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Loshon Hora: I've Had it Up to Here

Posted by Torah Bytes on December 20, 2018

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Proof of Matrilineal Descent in Judaism

דברים ז׳:ג׳ (ג) וְלֹ֥א תִתְחַתֵּ֖ן בָּ֑ם בִּתְּךָ֙ לֹא־תִתֵּ֣ן לִבְנ֔וֹ וּבִתּ֖וֹ לֹא־תִקַּ֥ח לִבְנֶֽךָ׃ Deuteronomy 7:3 (3) You shall not intermarry with them: do not give your daughter to his son or take his daughter for your son. דברים ז׳:ד׳ (ד) כִּֽי־יָסִ֤יר אֶת־בִּנְךָ֙ מֵֽאַחֲרַ֔י וְעָבְד֖וּ אֱלֹהִ֣ים אֲחֵרִ֑ים וְחָרָ֤ה אַף־יְהוָה֙ בָּכֶ֔ם וְהִשְׁמִידְךָ֖ מַהֵֽר׃ Deuteronomy 7:4 (4) For he will turn your son away from Me and they will serve other gods, and Hashem's anger will blaze forth against you and He will promptly wipe you out. This week's Parashas Vaeschanan brings proof to the world that a Jew's lineage is determined from his Jewish mother even if she marries a gentile, and not from a Jewish father who marries a gentile. Note the Hebrew words carefully in Devarim 7:4. "For he (the gentile father) will turn your (Jewish) (grand) son away from me." ~ Devarim 7:4 It does not say: "For she (the gentile mother) will turn your (grand

Loshon Hora about the Deceased

Loshon Hora about the Deceased It is forbidden to denigrate and disparage deceased individuals. There is a cherem kadmonim (a ban from the early authorities) upon this [1], indicating that it is a severe transgression.[2] This applies even to a deceased am ha'aretz (ignoramus). (However, it would seem that it would be permitted to speak about a rasha who did not repent before his deaht.) [3] To degrade a Torah scholar after his passing is a much greater offense, and one is liable for the punishment of nidui (a form of ex-communication) for doing so. Criticizing his Torah writings in a disrespectful manner is even worse than attacking the individual himself. [4] [1] Even though the cherem is brought down as not being "motzi la'az and shem ra" on the dead -- which implies speaking falsehood -- most poskim hold that loshon hora is assur (forbidden) even without the cherem. Some poskim hold that the cherem includes loshon hora as well as motzi shem ra (R' Chai