Someone, who will remain nameless {but lives in Burbank, CA} , wrote to me and called this blog Lashon Hara. It is obvious to any reader of my blog that there is no Lashon Hara going on here. All one needs to do is study what the meaning of the words Lashon Hara and the halacha involved and you will realize this is not Lashon Hara.
Lashon Hara is when a person speaks derogatorily about a fellow Jew. This statute is derived from the Torah, which relates not to be a talebearer amongst your people. I started this blog as a rebuke to the sin of Charles who despite constant attempts to make peace on this issue of Hashems hand in creation persisted in leading people astray.
Whoever sent me this comment is obviously a heretic who doesn’t care about the word of Hashem and is looking to be a talebearer against me. If he or she is Jewish she is bearing a sin.
The bulk of the content on my site is purely Jewish thought and not concerned with the sins performed by Charles and his gang of haters.
Several Torah passages contain mitzvahs related to proper speech:
- Deut. 24:8 – “Take heed concerning the plague of leprosy” because it is a punishment of Lashon Hara.
- Deut. 24:9 – “Remember what the L-rd your G-d did unto Miriam by the way as you came forth out of Egypt.” Specifically, she spoke against her brother Moses.
- Lev. 25:17 – “You shall not wrong one another” which the Talmud (Bava Metzia 58b) explains that this means saying anything that will insult or anger someone.
- Deut. 19:15 – “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin” because, unlike in a court for monetary matters, the testimony of a solitary witness is not binding, so that his testimony damages the defendant’s reputation without any beneficial result.
- Ex. 23:1 – “You shall not utter a false report.” Acceptance of a false report also follows from this.
- Lev. 19:14 – “Before the blind do not place a stumbling block.” This applies to both the speaker and the listener since they are helping each other violate the commandments.
- Lev. 19:12 – “You shall not hate your brother in your heart,” referring to contradictory behavior such as acting friendly but then speaking negatively about him behind his back.
- Lev. 19:18 – “You shall not take vengeance or bear any grudge against the children of your people,” such as speaking against someone in anger and for something that was done against the speaker.
- Lev. 19:17 – “You shall rebuke your neighbor and you shall not bear sin because of him.” This verse contains two mitzvot: (1) stop someone from speaking Lashon Hara (among other interpretations), and (2) don’t embarrass him in the process. (Note: rebuke is not a simple topic, especially because the one being scolded may not always listen. This is covered in some detail in the second section of the book, Hilchot Rechilut.)
- Lev. 19:18 – “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
- Num. 17:5 – “You shall not act similar to Korach and his company” who sustained a dispute.
- Deut. 10:20 – “To Him [and (by implication) his wise ones] shall you cleave.”
- Ex. 23:2 – “You shall not follow a multitude to do evil.” The above two commandments refer to keeping good company, which includes those who will refrain from improper subjects in their discussions.
I suppose the only thing which may be construed as evil speech would be the name of my blog. It is named as such to remember the reason for its creation. The fact that a bunch of haters of Hashem attacked the very act of creation is the reason for lgfsucks.wordpress.com. This is not Lashon Hara, this is righteous rebuke for the sinner.
muman613
Tags: lashon hara, rebuke, sin
