Tag Archives: lashon hara

Stop the Presses

  “Stop the Presses” is a phrase stemming from the printed news media industry as an exclamation signifying the discovery of the need to change the content of an issue just before, or during its printing. It is time to not only Stop and think before you speak but also before you read a Newspaper, a […]

Rav Chaim Dovid Stern of Bnei Brak message regarding Rav Berland

Throughout the last three years’ of Rav Berlands exile, there were many indications from other leading figures and tzaddikim that the situation facing Am Yisrael was as bleak as indicated by Rav Berland himself. One such person was the kabbalist and Rosh Yeshiva from Bnei Brak, Rav Chaim Dovid Stern. In 2014, Rav Stern told […]

Rav Elchanan Elgrod-Posek-Laws of Lashon Hara-31January2013

A detailed discussion of l lashon hara.
Lashon hara is the halakhic term for derogatory speech about another person. Lashon hara differs from defamation in that its focus is on the use of true speech for a wrongful purpose, rather than falsehood and harm arising. By contrast, hotzaat shem ra (“spreading a bad name”), also called hotzaat diba, consists of untrue remarks, and is best translated as “slander” or “defamation”. Hotzaat shem ra is worse, and consequentially a graver sin, than lashon hara.The act of gossiping is called rechilut, and is also forbidden by Jewish law.