Chofetz Chaim

"Pursuer of Life") is a book by Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan, who is also called "the Chofetz Chaim" after it.

The title of the Chafetz Chaim is taken from Psalms: Come, children, hearken to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

Shun evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.The book's subject is Hilchoth Shmirath HaLashon (laws of clean speech).

Kagan provides copious sources from the Torah, Talmud, and Rishonim about the severity of Jewish law on tale-mongering and gossip.

Other notable works include the Sefer Shmirat HaLashon,[3] an ethical work on the importance of guarding one's tongue and the Mishnah Berurah (printed between 1894 and 1907) which is a commentary on the "Orach Chayim", the first section of the Shulchan Aruch, and has been accepted among many Ashkenazi Jews as an authoritative source of Halacha.