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Judaism

Tradition·Founded c. 1000 BCE·est. ~15 million worldwide

Judaism → 8 branches

Branch
Overview Belief 36How to Live 10Practice 34Stories & Scripture 28Community 10 You × Judaism Discussion
Precept of Judaism

Guard the tongue.

Lashon hara — the laws against harmful speech, held stricter than most ritual law: the tradition counts true gossip as damage, not honesty.

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What it asksDo not speak harm about another — even, and especially, when it is true
Who it bindsEveryone, in every medium; the laws were written for a village and applied now to a feed
Where it bitesThe permitted exceptions (warning someone of real danger) are narrow and heavily lawyered — the default is silence
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held

The laws of lashon hara treat speech as capable of real damage and therefore governed like any other harm — with the striking rule that truth is no defense. A true, damaging report about someone who is not a threat to anyone is precisely the paradigm case of the prohibition. The Chofetz Chaim codified the laws in 1873 into a full legal treatise, and contemporary teachers spend most of their time on the obvious modern application: the group chat, the review, the post.

From the sources — the passages this rests on; concise renderings, cited

Do not go about as a talebearer among your people; do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbor.

Leviticus 19:16

The two halves are one verse: the tongue and the bystander, together.

The same ground, other faiths

claims that share this one's ideas
Love God, love your neighbour. Christianity Go deeper →
The Law of Love, and its limits, added later. The Family International Go deeper →
The Eight I would Really Rather You Didn'ts. The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Go deeper →
The Seven Fundamental Tenets. The Satanic Temple Go deeper →
The dharma of one's station. Hinduism Go deeper →
Compassion extends to all sentient beings. Buddhism · core tenet Go deeper →

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Where next

← Do not stand idly by the blood of your neighbour.the previous passage in Judaism Bal tashchit — do not destroy. →the next passage in Judaism Judaism's How to Live roomback up one layer Propose a change to this passageone button — it routes to the review pool

Numbers count Panfaith activity only — never real-world adherence.

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