Question: Is it correct that if one regularly speaks Lashon Hara about another, it is possible that all of his merits shall transfer over to his friend and his friend’s sins shall transfer over to the his own account?
Answer: When the Torah states, “Do not be a gossip-monger among your nation,” this refers to the sin of Lashon Hara which is when one says, “So-and-so did such-and-such.” Even if one happens to be speaking the truth about his friend, his sin is truly great (unless one is saying this in a permissible manner when there is a true necessity for this to be said along with the other conditions that are required to permit such speech).
Rabbeinu Bechaye, one of the great Rishonim, writes in his Sefer Chovot Ha’Levavot (Sha’ar Ha’Keni’a): “A pious man once said that many people shall arrive in the Heavenly court on the Day of Reckoning and when they show them their deeds in their Book of Merits, they will find many merits to their credit that they have never performed. They will be told that these were created by someone who has spoken Lashon Hara about them and spoke ill of them. Similarly, when others are lacking several of their merits and good deeds, they will be told that their merits were lost when they spoke Lashon Hara about their friend. Likewise, others will find in their Book of Sins iniquities which they have never performed and they will be told that these sins were added to their account when they had spoken Lashon Hara about so-and-so.”
One should not wonder how he can lose his merits because of the Lashon Hara which he speaks, for the Rambam writes (in Chapter 3 of Hilchot Teshuva), “The following kinds of people do not have a share in the World to Come: Heretics and those who deny the validity of the Torah etc. and those who speak Lashon Hara.” We find that an attribute of the sin of Lashon Hara is that it causes one to lose his merits. It makes sense that all of the abundance which was bestowed onto the speaker of the Lashon Hara because of the Mitzvot which he performed should be transferred to the party whom he has shamed by speaking ill of him.
Hagaon Harav Shlomo Kluger zt”l writes that the aforementioned thought is hinted in the words of King Solomon in his Megillat Kohelet (5, 5): “Do not allow your mouth to bear sin upon your flesh and do not say before the angel that it is an error; why should Hashem become angered by your voice and destroy the work of your hands?” Our Sages in the Midrash explain this verse as referring to one who speaks Lashon Hara. The explanation of this verse is as follows: Since one speaks Lashon Hara against his friend, many of his friend’s sins transfer over to his account and many of the Mitzvot which he has performed transfer over to his friend’s account. When this man arrives before the Heavenly court, they will begin to read through his Book of Sins and they will read him even sins which he never committed. He will begin to yell, “This is an error!” and the Heavenly account is mistaken. He will also begin to yell about the Mitzvot which do not appear in his Book of Merits and that this is a mistake as well. This is what is meant by the verse, “Do not tell the angel that it is an error,” for Hashem has “become angered by your voice,” i.e. by you speaking Lashon Hara about your friend. Thus, all of his sins have been transferred to your account and your Mitzvot have been transferred to his account. Hashem has thus “destroyed the work of your hands” (i.e. your merits) and given them to your friend whom you have spoken ill of.
Thus, every individual must be extremely careful regarding the sin of Lashon Hara, especially in a situation where there is no benefit forthcoming from speaking these words; one must take care not to speak ill of his friend and Hashem shall surely remember this to his credit. If someone has spoken ill of him, one should not become angry; on the contrary, one should be extremely happy that Mitzvot one never toiled to perform have been posted to his account. May Hashem help us to merit guarding our tongues from speaking Lashon Hara and only to speak words of Torah and holiness.
