Lesson #31: Rumors Without Cause
When we hear Lashon Ha’ra about somebody who we know is disliked by many people, then we can readily accept the possibility that the information is false, that one of his adversaries made up a story about him in order to inflict harm and ruin his reputation. When, however, a rumor is circulating for several days about somebody who is well-liked in the community, and has no enemies, we will naturally be inclined to believe the rumor. After all, we will think to ourselves, everybody likes this fellow, so why would somebody make up such a story? Nevertheless, it is unclear whether the information may be believed in such a case. And therefore, the Halacha is that one should not believe the information, except that he may exercise caution in light of the rumor if this is necessary to protect himself from potential harm.
If a person speaks Lashon Ha’ra about himself and somebody else – for example, he relates a story about something clearly forbidden which he and somebody else did – then the listener may believe the story vis-à-vis the speaker, but not vis-à-vis the third party. Meaning, he can believe that the speaker committed the forbidden act, but he may not believe that the other person was involved.
When a person dissociates from wicked people, he extricates himself from an endless stream of Lashon Ha’ra that constantly flows. As the Sages famously teach us, אוי לרשע אוי לשכנו – “Woe unto the wicked, woe unto his neighbor!” Even if we are working to refrain from Lashon Ha’ra, being in the company of people who aren’t will have an impact upon us. It therefore behooves us to avoid the company of people who speak Lashon Ha’ra, in order to protect ourselves from this grave misdeed.