Chofetz Chaim

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For other uses, see Chofetz Chaim (disambiguation).
“Chofetz Chaim”: cover page 1873 ed.

The "Sefer Chafetz Chaim" (or Chofetz Chaim or Hafetz Hayim) (Hebrew: חָפֵץ חַיִּים, trans. Desirer of Life) is the magnum opus of Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, who later became known simply as The Chofetz Chaim. The book deals with the Jewish ethics and laws of speech, and is considered the authoritative source on the subject.

The book[edit]

The title of the work Chafetz Chaim by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan is taken from Psalms :

Come, children, hearken to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, 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.

The subject of the book is Lashon Hara. Rabbi Kagan provides copious sources from the Torah, Talmud and Rishonim (early commentators) about the severity of Jewish law on tale-mongering and gossip. Lashon hara, meaning evil speech (or loosely gossip and slander and prohibitions of defamation), is sometimes translated as prohibitions of slander, but in essence is concerning the prohibitions of saying evil/bad/unpleasant things about a person, that are true.

The book is divided into three parts:

  • Mekor Chayim ("Source of Life"), the legal text.
  • Be'er mayim chayim ("Well of living water"), the footnotes and legal argument.
  • It is commonly printed together with the text Shemirath ha-Lashon ("Guarding of the tongue"), an ethical treatise on the proper use of the faculty of speech.

The author[edit]

Rabbi Yisrael Meir HaCohen Kagan at prayer towards the end of his life.

Rabbi Israel Meir HaCohen Kagan is commonly known as the "Chafetz Chaim," the name of his famous work on guarding one's tongue. He was born in Zhetel, Poland on February 6, 1838. As his reputation grew, students from all over Europe flocked to him and by 1869 his house became known as the Radin Yeshiva. The Chafetz Chaim published twenty one books. His first work, Sefer Chafetz Chaim (1873), is the first attempt to organize and clarify the laws regarding Lashon Hara. Other notable works include the Sefer Shmirat HaLashon, an ethical work on the importance of guarding one's tongue and the Mishnah Berurah (1894-1907) which is a commentary on the Orach Chayim; the first section of the Shulchan Aruch and has been accepted universally among Ashkenazi Jews as an authoritative source of Halacha.[1]


  1. ^ "Chofetz Chaim Biography". Ethics of Speech. Project Genesis. Retrieved 18 January 2013. 

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