Q&A: Slanderous Speech
Slanderous Speech
Question
Hello Rabbi,
In one of the responsa, the Rabbi recently said that the severity of the prohibition of slanderous speech should be put in its proper place, and that it should be explained that it is not Torah-level and is not all that severe. What did the Rabbi mean? Is there an opinion that slanderous speech is not a Torah-level transgression?
Answer
I don’t recall writing that. What I probably wrote is that the details that the Chafetz Chaim put into his books are not necessarily Jewish law. He derives many of them from various aggadic passages. My claim is that he created a halakhic domain out of whole cloth (or almost out of whole cloth). But the prohibition itself is counted by the enumerators of the commandments, and there definitely is such a prohibition.
"You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; you shall not stand idly by your neighbor's blood: I am the Lord."
Also, "do not stand idly by your neighbor's blood" can mean not to get involved in and discuss matters that harm him and humiliate him.