Question: We went away for Shabbos, lending our home to our neighbor’s married couple. The neighbor assured us that when we returned, we’d find it exactly as we’d left it. In the end, when we arrived home on Motzaei Shabbos, we were appalled at its condition...
The next day, the mother called to thank me, and she asked, “Nu, how did they leave your home?” I didn’t have time to think; I just mumbled something like, “It was okay, well, sort of okay.” I assume the neighbor understood that I wasn’t pleased. Was I guilty of speaking lashon hara?
Answer: The questioner writes that the neighbor asked explicitly how the couple left the apartment. Therefore, she was obligated, l’to’eles, to answer in a way that would at least hint that the situation was not as it should be. That way, the neighbor would understand that in the future, she’d need to make sure such things wouldn’t happen, either by explaining gently to the couple how to leave an apartment they received for use for Shabbos or by herself taking responsibility to ensure that the apartment was left in tip-top shape. Since there was a to'eles objective here, the questioner responded wisely to her neighbor and did the right thing.
