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Lesson #43

Please verbalize or
have in mind that you are studying this material as a merit for a specific
single and/or Jewish singles throughout the world.

Halachah

#1

Loshon horah about
property

1. I have a friend who owns a bicycle shop.  He told me that
   the bicycles sold by his Jewish competitor are of inferior quality.  Is that
   considered loshon horah?

1. It certainly is.  The prohibition of speaking loshon horah
   applies to speaking negatively about someone’s merchandise as well, since
   it can reflect poorly on the owner or cause him financial damage.

#2

Loshon horah told
by 2 people

1. If 2 people tell over loshon horah together, is that any
   better?

1. No.  As a matter of fact it is even a greater sin; since
   if it’s told by 2 people it will be considered more credible and people
   will more readily believe it, resulting in greater harm to the subject of
   the loshon horah.

Aggadah

This section is
formatted as a conversation between Oded and Menaseh.   Oded is encouraging his
friend Menaseh to be more careful in guarding his tongue from evil speech.  The
thoughts in this section are primarily based on the sefer, Shmiras Haloshon.

Oded:  We mentioned 7 possible causes that can lead a
person to freely speak loshon horah.  They were:

·       
Anger

·       
Frivolity

·       
Arrogance

·       
Hopelessness

·       
Abandonment

·       
Complaining nature

·       
Rationalization

Menaseh:  We were discussing cause #7,
rationalization.  You mentioned yesterday that thoroughly learning the laws of
a particular mitzvah can have a dramatic impact on ones ability to fulfill that
mitzvah.

Oded:  That’s right.  A) Because it will make us more
cognizant of the mitzvah.  B) When we toil in the words of our sages, Hashem
removes the yetzer horah for that particular sin which we’ve studied.

Menaseh:  So regarding the sin of loshon horah, if
someone has become so accustomed to speaking loshon horah that he/she no longer
even realizes what is emanating from their mouth, is there hope of reversing
that?

Oded:  Absolutely!  By learning the laws and reviewing
them numerous times, one can reverse that effect; to the extent that one will
become conscious of every word that comes out of their mouth, even if it’s only
avak (the dust of) loshon horah.

Menaseh:  This concept of being conscious of every
word that comes out of ones mouth is something that’s relevant to loshon horah
only or all forms of speech as well.

Oded:  It is something that can have an impact on all
speech.  You see, Hashem implanted within a person, senses.  The sense of
detecting what hits your tongue is one of the stronger senses, by nature.

Menaseh:  So why then am I often not cognizant of
what I say?

Oded:  That’s a result of extraneous speech.  When a
person becomes accustomed to speaking excessively, without giving much thought
to what he/she is saying, it greatly weakens this sense.

Menaseh:  Can I restore this sense if it has already
been weakened?

Oded:  Yes.  By learning and often reviewing the laws
of Shmiras haloshon, you will pay more attention to what you say and as a
result, you will begin to regain this sense until it will ultimately be
completely restored.

If you have any
questions regarding these lessons, feel free to contact Rabbi Faivel Adelman by
hitting the reply button.

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Sources

Halachah

1) Sefer Chofetz Chaim Sec. 1 Chap. 5 Par.
7

2) Sefer Chofetz Chaim Sec. 1 Chap. 5 Par. 8

Agaddah

Sefer Shmiras Haloshon Sha’ar Hatevunah Chap. 16