Transferring Merits:

The Chovos Halevavos famously writes (Shaar Hachniah, Perek 7) that many people come before the Heavenly Court on their Day of Reckoning and, when their good deeds and sins are added up, they are credited for mitzvos that they never did. When they ask why they are being rewarded for things they hadn't done, they are told, "These mitzvos were done by a person who spoke lashon hara about you." So too, some people are not credited for mitzvos that they did do but are blamed for aveiros that they never did. When they ask where their mitzvos went and why they are being blamed for sins they never committed, they are told, "You spoke badly about so-and-so. Therefore, you were given his sins and he was given your mitzvos." When people spoke badly about the Bais Yosef, the malach that regularly came to learn with him told him (Magid Meisharim, Parshas Vayakhel), "Don't worry about them. They aren't hurting you; rather, they are helping you because when someone speaks lashon hara about his friend, he loses his mitzvos and they are given to the one he spoke about." He concluded, "This is 100% fact. If people would know this, they would rejoice when they hear that people are speaking badly about them and would feel like those people are giving them gold and silver." The Kamarna Rov zy "a speaks about the importance of properly utilizing one's words in Sefer Heichal Habracha (Parshas Netzavim). He writes that when one speaks lashon hara about a Jew – even about the lowliest person - it is as if spoke against Hashem. His friend is then given all of his mitzvos, and he is given all of his friend's aveiros. He is sent to the lowest level of gehenim, and he has no atonement. He adds that it is forbidden to believe the words of one who speaks lashon hara because he is considered a heretic and he certainly lies and deceives a lot. And he has no portion in Olam Haba. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 7B) says: "When a person is appointed to a position of authority over the public, all his sins are forgiven.” The Chasam Sofer (Drashos, Drasha L'Shavuos, page 295, 4) asks why he deserves this. He answers that since it is natural for people to speak badly about authority figures, and when one speaks lashon hara about someone, all that person's sins are transferred to him. Thus, all the new leader's sins are taken off of him. This is as Dovid Hamelech says (Tehillim 12:9): "Wicked men walk on all sides when the one who appears lowest to the sons of men is elevated.” This means that everyone who speaks badly about someone are deemed wicked. The Chasam Sofer himself was extremely careful in this area. In the introduction to Sefer Mor Dror, written by a student of the Chasam Sofer, the author writes about him: “I never heard a disparaging word from him, even about people who were sinners and heretics in his eyes. On the contrary, he even greeted them with a smile."