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Loshon Hora

Question:

One rabbi constantly talks loshon hora about 2 other rabbi’s for various reasons. He tried slandering 1 rav for the fact that some of his kids went OTD and another for being Lubavitch…should anything be done about a situation like this or should I, as a regular member, not get involved? Would I violate the issur on Loshon Hora if I spoke up?

Answer:

From hearing only a little bit of information from your question it is very difficult to answer.  Very often, the context and reason that the statements were made can make a tremendous difference. As a general rule we have to try and be dan l’kav zechus the other person, especially if the person we are dealing with is a learned person, and someone that is careful with the laws of lashon hora. You most probably would be violating lashon hora by speaking up to other people, as we may not speak lashon hora, even for toeles unless we first went over to the person and tried to correct him.

I would suggest that you approach the Rabbi in a non- confrontational manner, and ask him to clarify what he said, and why you have difficulty understanding what he said. This way you are giving him a chance to either explain himself, and then you will see that he isn’t such a bad person after all. He might just say, “ you are right, what I said wasn’t appropriate, and I regret it”. In any case your conversation will shed much needed clarity to this situation.

May Hashem send you much peace and friendship.

 

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