a Thought on Parshios Achrei Mos - Kedoshim

"...lo telech rachil..." "...don't go around gossiping..." (19:16) Many commentaries have focused on the word "rachil" which is used by the Torah here to refer to one who spreads gossip. We usually think of this word as a term for a perfumer or spice merchant. In context it refers to one who spreads gossip, so the commentaries take varying approaches to finding the link between these two types of people. The Gan endorses Rashi's view that both the gossipmonger and the perfumer enter into people's private lives and form a superficial sense of who their customer or victim is, then they move on and share what they have concluded. The Torah here means to say, then, that going around sharing your impression about someone else is bound to taint others' views of that person. We need to refrain from such conduct. We should not be sly, spying slanderers. The Gan, however, offers another view, quoting Rabbeinu Shimshon from Falaise, who offers support for the word rachil meaning "to thunder" or "to blast out". This view compares one who spreads slander and gossip to one who makes a lot of noise so as to envelop his victim with "the big lie." By making dramatic allegations and widespread defamation, "defamatory information blasts", the public cannot help but assume that he has his facts right. People may doubt or question the bearer of a little slander but if he makes a massive campaign to disgrace others, spreading "big slander", there is always the gullibility fill that reacts to his credibility gap. He thunders his accusations in a way that floods others with falsehoods which are bound to taint their opinions. His confidence when disgracing others leaves no doubt in the minds of his audience that he must be telling the truth. According to Rashi, the prohibition here is to spread information that may be based on speculation and conjecture, just as a hint of perfume or a trace of fragrance lingers after the substance is gone. According to Rabbeinu Shimshon, the prohibition is to take vigilante action in order to destroy someone through creative distortions and fabricated untruths. The former whispers his secrets; the latter thunders out against his victims. The Gan closes with a third interpretation, that rachil can refer to someone who, like the spice merchants, leaves tiny tastes of his wares with his customers so that they can sample the possibilities. He knows that when he next returns, something or other will have lingered in the minds of each customer so that he wants to procure more of the stuff. By analogy, this gossipmonger plants his words or his gestures so that each person is now curious and desires more substance. The deceitful luring of his "customers" will eventuate in their believing that what they have heard is real, that they know the facts, and that the "rachil" must have even more evidence to share. Lo telech rachil! Watch out for those who shame and ridicule those whom we look up to and trust. Ask questions, if you wish, upon sniffing the foul fragrance that is cast by the accuser. But consider the source, in contrast with what you already know and respect about his newly targeted victims. Fear of HaShem and adherence to Torah leaves one with a discerning sense for what is the aroma of truth, and what is malodorous. Those who have eared a chezkas kashrus - a respectable name - should not have their kashrus stained by those who have earned a chezkas tarfus through their ribald treachery, defamation, slander, and sensationalism. And, as our verse closes - lo ta'amod al dam rea'acha - we must not stand passively when good people are being slaughtered. Good Shabbos. D Fox