It's a remote area, right? We have a forest fire in the neighborhood. How's it going over there? Baruch Hashem (Blessed is God), somebody mentioned to me in shul that Jews don't live in mountains away from shuls, they don't live away from mikvaot (ritual baths), and they don't live in forests. So most of our places were not in those areas, except when you get to a place like Malibu or somewhere with Jewish people and shuls. But Baruch Hashem, it's limited in terms of the overall picture. Anyhow, everybody should be safe, and the losses should be minor, Baruch Hashem.
Somebody told me a story, just for the people online. He bought a house in Malibu with a friend from California as an investment. He says the house burned down and they have no insurance, so his wife says, “Oh my God, you lost all that money.” He says, “No, I was very lucky.” She says, “What do you mean?” He says, “They are so restrictive with their regulations that we bought it, planned to fix it and flip it, and couldn't fix anything because they never gave us permission. So we didn't spend a dime on it. What we paid, we lost.” He saw the brighter side.
Okay, so now, in our study of proper speech, I just want everybody to know we're not far from Rosh Chodesh (New Moon). When Rosh Chodesh rolls around, it's time for the next four-month cycle of Sefer Chafetz Chaim and Rechilut (talebearing). If you want to begin the daily program, you can get a book with a daily calendar, a daily companion, emails, and a lot of resources that coordinate with the law: two pages of Chafetz Chaim a day, every single day. Between Shevat, Adar, Nisan, and Iyar, by Rosh Chodesh Sivan, the time of Matan Torah (Giving of the Torah), you will have completed the entire sefer again on your own, along with the help that's available in 75 million places online. I suggest you get ahold of a copy of the sefer. You want to read Hebrew-English? It comes in ArtScroll. You have all kinds of different versions with highlights. There are books with varying levels of detail, but it's a good time to consider getting yourself a book. Anyhow, today's lesson is near the end of the laws of Rechilut, because today is the 20th and in 10 days is Rosh Chodesh, and on January 30th they'll be starting the book again.
If we take a hard look at all the things that we do wrong in life, we find one common denominator: we can always support what we did. There was a good reason. There's a good reason why I didn't go to shul. There's a good reason why I spoke Lashon Hara (evil speech). There's a good reason why I had to charge this much for something that was worthless. This type of excuse—I call it an excuse, but they call it support for what I did—helps us overcome guilt. It supplies what we call rationalizations to continue pursuing our agenda. Of course, where does that come from? Etzat HaYetzer (counsel of the inclination). It comes from the Yetzer Hara, the evil inclination, which comes out of the womb with a person. “Lapetach chatat rovetz” (Sin is crouching at the door), it says in Bereshit. The Yetzer Hara remains a challenge every moment of a person's life. It doesn't sleep, it doesn't rest, and it doesn't take vacations. It is constantly trying to trap a person into fatal mistakes. So we should be on guard, says the Chafetz Chaim, when we know someone has been guilty, let's say, of cheating or stealing or some type of monetary dishonesty. The victim could perhaps be someone close to us: my brother, my neighbor, my classmate, my friend. So there's a strong urge to let them in on what you know: that this person cheated you. You might want to tell them you were cheated, and you want to tell them who cheated you. If he asked you how, you'd be glad to explain how that person cheated him.
But we have learned that in order to relate constructive speech—speech that's Lashon Hara, but that has a to'elet, a positive purpose—we're trying to help this person avoid shopping there anymore, doing business with this person anymore, or being less cautious if they're going to do business. But we're only allowed to relate that information for a constructive purpose. It has to fulfill the seven conditions. If the victim is in a position where he cannot retrieve his money, that's number one. Number two, it turns out to be clear that it was a one-shot deal. This is not a constant cheat or a guy who overcharges. He took advantage of a one-shot opportunity, but he won't do it again tomorrow. If it's not going to be repeated, then if you tell the victim what happened, you're speaking. Yes, it's going to prevent them from going, but it wasn't going to happen anyhow, so why are you telling him? It's going to create animosity, so why are you telling him? If it was a one-shot deal, it also has to be something you know is constructive, something that's going to help him prevent it. So the Chafetz Chaim tells us, make sure that if you want to help a friend who's dealing with somebody who's less than honest, you're sure it's going to repeat itself and it's constructive. And then you have to follow them. I know it firsthand. I'm not going to exaggerate. I have no animosity against the guy. We know the seven conditions. We've discussed them several times. One day soon, when we're in the beginning of the sefer again in a couple of weeks, we'll probably list them again.
The Chafetz Chaim reminds us of a very important sidelight. Somebody comes and says, “I heard,” or somebody says, “I suspect,” or, “I guess you probably know because...” Then that person starts to pressure you to reveal: “Did he do it? What did he do? Exactly how did he do it?” “Well, I know I was cheated. Who did it?” “Well, I know I was harmed. Who did it?” The Yetzer (inclination) tells us that if you stay quiet and don't tell him, you can kiss your friendship goodbye. This guy really wants to know, and he suspects that you know. He doesn't suspect; he knows that you know. But that's the sin of Lashon Hara, and if he will be angry because of this, then it's not justified. A person cannot use friendship to put another person in a position to sin. Therefore, we cannot use friendship to create a situation where this person will give up his eternity by sinning in order to maintain a temporary friendship. So even the Chafetz Chaim says that even if the person pressures you, even if the person insists, you have an obligation not to accommodate. You have an obligation to keep quiet. Silence is golden.