Ask the Rabbi
- Torah and Jewish Thought
- Manners and Midot
- Lashon Hara
Question
Is it Lashon Hara if I speak badly about a Jew, to another Jew who does not know the person in question, and will never figure out who that person is, solely for the purpose of spreading information?
Answer
ב"ה
Shalom,
I don't really understand what you mean by "solely for the purpose of spreading information." If your speaking ill of another person is to protect someone from harm , which may come to him, the Chafetz Chaim in his laws of Lashon Hara, enumerates five conditions in which Lashon Hara is allowed to be said. (See (ספר חפץ חיים - הלכות אסורי רכילות - כלל ט )
In addition if there is some lesson to be learned from what you are telling, I would say, (without fully understanding the circumstances you are in) , speaking Lashon Hara about somebody who is unknown to the listener and you have not mentioned any information from which it can be figured out who it is, it is not considered Lashon Hara.
All the best

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