Good morning. Torah Tuesday continues every week on Tuesday, not next week because it’s Rosh Hashanah, but generally when permitted. We are here at 1145, a quarter of twelve Eastern Time, to look at one aspect of the daily study of Sefer Chafetz Chaim, the book that discusses proper speech. Since the cycle is three times a year and this is the last week of the year, we’re at the very end of the Sefer, as you can see from the difference. We’re going to discuss what’s usually studied on the 23rd of Elul, which is today’s date. Chafetz Chaim is discussing Rechilut, which is basically tale-bearing, spreading the word, gossip, and sometimes slander if it’s not true. He gives us a certain situation where, basically, don’t open your big mouth because you may make trouble.
On yesterday’s page, for those who study the laws daily, a person learned whether or not you can reveal something when you see a situation in which you could prevent someone from being cheated or boondoggled by another, and how to phrase it, how to relate it, and how to communicate it without violating proper speech. Today we’re going to look at a situation we call after-the-fact. After-the-fact means somebody actually got cheated. Either he was sold something of inferior quality that was promised to be great and the best, or he was overcharged a little bit of money for something that’s available all over the market for less. There are other situations where the wrong is fait accompli. What the perpetrator did—the person who’s going to be the victim of the speech—is already a done deal. Now somebody finds out about it and has an opportunity to let the victim know and perhaps recoup their loss or repair the damage. That’s called to’elet (constructive purpose). And we learned to start the 12 o’clock session. Over the years that there is a thing called lashon hara (harmful speech) le-to’elet, with a constructive purpose involved, where, although it is lashon hara, there may be room for a person to speak rather than remain silent.
So the case I referred to, where one would be obligated to speak Rechilut for a constructive purpose, was this: a simple person was on the verge of making a purchase from a dishonest seller. In such cases, one would be required to inform the person not to make the purchase: “Don’t buy it here. It’s available across the street. Don’t buy it here. It’s not the same quality as the one that’s $10, and even though it’s $8, it’s worth $5.” You’re allowed to do that to prevent a boondoggle.
Today, Chafetz Chaim dwells on the case where it’s already done. The purchaser has already bought, and the customer—this man—has already been cheated. Now should the observer of the deal, who knows it to be unjust, go and inform the buyer that he’s been taken? On the surface, you would think, why not? Of course. The man cheated him. He should get his money back. Why shouldn’t we let a man know that he has been the victim of cheating, so he could demand a refund?
The answer is, it’s not 100%. In certain instances, the man cannot legally demand a refund. You have to know the halachot (Jewish law) for that. For example, when it comes to ona’a, which is fraud, the buyer can call for a refund only when he’s been overcharged by an amount equal to one-sixth of the item’s true value. So if it’s less than one-sixth, but it is an overcharge, there’s no right to a refund. So now you’re telling him, “Go get a refund,” and he can’t. Since this is true, first of all, your assessment of the situation has to be clear. But in other cases where the halachot do not call for a refund, it’s 100% forbidden to tell the buyer he’s been cheated, because there’s no constructive purpose. Yes, he’s been cheated, or yes, he paid a little more than he should or could elsewhere, but since there’s no remedy, why are you telling him?
Now, if the buyer asks somebody, “Look, I bought this thing at a store on King’s Highway,” and I look and say, “Wow, this man’s been cheated,” we’re not allowed to tell him the truth, for this would cause arguments, this would cause dispute, and it’s considered Rechilut in that case. And lo telech rachil be'amecha (Don’t go as a peddler of gossip). Now the Chafetz Chaim says, to the contrary, in such a case it would be a mitzvah (commandment) to praise the purchase and tell the buyer he did great, to defuse the situation. The Chafetz Chaim assures us in Sefer Chafetz Chaim that harchek midvar sheker tirchak—the sin that you’re told not to do, you’re supposed to stay far away from it—does not apply here. And we have certain circumstances we learned before where it doesn’t apply.
So he points out a case and gives an example where the amount the buyer was overcharged would be refundable in a Beit Din (Jewish court). But it’s questionable whether the victim could be told of this overcharge. The first case was that he was overcharged and has no recourse, so why are you telling him? You can’t tell him. But here you have a case where he was overcharged, he was cheated, and he could recapture his loss. Am I allowed to tell him or not? It still depends. When not? When the buyer is known to have a loose tongue, he’s liable to tell the storekeeper, “And you want to know how I figured this out—that you swindled me? It was Reuven who told me.” In that case, when he tells the storekeeper that Reuven is the one who caused the problem, he would be causing this victim to speak Rechilut. He’s not allowed to go sell negative to the other guy. And it’s very likely that if he confronts the storekeeper, he’s going to get into a situation where he’s going to fight with the storekeeper.
Let’s say the storekeeper says, “I don’t care what you think. There’s no refunds on the exchange. See the sign on the wall.” The buyer says, “What do you mean, refunds? It’s not a regular purchase; you cheated me.” The storekeeper says, “Can’t do it.” So the advisor—the well-meaning helper who told the man he’s been cheated—violates lo telech rachil be'amecha. Don’t go as a peddler of gossip. Or lo lifnei iver lo titen michshol. Don’t put a stumbling block before the blind. This person is going to react in a way that’s asur (prohibited) because of what you told him.
Now, if the advisor is sure he was cheated, it’s not a fact. It’s not a fact either. Did he study the merchandise? Does he know it’s the same brand or the same quality, the same price as the other store? Does he know anything about—I mean, you can go out and buy a vacuum cleaner. You go online, you see $99. You go online, you see $189. You go to the store, you see $259. You go to the next store, it’s $500. Do you actually believe it’s all the same quality, the same functionality as the other vacuum? Now, it’s true. Two stores may hold the same model, and one may have a little bit higher price than the other, a little bit lower price than the other, discounting. But as far as the $150 being like the $500, that’s a joke. So what does this man know to go tell the guy, “I’m sure you were cheated”?
Not only that, there’s supply and demand. I was in the store on Monday and I bought it for $1.99. Yeah, but if there’s some type of damage in the fields, a shortage of supply, or a political change with the supply company, the supply and demand availability may change, and the price changes. Are you aware of that when you speak?
So it turns out that, yes, a person has an obligation to help their friend. And a person has an obligation to save a person from being cheated. But the certainty you make—the certainty you must have about the circumstances of the sale—is also very important. A person has to know, “I don’t know.” The person has to know, “I can’t be sure.” Could even be, Hazit, the guy who works on a 15% markup, and the guy who sold him cheated him. Or it was in rare supply, and the guy said, “Listen, I can get it for you, but I’m going to have to charge you instead of a dollar, $2.99.” So he makes it $2.30 instead of $2.20. “Well, I can’t get it.” So these are the circumstances where we say Rechilut is illegal because it causes strife, and here, even for the benefit of the victim, it may not even be Rechilut.
We finish a year this coming week, and the next time we meet we’re going to try and go back to the beginning of Sefer Chafetz Chaim, or maybe we’ll do Shmirat Halashon; I don’t know which. But we meet on Tuesdays at 11.45 a.m. Eastern Time to learn how to speak legally as a Jewish person and to use the greatest gift Hashem gave man over the animals and the rest of the world: the ability to speak, form ideas, and communicate those ideas without making a mistake.