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Lesson #47c

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Halachah

Listening to
loshon horah for a purpose

#1

1. The other day I overheard 2 people speaking loshon horah
   about my friend.  I’m wondering if it would be okay for me to listen in so
   that I may subsequently rebuke my friend and steer him in the right
   direction.

1. Yes you may.  Since your intention is to help your friend
   and not to hear negative information about him, you would not be violating
   the prohibition of listening to loshon horah.

#2

1. If I overhear people talking loshon horah about someone
   and I feel that I can prove to the listeners that what’s being said is
   inaccurate, may I listen in?

1. In such a situation it is a mitzvah for you to listen in
   and minimize the damage that might result from that 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:  Based on what we’ve recently discussed I would
like to explain a posuk which we recite in Shacharis on Thursday in the Shir
Shel Yom.

Menaseh:  Which point of discussion are you referring
to?

Oded:  We mentioned that in order to implant in
ourselves the holiness of Hashem which results from our mitzvah performance, we
must first make sure that false beliefs and impure thoughts are not dwelling
within us.

Menaseh:  Which posuk did you want to elucidate?

Oded:  The following posuk:  “There should not be
within you a foreign deity and you should not bow to a strange god.  I am
Hashem your G-d that brought you up from the land of Egypt; widen your mouth
and I will fill it.”

Menaseh:  What did you want to explain?

Oded:  The sequence of the posuk.  It would make
sense for the posuk to first say “I am Hashem your G-d” and then “there should
not be with in you a foreign deity”.

Menaseh:  Why is that sequence any better?

Oded:  That is the sequence we find in the Torah. 
The first commandment is I am Hashem your G-d… and the second commandment is
there should not be for you other deities etc.

Menaseh:  So how would you like to explain the
disparity?

Oded:  Our sages in Meseches Shabbos teach us: what
is a foreign deity that is within the body of a person?  His evil inclination. 
Therefore, we can explain the sequence of the pesukim as follows.  “I am Hashem
your G-d who brought you up from the land of Egypt” – I brought you out of Egypt to be your G-d through you accepting the Torah.  “Widen your mouth and I will fill it”
– Prepare yourselves to be proper receptacles for the Torah and I will then fill
your mouth with Torah.  When can all this occur? Only after there are no
foreign deities within you, i.e. the yetzer horah; false beliefs and improper
thoughts.  That is why the posuk “There should not be within you a foreign
deity and you should not bow to a strange god” proceeds “I am Hashem your G-d
that brought you up from the land of Egypt, widen your mouth and I will fill
it.”

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Sources

Halachah

1) Sefer Chofetz Chaim Sec. 1 Chap. 6 Par.
2

2) Sefer Chofetz Chaim Sec. 1 Chap. 6 Par. 4

Agaddah

Sefer Shmiras Haloshon Section 2 Chap. 2