016a – יש בערכין – פרק שלישי – ערכין, דף טז ע”א

Rabba bar Rav Huna said: Anything said in the presence of three people carries no offence of lashon hara.^[1]

דמיתאמרא באפי תלתא - That the owners said it in front of three. One who repeats it is not committing lashon hara, because the speaker first revealed that he does not mind if it is passed on; he knows it will end up revealed, since your friend has a friend, who tells his friend, and so on until it is known.

What is the reason?

Because your friend has a friend, and your friend's friend has a friend.

When Rav Dimi came, he said:

What is the meaning of the verse (Mishlei 27:14): One who blesses his fellow with a loud voice early in the morning, it will be counted to him as a curse.

מברך רעהו בקול גדול וגו' קללה תחשב לו - That blessing is a curse to his fellow.

For example, when he happened to be a guest and they served him well.

The next day he goes out, sits in the marketplace, and says: Let the Merciful One bless so-and-so, who served me so well.

People hear it, go, and press him.

ושמעין אינשי - That he is wealthy and they go and press him for his money. Alternatively: guests lodge with him until they have consumed his property.

A beraisa was taught by Rav Dimi, brother of Rav Safra: A person should not recount his fellow's good fortune, for through his good fortune he comes to his own harm.^[2]

בא לידי רעתו - That when he recounts his own good fortune too much, he himself is in effect saying, apart from this bad trait of his; or others hear that he praises himself and say: "Is this trait not in his hand?"

Others say: Rav Dimi, brother of Rav Safra, fell ill on account of Rav Safra, in order to trouble him.

He said to them: May I merit to fulfil everything the Sages say.

Someone said to him: Do you keep this? A person should not recount his fellow's good fortune, for through his good fortune he comes to disgrace.^[3]

He said to them: I had not heard it; had I heard it, I would have kept it.

Rav Shmuel bar Nachmani said in the name of Rabbi Yochanan:

For seven things plagues come: for lashon hara, for bloodshed, for a false oath, for forbidden relations, for arrogance, for theft, and for a narrow (envious) eye.^[4]

צרות העין - That his eye is narrow toward others, and he does not let his neighbours benefit from his vessels by borrowing.

For lashon hara, as it is written (Tehillim 101:5): Whoever slanders his fellow in secret, him will I destroy.

אותו אצמית - We explained above that this means the plagues (nega'im).

For bloodshed, as it is written (Shmuel II 3:29): Let there not be cut off from the house of Yoav one who has a discharge, or a leper, etc.

אל יכרת מבית יואב - Because he killed Avner.

For a false oath, as it is written (Melachim II 5:23): Naaman said: Please, take two talents.^[5]

הואל - Swear that Elisha sent you, and take the talents.

And it is written (Melachim II 5:27): And the leprosy of Naaman shall cleave to you, etc.

For forbidden relations, as it is written (Bereishit 12:17): And Hashem struck Pharaoh with great plagues, etc.

For arrogance, as it is written (Divrei HaYamim II 26:16): But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, and he trespassed against Hashem his God.^[6]

ובחזקתו גבה לבו וגו' - It speaks of Uzziah.

(Divrei HaYamim II 26:19): And the leprosy shone forth on his forehead.

For theft, as it is written (Vayikra 14:36): The priest shall command, and they shall empty the house.^[7]

A Tanna taught: This is one who gathers money that is not his; let the priest come and scatter his money.

For an evil eye, as it is written (Vayikra 14:35): And he to whom the house belongs shall come and tell the priest, [etc.]

The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: One who keeps his house exclusively to himself^[8] - is that so?

שייחד ביתו - The household utensils that he did not lend to others.

But Rabbi Anani bar Sason said:

Why is the section of the priestly garments placed next to the section of the offerings? To tell you: just as offerings atone, so the priestly garments atone.

למה נסמכה כו' - In the parasha of Ve'atah Tetzaveh, the matter of the consecration (milu'im) is placed next to the priestly garments.

The tunic atones for bloodshed, as it is written (Bereishit 37:31): And they dipped the tunic in blood.^[9]

ויטבלו את הכתנת בדם - It was a hint to them that the dipping which brings atonement for blood is accomplished through a tunic.

The breeches atone for forbidden relations, as it is written (Shemot 28:42): And make for them linen breeches to cover the flesh of nakedness.

