In the Gates of Repentance of Rabbainu Yona you can see that lashon hara [slander] that is true is only forbidden because of collateral damage. The Hafez Haim more or less agrees with this as you can see in the seven conditions by which one can say lashon hara. [If the Hafez Haim would have decided like the Rambam then lashon hara that is true would be more strict]
It occurs to me this might be the reason for Tosphot in Bava Batra page 39B.
What I mean to say is that I saw in the Hafez Haim that he answers that Tosphot saying that it is talking about אבק לשון הרע the dust of lashon hara and in particular something that can be interpreted in a few ways. So Tosphot says it is OK to say it in front of three people because he knows it will get back to the person he was talking about so he will be careful to say it in a way that is clear he means it in the complementary way.
This always seemed to me to be forcing words into Tosphot that he does not say. To me it makes more sense to say he is speaking the truth and because it is in front of three he will be careful not to mix anything wrong in his words.
[If you go with this approach of R. Yona then the Gemaras that the Hafetz Haim brings in section 10 make a lot more sense. In those Gemaras it looks that different amoraim said things not very complimentary about other amoraim. The Hafetz Haim in each case has to find some reason why it was OK. But if you go with R Yona, it seems simple. You can say the truth as long as your intention is for some permissible practical benefit.]
[In any case, I think that I have been too lenient in terms of laws of lashon hara and I hope to review the Hafetz Haim to remind myself of the many details.]
I might mention that in the Mir Yeshiva in NY, the issue of lashon hara was a fairly big subject. One of the grandchildren of Rav Miller started a seder in which two laws of the Hafetz Haim were learnt every day after the morning prayers. Other things that were important there were being in the regular sessions.[that is learning Torah during the set times]. Another big issue was trust in God because that was the nature of the yeshiva. People were not going to university and so automatically the subject of trust came up.
It occurs to me this might be the reason for Tosphot in Bava Batra page 39B.
What I mean to say is that I saw in the Hafez Haim that he answers that Tosphot saying that it is talking about אבק לשון הרע the dust of lashon hara and in particular something that can be interpreted in a few ways. So Tosphot says it is OK to say it in front of three people because he knows it will get back to the person he was talking about so he will be careful to say it in a way that is clear he means it in the complementary way.
This always seemed to me to be forcing words into Tosphot that he does not say. To me it makes more sense to say he is speaking the truth and because it is in front of three he will be careful not to mix anything wrong in his words.
[If you go with this approach of R. Yona then the Gemaras that the Hafetz Haim brings in section 10 make a lot more sense. In those Gemaras it looks that different amoraim said things not very complimentary about other amoraim. The Hafetz Haim in each case has to find some reason why it was OK. But if you go with R Yona, it seems simple. You can say the truth as long as your intention is for some permissible practical benefit.]
[In any case, I think that I have been too lenient in terms of laws of lashon hara and I hope to review the Hafetz Haim to remind myself of the many details.]
I might mention that in the Mir Yeshiva in NY, the issue of lashon hara was a fairly big subject. One of the grandchildren of Rav Miller started a seder in which two laws of the Hafetz Haim were learnt every day after the morning prayers. Other things that were important there were being in the regular sessions.[that is learning Torah during the set times]. Another big issue was trust in God because that was the nature of the yeshiva. People were not going to university and so automatically the subject of trust came up.
