Chapter 1 end of halacha 1 – 3
End of halacha 1: There is a discussion amongst the
Rishonim whether lashon hara and rechilus are all part of one verse of לא תלך רכיל בעמיך or is rechilus (tattletale) is worse than
lashon hara (slander) and lashon hara is learned from לא
תשא שמה שוא and although we should not need a verse for rechilus because we
can learn it out from a Kal vachomer (fortiori) from lashon hara however the
Torah goes out of its way to have a separate verse for rechilus in order so
that the court can give lashes to one who falsely slanders someone else.
Another ramification of the extra verse “Don’t walk as a tale bearer amongst
your people” is that the prohibition starts even before one actually speaks
lashon hara rather when he is walking to do the sin it starts.
Halacha 2: A reminder that other prohibitions like revenge,hating
someone in one’s heart etc. can be transgressed while speaking lashon
hara.
Halacha 3: A person who habitually speaks lashon hara is in a whole new
realm called a “baal lashon hara” he or she goes around collecting info about
people and then sits around with a crowd talking slander every day. This type
of person is viewed as someone who spites Hashem and his Torah because he
doesn’t just sin every once in a while but premeditatedly sins every day by
creating groups of shmuzzers to speak loshon hara and rechilus.