SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM — Hilchos Rechilus 2:3-4
The class met at the park after school for a game of baseball, and teams were chosen. Sixteen out of seventeen boys had been selected, leaving Pinny still not chosen by either team.
“That’s funny,” Pinny thought to himself. “I’m probably the best first baseman in the class. I wonder why no one picked me yet.”
One of the teams headed out to the field as the game was about to begin. “One second,” Pinny said to the captain whose team was at bat, “which team am I on?”
“Neither,” the captain replied. “There are 17 who want to play. You’re the odd man out.”
Pinny did not understand. “It’s not my fault the class has an odd number of boys. Besides, this is about the tenth baseball game we’re having this year. The odd man always gets put on a team. Why is today different?”
The captain replied, “Because Dovy told everyone that your parents asked the principal to switch you to the other class, only there was no room. If our class is not good enough for you, then you can go play with the kids in the other class.”
The Chofetz Chaim states:
If a business partner is seeking to end the partnership because he would rather become a partner with someone else, but in the end his plans do not materialize, it is forbidden for someone else to tell his current partner about what he was planning … for his partner will surely have bad feelings towards him for wanting to do this … and in the end, this may actually cause the partnership to break up. At the very least, this will cause the partner aggravation and, as Rambam writes, the sin of lashon hara includes relating information that may frighten someone or cause him distress.
In our example, the captains were, of course, terribly wrong for not including Pinny in the game. However, the problem all began with Dovy, who revealed to his classmates that Pinny had wanted to switch to another class. This was private information that Dovy had no right to divulge. His doing so caused his classmates to harbor bad feelings towards Pinny and led to his being hurt and humiliated at the park.
The following true incident illustrates the importance of this halachah:
A summer camp was seeking to hire a new head counselor. A head counselor of another camp applied for the position. When submitting his application he told the camp director, “I am sure that you will want to speak to people who have worked with me in the summer. I have one request: Please do not speak to the director of the camp at which I am currently employed. I don’t want him to know that I’ve applied elsewhere. After all, if you decide not to hire me, I will return to that camp. If the director finds out that I wanted to leave, our relationship will never be the same.”
Had anyone related this information to the director, he would have been guilty of speaking rechilus.
IN A NUTSHELL
Never reveal private information that could damage relationships between partners, classmates, etc.
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