Rav Aaron Butboul: Is It Permissible to Speak Lashon Hara About a Politician?
Damaging a foreign car
Question: I have a private parking space, and one of the neighbors keeps blocking it. I spoke to him several times and even called the police, but to no avail. May I damage his car so he will learn a lesson and not block me again?
Answer: The Shulchan Aruch (Choshen Mishpat, section 4, paragraph 1) rules, “A person may take the law into his own hands” when someone unlawfully holds onto his property, and in certain cases he may even prevent this by force. In the book Netivot HaMishpat, a distinction is made between movable property and land, and it is argued that in the case of land seizure, one should not use force or violence to remove the trespasser. However, other halachic authorities disagreed with him. For example, in a responsum by Maharanach in the book Mayim Amukim, it is ruled that an owner may protest against someone who enters his private domain, even by forceful means, when there is no other way to protect his property. We also find in Shema Shlomo that it is permitted to publicize and shame a resident who refuses to pay building maintenance fees in order to compel him to pay, even though this may cause him significant harm.
In practice, if a person is certain that only in this way will he be able to save his money and property, such as where a neighbor is occupying the private parking space that belongs to him, it is possible to be lenient and take unusual measures like those suggested. But I do not like violence, it is important to remember that violence usually does not achieve the goal. And the negative effect of any violent behavior on the person who uses it is very harmful to himself. “Seek peace and pursue it.”
Lashon hara about a politician
Question: At the Shabbat table we spoke about the elections. My brother told of negative and corrupt acts that, according to him, a representative in a certain party had done. When I pointed out that this was lashon hara, he argued that the remarks were for a constructive purpose, so that people would know not to vote for that party. Is it indeed permitted to speak lashon hara about a politician or a party on that basis?
Answer: There is no blanket permission to speak disparagingly about a politician. The claim that it is for “constructive purpose” does not by itself permit the prohibitions of lashon hara. Permission to relate negative information for a constructive purpose exists in cases where there is a need to prevent real harm, such as in matchmaking, partnerships, or business deals. Voting in elections is not necessarily comparable to these cases, and therefore disparaging speech or smears should not be permitted on that basis.
However, we find among the halachic authorities permission to speak disparagingly about a person who desecrates Shabbat in public when the aim is to prevent others from learning from his actions. So wrote Rabbeinu Yonah, and the matter is cited by the Chafetz Chaim (Laws of Lashon Hara, כלל ד', סעיף ז'). Therefore, when it comes to a politician who observes Torah and mitzvot, there is no permission to speak against him without carefully satisfying all the conditions of the permission for lashon hara for a constructive purpose.
This also means there is reason to be cautious about reading analyses and articles based on smears and gossip, which may lead one to violate the laws of lashon hara.
The article was written in the Aḥvata newsletter distributed throughout the country.
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