Levítico 19:18 Halacá: Chafetz Chaim, Shev Shmateta, Mishneh Torah, Reading the Shema & Mishneh Torah, Human Dispositions

Just as it is forbidden to shame one's friend in matters between man and his Maker, so is it forbidden to shame him in matters between man and his neighbor, even if what is said contains no admixture of falsehood. And I will not "conceal under my tongue" that there are in this [principle] many roots and branches, and that often this din changes [with the circumstances]. We shall speak about this at length, the L–rd willing, below in Principle X. But now we shall discuss one element that is forbidden beyond a doubt. That is, if one sees another asking his friend to lend him money (even though this [i.e., to lend] is a positive commandment of the Torah, viz. Shemoth 22:24: "When you lend money, etc.," as explained in the Book of the Mitzvoth of the Rambam, Positive Commandments 197), or [asking him] for some other favor, which he does not grant him; or [if he sees one transgressing] negative commandments between man and his neighbor, such as taking revenge and bearing a grudge, as is explained in Yoma (23a): "Which is revenge and which is bearing a grudge, etc.?" — since he [the object of the lashon hara] did not do him [the speaker] any evil (and there is also no benefit accruing to the affected party by his [the speaker's] recounting this to others), therefore, if he goes and recounts this to others, it is called "lashon hara" according to the din. And all this, even if it happened to [the speaker] himself, and it was also clear to him that he could have done him this favor, but refused to do so out of the perverseness of his nature. And there obtain here [also] all the elements of the issur which were explained in the preceding principle in section 3 concerning "between man and his Maker." And even if the withholding of the favor was to another, and the speaker's intent were only zeal for the truth (how much more so if the withholding of the favor were to the speaker himself!), it is certainly forbidden thereafter, to go and demean him for this. And one who transgresses this, aside from stumbling into the sin of lashon hara, also stumbles in this into the transgression of (Vayikra 19:18): "You shall not bear a grudge." And if he intends by what he says to take revenge of him for this, and to publicize the other's perverseness, he transgresses in addition (Ibid) "You shall not take revenge," aside from the issur of lashon hara.

(2) And he [the speaker of lashon hara] also transgresses (Vayikra 19:18): "And you shall love your neighbor as yourself," whereby we have been commanded to be as solicitous for our friend's money as we are for our own, and to be solicitous of his honor, and to speak in his praise, as we are solicitous for our own honor. And if one speaks or receives lashon hara and rechiluth against his friend, though it be true, it is apparent that he does not love him at all — how much more so is he in violation of "as yourself!"
And the great proof of this [that he is in violation of "as yourself"] is as follows: Does not every man know his own shortcomings? — in spite of which he would not want his friend to know, under any circumstances, even one thousandth of them! And even if it happens that a few of his faults become known to his friend, who goes and speaks of them to others — how he stands and waits, wishing the L–rd to grant that they not accept his words and not believe him! And all so that he not be seen in their eyes as unworthy — even though he knows himself to be guilty of very many sins, far more than his friend has revealed. In spite of this, in the access of his self-love, everything is swept away. Thus, exactly in this way must one conduct himself vis-à-vis his friend according to the Torah, to be solicitous of his honor in every respect.
And not in vain did the Torah relate to us the episode of Noach, viz. (Bereshith 9:21-23): "And he drank from the wine and he was inebriated and he uncovered himself in the midst of his tent. And Cham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father and he told his two brothers outside. And Shem and Yefeth took the garment and placed it on the shoulders of both and they covered the nakedness of their father, and their faces were [kept] turned backwards [when they drew near him to cover him], and the nakedness of their father they did not see." And the Torah also relates to us the blessing by which Noach blessed them (viz. Ibid 26-27) and which was ultimately realized — to reveal to us the greatness of this attribute, that one must cover up any unseemliness in his friend with all of his power, just as he would for himself!

The One be blessed and praised be the One⁴Following Rambam’s Mishneh Torah and the works of other authors, the text begins with the first letters of the first four words forming an acrostic that spells out God’s four-letter name, known as the Tetragrammaton. who created, by His wisdom and will, all of the host of the heavens, the earth and the seas – ‘the terebinth and the oak,’ ‘the beasts of the land’ and ‘the animals of the field.’ ‘And He created man upon the earth,’ ‘and He blew into his nostrils a living soul,’ and He made him rule over all the works of His hand, and He placed everything under his feet. And behold, all of these beings and creatures are all together one “man.” And this is a sign of His oneness, may His name be blessed. [For] it is like Rambam writes in the Guide for the Perplexed, Part 1:72, that the One has in fact created one. Hence it is fitting for each person to have intention before any good deed or any [Torah] study, [that it be] for the sake of the unification, etc.,⁵A popular kabbalistic formula, rooted in Tikkunei Zohar 133b:2. and for the sake of all Israel, and [also] to take upon himself the commandment of “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18), as will be explained.