaim Hilchot Lashon Hara 9:1, Gemara Baba Batra 164b, Erchin 16a. Rambam Deot 7:4 writes that one should not praise someone at all in front of his enemy because it will cause the listener to disparage the subject </ref> | |||
# When speaking in front of a large group of people, one is not permitted to speak positively about anyone else for fear of what negative features about the said person those in the audience might begin to discuss among themselves. Obviously if the context and reason for the speech lends to positive discussion – about the honoree of the occasion, for example – then this prohibition does not apply. | # When speaking in front of a large group of people, one is not permitted to speak positively about anyone else for fear of what negative features about the said person those in the audience might begin to discuss among themselves. Obviously if the context and reason for the speech lends to positive discussion – about the honoree of the occasion, for example – then this prohibition does not apply. | ||
==In front of 3 people== | ==In front of 3 people== | ||
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==About Deceased== | ==About Deceased== | ||
# It is also forbidden to speak Lashon Hara about the deceased. <ref> Mishpatei Hashalom pg. 220 </ref> | # It is also forbidden to speak Lashon Hara about the deceased. <ref> Mishpatei Hashalom pg. 220 </ref> | ||
==Sources== | ==Sources== | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
[[Category:Between Man And His Fellow]] | [[Category:Between Man And His Fellow]] | ||