The turban atones for arrogance, as taught by Rabbi Chanina, for Rabbi Chanina said: Let something that is high come and atone for an act of height.

The belt atones for the thoughts of the heart.

Where is the breastplate? It atones for judgments, as it is written (Shemot 28:15): And you shall make a breastplate of judgment.^[10]

The ephod atones for idolatry, as it is written (Hoshea 3:4): Without ephod and teraphim.^[11]

אין אפוד ותרפים - When there is no ephod, there is the sin of teraphim.

The robe^[12] atones for lashon hara. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let something that is sounded come and atone for an act of sound.

שבקול - The bells of the robe are heard on account of an act of sound, i.e., lashon hara; and you say that plagues come upon him through it?

The frontplate^[13] atones for an act of impudence. It is written here: And it shall be upon the forehead of Aharon, and it is written there (Yirmiyahu 3:3): And you have the forehead of a harlot woman.

No difficulty: this is where his deeds helped him^[14], that is where his deeds did not help him.

אהנו מעשיו - That they quarrelled because of him. And if it is difficult: why did he not raise against him bloodshed and forbidden relations, which the Gemara said above bring plagues upon them, while here it is taught that the priestly garments atone? The answer: the teaching that the priestly garments atone is not for his own sake but for others, who are punished on his account. For bloodshed it is written: For blood, it defiles the land (Bamidbar 35:33); and for forbidden relations: The land was defiled, and I visited its sin upon it (Vayikra 18:25). But for lashon hara we do not find that others are punished by it.

If his deeds helped him, plagues would come upon him; if his deeds did not help him, the robe atones.

But Rabbi Shimon said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi:

There are two things for which we find no atonement through offerings, yet for which we find atonement by another means: bloodshed and lashon hara.^[15]

For bloodshed, the eglah arufah^[16] atones; for lashon hara, the incense.

As it is taught: Rabbi Chanina taught us that incense atones^[17], as it is written (Bamidbar 17:12): And he put the incense on and atoned for the people.

The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: For what does incense atone? For lashon hara.

The Holy One said: Let something done in secret come and atone for an act done in secret.

שבחשאי - Incense is made in the Sanctuary in secret, as taught in the chapter "Hotzi'o Lo" in Tractate Yoma (44): they withdraw from between the ulam and the altar at the time of the burning. Lashon hara is done in secret.

A difficulty: bloodshed against bloodshed.

קשיא שפיכות דמים וכו' - Above we said that the priestly garments atone for others; and we see that the eglah arufah atones for others, but it does not atone for the murderer. As we hold in Sotah (46): if the calf was beheaded and afterwards the murderer was found, from where do we know that he is executed? The verse says: And the land shall not be atoned, etc.

A difficulty: lashon hara against lashon hara.

קשיא לשון הרע - From above, where it is taught that the priestly garments atone.

Bloodshed against bloodshed: no difficulty.

This is where it is known who killed him.

That is where it is not known who killed him.

לא ידיע מאן קטליה - The calf atones.

Where it is known who killed him: he is a murderer, acting deliberately, and they did not warn him.

בר קטלא הוא - And as long as he has not been killed, others are not atoned for, as it is written: And the land shall not be atoned, etc.

Lashon hara against lashon hara.

No difficulty: this is when it was done in secret.

בצינעא - That for a secret act, incense atones.

כל מילתא דמיתאמרא באפי תלתא לית בה משום לישנא בישא - Explanation: for example, a case of "a fire in so-and-so's house", where it can be heard that it was not said in order to speak lashon hara. But if he said a belittling remark about his fellow, even if he said it to his face, it is lashon hara.

ובחזקתו גבה לבו וגו' - Regarding Uzziah it is written. In Divrei HaYamim it is written (I Chronicles 6:10): "Yochanan begot Azariah, he who served (as Kohen) in the House that Shlomo built in Jerusalem." It is difficult why "who served" is written about him more than about the others, since the list counts all the High Priests who served in the First Temple. The answer: because he inserted himself to contend for the priesthood when Uzziah came, more than the others.

אבנט מכפרת על הרהור הלב - Where it is said, the avnet is like a very long linen belt, and it is also in the Midrash that the Kohen wound it around himself twice, corresponding to the heart of a person.

