ב"ה

Daily Mitzvah (Rambam)

Day 267: Negative Commandment 251

Show content in:

Negative Commandment 251 (Digest)
Hurtful Words

"You shall not wrong one another and you shall fear your G‑d"Leviticus 25:17.

It is forbidden to verbally distress or humiliate another.

Examples:

  • If a person has sinned in his youth and then repented, one may not tell him, "Thank G‑d who has taken you away from that path to this good path!" or similar indirect references to his earlier faults that may cause him pain.
  • [If a person is suffering from illness, one may not say (as Job's friends did), "Has anyone perished who was totally innocent?"
  • If you see people who seek to purchase grain, do not tell them that they can obtain it by a certain person, who in reality has nothing to sell.
  • Do not enter a store and ask, "How much does this item cost?" when you have no intention to make a purchase.]

Our Sages taught that hurtful words are, in fact, a graver sin than defrauding another of money.

From Sefer Hamitzvot, published and copyright by Sichos in English. To purchase the Sefer Hamitzvot two-volume set, please click here.
The text on this page contains sacred literature. Please do not deface or discard.
Daily Quote
When the Holy Temple was in existence, the Altar atoned for Israel; today, a person's table atones for him
  –Talmud, Berachot 55a
This page in other languages