SEFER CHOFETZ CHAIM Day 15 – 16 While the Scriptural prohibition against loshon hora applies only to speaking about the living, our Sages prohibit making slanderous remarks about the deceased. It is also forbidden to speak negatively of our beloved land, Eretz Yisrael. As the Torah relates, the generation that merited to be liberated from Egypt spent forty years in the Wilderness and died there because of evil speech concerning the Land ( See Bamidbar chs. 13-14). In truth, it is proper to avoid focusing on the negative unnecessarily even when discussing non-sacred objects. The early commentators tell of the wise man and his students who came upon the carcass of an animal. When the students commented on its foul odor, the wise man responded, “But see how white are its teeth!” Once something is defined as derogatory, it is forbidden to relate it other than for constructive purposes and under specific conditions which will be discussed later. One may not share negative information about people with friends and family, including one’s spouse. It must be underscored that relating loshon hora to one’s spouse is no less forbidden than when relating it to anyone else. To focus on another’s shortcomings is undignified and wrong.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Jan 2014 15:42:18 +0000
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