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פתיחה להלכות לשון הרע ורכילות, הקדמה 1

Chafetz Chaim · Introduction to the Laws of the Prohibition of Lashon Hara and Rechilut, Opening Comments, Chapter 1

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    בְּאַהֲבַת הַשֵּׁם יִתְבָּרַךְ אֶת עַמּוֹ יִשְׂרָאֵל וְחָפֵץ מְאֹד בְּטוֹבָתָם עַד שֶׁקְּרָאָם בְּשֵׁם בָּנִים, וְחֵלֶק ה' וְנַחֲלָה, וְכַמָּה שֵׁמוֹת חֲבִיבִים הַמּוֹרִים עַל גֹּדֶל אַהֲבָתוֹ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב (מלאכי א, ב): "אָהַבְתִּי אֶתְכֶם אָמַר ה'", וְגוֹ', לְפִיכָךְ הִרְחִיקָּם מִּכָּל הַמִּדּוֹת רָעוֹת וּבִפְרָט מִלָשׁוֹן הָרָע וּרְכִילוּת, כִּי הוּא מֵּבִיא אֶת בְּנִי אָדָם לִידֵי רִיב וּמַצָּה, וְכַמָּה פְּעָמִים יוּכַל לָבוֹא מִזֶּה לִידֵי שְׁפִיכוּת דָּמִים כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתַב הָרַמְבַּ"ם זַ"ל בְּהִלְכוֹת דֵּעוֹת (פרק ז' הלכה א'): אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁאֵין לוֹקִין עַל לָאו זֶה, עָוֹן גָּדוֹל הוּא וְגוֹרֵם לַהֲרֹג נְפָשׁוֹת רַבּוֹת מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל, לְכָךְ נִסְמַךְ לוֹ (ויקרא יט, טז): "לֹא תַעֲמֹד עַל דַּם רֵעֶךָ", צֵּא וּלְמַד מָה אֵרַע לְדוֹאֵג הָאְדוֹמִי וּלְנוֹב עִיר הַכֹּהֲנִים.

    In the Blessed One's love for His people Israel and His great desire for their good — to the point of calling them "sons," and "the portion of the L–rd," and "inheritance," along with many other terms of affection which show His great love for Israel, viz. (Malachi 1:2): "I have loved You, said the L–rd, etc.," He distanced them from all forms of evil, especially from lashon hara and rechiluth. For it is these which bring men to quarrels and contention and which very often can lead to the spilling of blood, as the Rambam wrote (Hilchoth Deoth 4:1): "Even though there are no malkoth [stripes] for transgression of this negative commandment, it is a great sin, which leads to the killing of many souls in Israel, for which reason it [i.e., 'Do not go tale bearing among your people' (Vayikra 19:16) is followed by: 'Do not stand (idly) by the blood of your brother' — as evidenced by [the episode of] Doeg Ha'adomi and Nov, the city of priests (viz. I Samuel 22:9)."

Hebrew: Chofetz Chaim · CC-BY-SA

English: Chofetz Chaim, Silverstein translation · CC-BY

Texts from Sefaria.