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Lesson #52

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Halachah

Causing harm based
on loshon horah that you’ve heard

#1

1. Someone told me that one of my workers hasn’t been showing
   up to work on time for the past month, but on his time sheet he writes
   otherwise.  Am I permitted to decrease his pay based on what I’ve heard?

1. Absolutely not!  As we learned, you are only permitted to
   suspect but not to believe.  The general guideline is that you may take
   measures to protect yourself, but you may not cause him harm based on what
   you’ve heard.  In this case, by decreasing his pay you would be causing
   him harm; therefore, it is forbidden to do so.  However, you may harbor
   suspicion and investigate the matter further.

#2

1. There is a person who’s been going around in our Shul
   collecting money for the past 2 years.  I recently heard that this person
   is not really needy but rather a phony who’s been deceiving people for his
   own profit.  May I stop giving him charity based on what I’ve heard?

1. Since until now this person was considered a legitimate
   charity, the fact that someone spoke loshon horah about him, is not
   sufficient evidence to remove him from that status.  You may suspect that
   something might be amiss and investigate further, but you are not
   permitted to cause him harm, based on loshon horah that you’ve heard. 
   Withholding charity from him would be classified as causing him harm. 
   Therefore, until the matter is further clarified, you should continue
   giving him as you have until now.

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:  Torah learning also serves as a deterrent for
loshon horah.

Menaseh:  How is that?

Oded:  There is a posuk in Iyov which states: “A
person is born to toil”.  Our sages learn that this refers to toil of the
mouth.

Menaseh:  How is that implied in the posuk?

Oded:  The mouth is the only limb in the body that doesn’t
require effort to activate.

Menaseh:  And other limbs?

Oded:  Other limbs, a person has to exert himself to
move.  The mouth runs without exertion.

Menaseh:  So how is that implied in the posuk?

Oded:  The posuk state: “A person is born to toil”. 
From the moment a person is given the power of speech, it begins working
without laziness.  Hence, from when it’s born, it’s toiling.

Menaseh:  Why did Hashem create the mouth that way,
different from all the other limbs of the body?

Oded:  For the purpose of Torah learning.

Menaseh:  So how does Torah learning prevent loshon
horah?

Oded:  Since a person’s mouth runs almost
automatically, he will invariably come to speak loshon horah.  However, if a
person busies his mouth with Torah learning he will be spared.

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Sources

Halachah

1) Sefer Chofetz Chaim Sec. 1 Chap. 6 Par.
11

2) Sefer Chofetz Chaim Sec. 1 Chap. 6 Par. 11
footnote

Agaddah

Sefer Shmiras Haloshon Sha’ar Hatorah Chap. 1