Berel Wein Free speech is an integral part of a free society. Yet, like all freedoms, it requires responsibility and self-discipline in its exercise. Thus, even this most free of all our freedoms, the right to say what we wish, must be subject to some limitations in order for society to function. Nevertheless, we are witness daily to outrageous slanders, both personal and communal, that fill our media.
Gossip columnists are folk heroes even if they are consistently wrong and vicious in their reports.
We are so enamored of the affairs of others that the concept of the right to personal privacy, especially for people in the public eye, has been shredded. Personal attacks, slanderous statements, and dubious opinions about others are all now acceptable in our society. The cost of such behavior is, in my opinion, inestimable, and it is the source of much of what is wrong in Jewish life in America and Israel today. The Torah bids us not to speak about other human beings. The Talmud indicates that there are instances when even apparently complimentary speech about others is not permitted.