by Rabbi Shlomo Segal
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
Below is a summary of Rabbi Segal’s weekly d’var Torah podcast. To listen to this podcasts in the future please find it in the Segal’s Sentiments archive here.
Slander has many layers and elements which go beyond spreading false rumors about a person. There is another kind of slander which is even more insidious. How often do we believe something we hear simply because it fits neatly into our narrative, or because it validates our own feelings on the subject?
Do we ever stop to question the validity of negative information offered to us about a person we dislike?When news media outlets feed us a juicy negative story about a person or group of people and we blindly accept their word as if it was sacrosanct without ever investigating if the story is true than WE become an accomplice to the slander that is being advanced by the news network.
The Book of Proverbs lists six things which “God hates”. Among these are “a lying tongue” and more significantly, “feet that are swift in running to evil” (Proverbs 6:16ff). It is important to remember that when we accept or bear witness to falsehood, we are as guilty as the person spreading the lie.
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Rabbi Shlomo Segal is a member of the UTJ’s Panel of Halakhic Inquiry, which issues religious responses on behalf of the organization on contemporary issues, and vice president of Morashah, the rabbinic arm of UTJ.
Rabbi Segal is also a member of the International Rabbinic Fellowship (IRF) and the New York Board of Rabbis.
In fall 2013, after a decade of pulpit experience, Rabbi Segal founded Kehilat Moshe, a liberal Orthodox congregation in the Sheepshead Bay area of Brooklyn, NY. While still a new congregation, Kehilat Moshe has emerged as a diverse, multi-generational caring and intellectually stimulating community rooted in both pluralism and halakhah.
Rabbi Segal delivers a weekly commentary which you can find at kehilatmoshe.org and on YouTube. He was also interviewed on National Public Radio on the subject of “Swinging Chicken Ritual Divides Orthodox Jews”.