False Facts and True Rumors: LaShon HaRa in Contemporary Culture by Rabbi Daniel Z. Feldman, Maggid Books, Jerusalem; ISBN 978-1-59264-441-4 ©2015, $29.95, p. 261, plus bibliography and indexes
By Fred Reiss, Ed.D.
WINCHESTER, California–The Hebrew expression lashon hara, literally meaning “an evil tongue,” is often translated as slander, gossip, and malicious or disparaging speech. In contemporary American jurisprudence, the defense against slander is truth, but no such defense exists under Jewish law, a slanderer is, a priori, guilty. The Hebrew Bible provides ample evidence for this when individuals and groups, such as Joseph, Miriam, and the spies sent to Canaan by Moses are summarily punished by God for speaking negatively. Additionally, there is a tradition (Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayyim, 493:1) that upwards of twelve-thousand pairs of Rabbi Akiba’s students died between Pesach to Shavuot, because they spoke lashon hara about each other.
Finding lashon hara to be so egregious, the rabbis placed it among the pleas for forgiveness in the Yom Kippur liturgy: “and for the sin which we have committed before You with uttering lips,” “and for the sin which we have committed before You with speech,” etc. Also, immediately after the Shemoneh Esreh, the eighteen benedictions said standing before God, the petitioner prays, “My God, guard my tongue from evil and my lips from speaking deceitfully” (taken from Ps. 34).
False Facts and True Rumors authored by Rabbi Daniel Feldman, Rosh Yeshiva of the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary of Yeshiva University, is a comprehensive study of lashon hara, which he divides into two parts. In Part One, Feldman considers the foundation for the concept of lashon hara, the Hebrew Bible, which contains such verses as: “Neither travel about as a talebearer among your people; nor profit from the blood of your neighbor” (Lev. 19:16), “You shall love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Lev. 19:18), and “You shall not spread false rumors” (Ex. 23:1). In addition, he draws on Talmudic discussions, numerous commentaries, and rabbinic responsa, all of which agree that lashon hara kills three people: the person who speaks it, the person who hears it, and the person about whom it is told. (Talmud Arachin 15b). Likewise, Feldman draws on modern psychology to inform us of internal biases and external influences pushing people to be senders and receivers of lashon hara, leading him to ask if lashon hara is really a dysfunctional character trait or just a forbidden behavior.
According to Judaism, a person possessing negative information about someone, either first hand or hearsay, bears a heavy burden of whether or not to convey it. Feldman tackles the complex issues surrounding the rabbinic rules regulating lashon hara in Part Two, as well as what it means to “listen” to lashon hara and why the receiver is guiltier than the sender.
Sometimes, however, lashon hara can be helpful, even valuable. To this end, he clearly defines and explains the concept of “purpose,” which embraces the general category of “information for one’s own protection,” such as speaking when innocent people are in harm’s way, knowing something critical about a potential betrothing couple about which one of the parties is unaware, and speaking lashon hara to a therapist as a catharsis.
Feldman reserves a section for the intersection of lashon hara and contemporary issues, including Journalism, the Internet, and politics. He asks and answers such questions as: How much fact checking needs to be done before writing about individuals in the press or on social media? Since e-mail and the Internet are not communications in which people see each other, how will the tone of the message be interpreted? The Internet can provide anonymity for the sender, so does this fact negate lashon hara? Can derogatory information be communicated if no names are used? How about if the subject doesn’t care? Can one say lashon hara about oneself?
Judaism has a unique way of demanding how people interact among themselves, cautioning the sender and receiver of malicious gossip to beware of their act, as Feldman reminds us that the Hebrew Bible says, “Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam along the way, when you came out of Egypt” (Deut. 24:9), while at the same time trying to safeguard the reputation of the gossip’s subject and alerting the community to potential problems. False Facts and True Rumors is a superbly written book communicating the complex, convoluted, and multifaceted “Jewish way” of controlling gossip and maintaining a peaceful community.
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Dr. Fred Reiss is a retired public and Hebrew school teacher and administrator. He is the author of The Standard Guide to the Jewish and Civil Calendars; Public Education in Camden, NJ: From Inception to Integration; Ancient Secrets of Creation: Sepher Yetzira, the Book that Started Kabbalah, Revealed; and a fiction book, Reclaiming the Messiah. The author can be reached via fred.reiss@sdjewishworld.com.