''Lashon hara'' (or ''loshon horo'', or ''loshon hora'') ( he, לשון הרע; "evil tongue") is the

halakhic ''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...

term for speech about a person or persons that is negative or harmful to them, even though it is true. It is speech that damages the person(s) that are talked about either emotionally or financially, or lowers them in the estimation of others.Telushkin, Joseph. ''A Code of Jewish Ethics: Volume 1 - You Shall Be Holy''. New York: Bell Tower, 2006. p. 332. ''Lashon hara'' differs from the more severe prohibition of ''hotzaat shem ra'', "making a bad name," in that ''hotzaat shem ra'' consists of untrue statements. ''Lashon hara'' is considered to be a very serious

sin In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...

in the

Jewish tradition Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites"" ...

. The communicator of ''lashon hara'' (which is included in ''rechilut'') violates the Torah prohibition of ''lo telech rachil b'ameicha,'' translating to "thou shalt not go up and down as a among thy people" (''Leviticus 19:16'' KJV).

Definition

Speech is considered to be ''lashon hara'' (detraction) if it says something negative about a person or party, is not seriously intended to correct or improve a negative situation, and is true. Statements that fit this description are considered to be ''lashon hara'', regardless of the method of communication that is used, whether it is through face-to-face conversation, a letter, telephone, or email, or even body language. By contrast, ''hotzaat shem ra'' ("spreading a bad name") – also called ''hotzaat diba'' or ''motzi shem ra'' (lit. "putting out a bad name") – consists of lies, and is best translated as "slander" or "defamation" (calumny). ''Hotzaat shem ra'' is an even graver

than ''lashon hara''. The act of

gossip Gossip is idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others; the act is also known as dishing or tattling. Gossip is a topic of research in evolutionary psychology, which has found gossip to be an important means ...

ing is called ''rechilut'', and is also forbidden by halakha.

Etymology

The phrase consists of the noun ("tongue"), the

definite article An article is any member of a class of dedicated words that are used with noun phrases to mark the identifiability of the referents of the noun phrases. The category of articles constitutes a part of speech. In English, both "the" and "a(n)" ar ...

, and the adjective ("evil"). The Hebrew noun means "tongue" and – as in many languages – "speech" or "language". The phrase is generally translated as "evil speech". The term corresponds to the idea of an "evil tongue" in other cultures, such as the Latin , the French , and the Spanish .

Sources

The term ''lashon hara'' is not mentioned in the

Tanakh The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''

Psalm The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...

34:14. The

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

contains a general injunction against ''rekhilut'' (gossip): "Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people; neither shalt thou stand idly by the blood of thy neighbour: I am the ." The Biblical curse on one who "strikes his fellow in secret" is understood by the rabbis to refer to ''lashon hara'', as it is a form of harming a person without their knowledge. The

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

lists ''lashon hara'' as one of the causes of the Biblical malady of ''

tzaraath ''Tzaraath'' (Hebrew צָרַעַת ''ṣāraʿaṯ''), variously transcribed into English and frequently mistranslated as leprosy, describes various ritually unclean disfigurative conditions of the skin, hair of the beard and head, clothing mad ...

''. Elsewhere, it declares that habitual speakers of ''lashon hara'' are not tolerated in God's presence. Similar strong denouncements can be found in various places in Jewish literature. In

Numbers A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...

chapter 12, Miriam gossips with her brother Aaron, questioning why Moses is more qualified to lead the Jewish people than anyone else. God hears and strikes her down with ''

''. Miriam had to stay outside of the camp for a week due to the ''tzaraath''. During this time, all of Israel waited for her.

Chafetz Chaim

Rabbi

Yisrael Meir Kagan Rabbi Yisrael Meir ha-Kohen Kagan (January 26, 1838 – September 15, 1933), known popularly as the Chofetz Chaim, after his book on lashon hara, who was also well known for the Mishna Berurah, his book on ritual law, was an influential Lithuan ...

wrote two major

works on the evil tongue: ''

Chafetz Chaim The '' Sefer'' ''Chafetz Chaim'' (or ''Chofetz Chaim'' or ''Hafetz Hayim'') ( he, חָפֵץ חַיִּים, trans. "Desirer of Life") is a book by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, who is also called "the Chofetz Chaim" after it. The book deals wi ...

'' ("Desirer of Life", ) and ''Shmirat HaLashon'' ("Guarding the tongue"), both 1873. The ''Chafetz Chaim'' lists 31 speech-related commandments mentioned in the Torah. An English adaptation, ''Guard Your Tongue'' (2002), anthologizes the teachings of these two books.Zelig Pliskin, ''Guard Your Tongue''. Bnay Yakov Publications (2002)

''Baalei lashon hara''

The expression ''baalei lashon hara'' literally means "masters of evil tongue", and it refers to habitual speakers of ''lashon hara''. The serious prohibition of communicating ''lashon harah'' relates foremost to somebody who incidentally did so. Someone who makes it his habit to talk ''lashon harah'' about others ("did you hear ...", "do you already know ...", etc.) is called a ''ba'al lashon hara''. By repeatedly communicating so, lashon hara became an integral part of this person, and his/her sins are far more severe, because this person regularly creates a '' chillul Hashem'', a "desecration of the name of

HaShem HaShem ( Hebrew: ''hšm'', literally "''the name''"; often abbreviated to 'h′'' is a title used in Judaism to refer to God. It is also a given name and surname. Religious usage * In Judaism, ''HaShem'' (lit. 'the Name') is used to refer t ...

" (). ''Lashon hara'', ''rechilut'' and ''motzi shem ra'' are not accepted social tools in Judaism, because such behavior cuts the person who does in this manner off from many good things in the world around them. It is often phrased that one should stay away from people who communicate ''lashon hara'', because any day, one will almost certainly become an object of derogatory communication by the same people.

Exceptions

There are times when a person is permitted or even required to disclose information whether or not the information is disparaging. For instance, if a person’s intent in sharing negative information is for a ''to’elet'', a positive, constructive, and beneficial purpose that may serve as a warning to prevent harm or injustice, the prohibition against ''lashon hara'' does not apply. ''Hotzaat shem ra'', spouting lies and spreading disinformation, is always prohibited. It is important to note that even with positive intentions, there are many important limitations regarding when it is permitted to speak ''lashon hara''.

References

External links

Benjamin Brown, 'From Principles to Rules and from Musar to Halakhah - The Hafetz Hayim's Rulings on Libel and Gossip'

Translation of Sefer Shmiras HaLashon

Let Them Talk: The Mitzvah to Speak Lashon Hara by Rabbi Mark Dratch, JSafe

A primer on how to raise our children to look at the positive and speak well about others

Hilchot Lashon Hara (L"H)

Negative Speech (Lashon Hora) , Chabad.org

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lashon Hara Defamation Jewish ethical law Negative Mitzvoth Hebrew words and phrases in Jewish law yi:לשון הרע