Lashon Hara — The Prohibition of Evil Speech
Lashon hara (evil tongue — spreading negative information about others, even when true) is one of the most serious transgressions in Jewish law, recognizing the power of speech to destroy lives and communities.
Lashon hara (evil speech — literally 'evil tongue') refers to spreading negative, damaging, or embarrassing information about another person, even when the information is true. If the information is false, it is called motzi shem ra (spreading a bad name) — even worse. The Talmud states that lashon hara kills three people: the speaker, the listener, and the one spoken about (Arakhin 15b). Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan (the Chofetz Chaim, 1838-1933) wrote the most comprehensive analysis of the laws of speech, arguing that the prohibition of lashon hara affects more of daily life than almost any other mitzvah. The tradition recognizes exceptions: one may — and sometimes must — speak negatively about a person to protect potential victims (lashon hara l'toelet — speech for a positive purpose), but only when strictly necessary and without exaggeration. This sophisticated analysis of speech ethics anticipates contemporary debates about privacy, reputation, and the responsibilities of communication.
Whoever speaks lashon hara is as if they denied God.
Philosopher J.L. Austin's speech act theory — demonstrating that language does not merely describe reality but also creates and changes it — provides a philosophical framework for the Jewish tradition's intense focus on the ethics of speech: words have real-world consequences, not merely descriptive ones.
Talmud Bavli
Written about in
- What Judaism says about community
Damaging speech about someone is a serious offence even when what is said is true. The concern is what such talk does to the group, not only to the person discussed.
- What Judaism says about forgiveness
The Talmud says evil speech kills three — the speaker, the listener and the person spoken about — and the prohibition holds even when the report is true. This is the case teshuvah handles worst: you cannot retrieve what has already travelled, so apology is available and repair is not.