09-09-2025, 08:31 AM
Quote:When it comes to speaking lashon hara [sinful speech about a person], does the prohibition apply if the people you are speaking to don't know the person you're talking about? Case example: if I got home and told my family, "Someone at work did XYZ." Is this just a bad practice?
When you talk about "someone" without giving identifying information, and there is no way that the listener could find out the identity of the person you're speaking about, you are not liable for speaking lashon hara. Liability for speaking lashon hara applies when the listener knows or could find out the identity of the person spoken about, and it is not a matter of common public knowledge.
But Chassidus teaches that even if the listener doesn't know the identity of a person who is being spoken badly about, the not-good report has a not-good effect on all three people - the speaker, the listener, and the person spoken about. The same applies even if it's a matter of common knowledge.
In contrast, when you speak well of a person, it has a good effect on all three people, even if the listener doesn't know who is being spoken about.
Therefore, one should always strive to speak well of someone, or at least not to speak badly of someone.