Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors.
Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.
Lashon hara
Lashon hara (or loshon horo, or loshon hora) (Hebrew: לשון הרע; "evil tongue") is the halakhic term for speech about a person or persons that is negative or harmful to them, even though it is true.[4] It is speech that damages the person(s) who is talked about either emotionally or financially, or lowers them in the estimation of others.[5]
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 the Jewish tradition. The communicator of lashon hara (which is included in rechilut) violates the Torah prohibition of lo telech rachil b'ameicha,[4][6][7] translating to "thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people" (Leviticus 19:16 KJV).
- ^ 'hotzaat shem ra' / 'hotzaat diba' - spreading a bad name
- ^ 'motzi shem ra' - lit. putting out a bad name, see Tazria#Leviticus chapter 13, Metzora (parsha)#Leviticus chapter 14 2
- ^ 'rechilut' - talebearing that incites hatred and resentment
- ^ a b "Mishneh Torah, Human Dispositions 7". www.sefaria.org. Archived from the original on 2022-08-30. Retrieved 2022-08-30.
- ^ Telushkin, Joseph. A Code of Jewish Ethics: Volume 1 - You Shall Be Holy. New York: Bell Tower, 2006. p. 332.
- ^ לֹא-תֵלֵךְ רָכִיל בְּעַמֶּיךָ – Leviticus 19:16
- ^ Morgenstern, Arthur B. "The Prohibition of Communicating Lashon Hara". Ethics of Speech - Shmiras ha-Lashon. Project Genesis Inc. Archived from the original on 24 June 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
Previous Page Next Page
