SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM — Hilchos Lashon Hara 5-6
“Rachel is a horrible person. I can think of 20 things I don’t like about her,” says Sarah.
Leah responds, “You really should not say such things. It’s pure lashon hara.”
“I don’t care. I can say whatever I want,” is Sarah’s retort.
Leah says to herself, “This is not the first time I’ve heard Sarah talk like that about others. I’m going to tell people what she said about Rachel so that they will know to avoid conversations with her until she changes her attitude.”
This seems to be a classic case of lashon hara l’to’eles. However, there may be a problem. Suppose Rachel has no idea that Sarah has spoken against her. If Leah tells people why they should avoid conversations with Sarah, word might get back to Rachel about what was said. This would cause Rachel to have bad feelings towards Sarah. When someone utters words that cause bad feelings between Jews, he or she is guilty of speaking rechilus.
In such a case, Leah would have to find some other way to convince Sarah to mend her ways.
There is an exception to this rule; there is a case where Leah would be allowed to spread the word about Sarah’s forbidden talk although Rachel knows nothing about it.
Leah responds, “You really should not say such things. It’s pure lashon hara.”
“I don’t care. I can say whatever I want,” Sarah retorts. “In fact, tomorrow when I get to school, I’m going to tell everyone exactly what I don’t like about Rachel.”
In this case, Leah has to act quickly to prevent Sarah from carrying out her evil intentions. Leah would be correct to warn her friends in advance that Sarah is planning to say nasty things about Rachel — and that they should not believe a word of it.
IN A NUTSHELL
Lashon hara l’to’eles should not be spoken if it will result in rechilus — unless a specific situation warrants such talk.
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