הא דאהנו מעשיו - Rashi explained: they quarrelled because of him. And if it is difficult: why did he not raise against him bloodshed and forbidden relations, which the Gemara said above bring plagues upon them, while here it is taught that the priestly garments atone? The answer: the teaching that the priestly garments atone is not for his own sake but for others, who are punished because of him. For bloodshed it is written (Bamidbar 35:33): "for blood, it defiles the land"; and for forbidden relations it is written (Vayikra 18:25): "the land was defiled and I visited its sin upon it." But for lashon hara we do not find that others are punished by it. Rashi's words; but this is not clear, for in Tractate Shevuot (39) it says that for all transgressions others are punished for them if they could have prevented them, and if they could not prevent them, not even for forbidden relations and bloodshed. And R. Yitzchak (abbreviated here as "ור"י") explains that for bloodshed there is no difficulty, because there is death by the court, and the priestly garments atone for the death; but plagues do come upon him. Another explanation: the Gemara's answer, "this is where his deeds helped, this is where his deeds did not help", applies also to bloodshed and forbidden relations, and it means this: "his deeds helped" refers to where he actually killed, and on him the priestly garments do not atone, plagues come upon him; "his deeds did not help" refers to where he did not actually kill, but made his fellow's face white in public, as we hold in Bava Metzia (58b): whoever makes his fellow's face white in public is as if he spilled blood^[18], and on this the priestly garments atone. And so for forbidden relations: "his deeds helped" and "did not help", as is said in Shabbat (55a): because they keep their nests, it is as if they lay with them (phrase unclear).

Notes

1. 1. Lashon hara: speech that harms a person's name, even if true. Here the point is that a statement made in front of three people is treated as already public, so repeating it does not count as lashon hara.
2. 2. The beraisa's point: one who keeps speaking of his own good fortune draws envy and harm upon himself, as Rashi explains.
3. 3. The Gemara quotes the beraisa back in another wording ("disgrace" instead of "harm") and asks whether it is kept. This is the Gemara's question, not an answer.
4. 4. Nega'im: the plagues of tzara'at, the skin affliction described in Vayikra 13-14. The Sages connect it with the sins listed here, including lashon hara (general knowledge; not stated on the page).
5. 5. Gehazi, Elisha's servant, swore falsely after taking gifts from Naaman (II Kings 5:20-27). Rashi reads "hoel" as "swear".
6. 6. Uzziah (Azariah), king of Judah, was struck with tzara'at when he tried to burn incense in the Temple (II Chronicles 26:16-21).
7. 7. House tzara'at (Vayikra 14:33-48): the priest orders the house emptied, and the owner must come and report to the priest.
8. 8. "Mi shemyuchad beito lo": one who keeps his household utensils to himself and does not lend them out. The beraisa is quoted and then challenged by R. Anani bar Sason's teaching.
9. 9. The eight garments of the Kohen Gadol (Shemot 28): ketonet, michnasayim, mitznefet, avnet, choshen, ephod, me'il and tzitz (general knowledge; the list is not on the page).
10. 10. The choshen, the breastplate of judgment, which held the Urim and Tummim (Shemot 28:15-30).
11. 11. Ephod: a garment of the High Priest. Teraphim: household idols. Hoshea 3:4 says Israel will be without ephod and teraphim.
12. 12. The me'il, the High Priest's robe, with bells and pomegranates on its hem (Shemot 28:31-35).
13. 13. The tzitz, the gold plate on the High Priest's forehead inscribed "Holy to Hashem" (Shemot 28:36-38).
14. 14. The answer distinguishes between cases where "his deeds helped him" and where they did not. Tosfos (at the foot) reads the distinction as: where he actually killed, the garments do not atone; where he only publicly shamed someone, they do.
15. 15. The Gemara states that bloodshed and lashon hara are not atoned by offerings, but by the eglah arufah and the incense.
16. 16. Eglah arufah: a calf whose neck is broken when a murdered man is found and the killer is unknown (Devarim 21:1-9).
17. 17. Ketoret: the incense burned in the Temple, and on Yom Kippur by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies. It atones for lashon hara.
18. 18. One who publicly shames another is compared to one who sheds blood (Bava Metzia 58b, as cited in Tosfos).