# Chofetz Chaim
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{{Short description|1873 book by Yisrael Meir Kegan}}
{{About|the book|its author|Yisrael Meir Kagan}}
{{Other uses}}
thumb|''Chofetz Chaim'': cover page 1873 ed.|395x395px
The ''[Sefer](/source/Sefer_(Hebrew))'' '''''Chofetz Chaim''''' (or '''''Chafetz Chaim''''' or '''''Hafetz Hayim''''') ({{langx|he|חָפֵץ חַיִּים}}, [trans.](/source/Translation) "Pursuer of Life") is a book by Rabbi [Yisrael Meir Kagan](/source/Yisrael_Meir_Kagan), who is also called "the Chofetz Chaim" after it. The book deals with the Jewish laws of speech.
The title of the ''Chafetz Chaim'' is taken from [Psalms](/source/Psalms):
{{blockquote|Come, children, hearken to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life ("Chafetz Chaim"), who loves days to see goodness? Guard your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceitfully. Shun evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.|{{bibleref|Psalm|34:12–15|JPS}}}}
The book's subject is ''Hilchoth Shmirath HaLashon'' (laws of clean speech). Kagan provides copious sources from the [Torah](/source/Torah), [Talmud](/source/Talmud), and ''[Rishonim](/source/Rishonim)'' about the severity of [Jewish law](/source/Jewish_law) on tale-mongering and gossip. [Lashon hara](/source/Lashon_hara), literally "'the evil tongue", i.e., evil speech (or loosely [gossip](/source/gossip) and [slander](/source/slander) and prohibitions of [defamation](/source/defamation)), is sometimes translated as "prohibitions of slander", but most commonly concerns the prohibitions of saying evil/bad/unpleasant things, whether or not they are true.
[{{cite journal
|url=https://dl.acm.org/doi/fullHtml/10.1145/3535271
|title= From individual rights to community obligations: a Jewish approach to speech
|author1=Jessica Hammer |author2=Samantha Reig |journal= Interactions
|date= 29 June 2022
|volume= 29
|issue= 4
|pages= 30–34
|doi= 10.1145/3535271
|access-date=May 30, 2024|doi-access= free
}}]
The book is divided into three parts:
* The legal text is ''Mekor Chayim'' ("Source of Life").
* ''Be'er Mayim Chayim'' ("Well of living water"), the footnotes and legal argument.
* It is commonly printed together with the text ''[Shemirath haLashon](/source/Shmiras_halashon)'' ("Guarding of the tongue"), an [ethical](/source/ethics) treatise on the proper use of the faculty of speech.
==The author==
[[File:Israel Meir Poupko, tefillin.jpg|thumb|Kagan [praying](/source/Jewish_prayer).|328x328px]]
[Yisrael Meir Kagan](/source/Yisrael_Meir_Kagan) is commonly known as the ''Chafetz Chaim'', the name of his book. He was born in [Dzyatlava](/source/Dzyatlava), [Grodno Governorate](/source/Grodno_Governorate), [Russian Empire](/source/Russian_Empire) (today [Belarus](/source/Belarus)), on January 26, 1838. By 1869 his house became known as the [Radin Yeshiva](/source/Radu%C5%84_Yeshiva). Kagan published twenty-one books. His first work, ''Chafetz Chaim'' (1873),[{{cite web
|title=Chofetz Chaim: Ethics of Speech
|date=8 August 2015 |url=https://torah.org/learning/halashon-ccbio |access-date=May 30, 2024}}] is the first attempt to organize and clarify the laws regarding ''[Lashon Hara](/source/Lashon_Hara)''. Other notable works include the ''Sefer Shmirat HaLashon'',[([https://www.hebrewbooks.org/14234 Online edition in Hebrew]] an ethical work on the importance of guarding one's tongue and the [Mishnah Berurah](/source/Mishnah_Berurah) (printed between 1894 and 1907) which is a commentary on the "[Orach Chayim](/source/Orach_Chayim)", the first section of the ''[Shulchan Aruch](/source/Shulchan_Aruch)'', and has been accepted among many [Ashkenazi Jews](/source/Ashkenazi_Jews) as an authoritative source of [Halacha](/source/Halacha).[{{Cite web|url=https://www.broydeblog.net/uploads/8/0/4/0/80408218/codificationofjewishlaw__2012_.pdf|title=The Codification of Jewish Law and an Introduction to the Jurisprudence of the Mishna Berura}}]
thumb|Kagan in Vienna, 1923|alt=|311x311px
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [https://cchf.global/ Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation]
* [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=47570&pgnum=1 Online edition in Hebrew]
* [http://chofetzchaim.shemayisrael.com/ A Lesson A Day: A Daily Learning Program] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101216074139/http://chofetzchaim.shemayisrael.com/ |date=2010-12-16 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20091022001432/http://geocities.com/dafaweek/CC_Calendar.html Chofetz Chaim Daily Calendar]
* [http://devekut.com Devekut.com] has a link ("Chofetz Chaim") with an abstract of a book by Rabbis Shimon Finkelman and Yitzhak Berkowitz about Chofetz Chaim's ideas.
* [https://mishpacha.com/the-chofetz-chaim-comes-to-warsaw Mishpacha Magazine article, THE CHOFETZ CHAIM COMES TO WARSAW]
{{Authority control}}
Category:1873 books
Category:Hebrew-language religious books
Category:Rabbinic legal texts and responsa
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Chofetz Chaim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chofetz_Chaim) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chofetz_Chaim?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.