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Menorat Hamaor: Shaming Others |
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 The Menorat Hamaor, who divides his treatment of the prohibitions concerning shaming others into two parts. In the first, he writes: “Whomever says, in front of his fellow, intentionally,
things that will cause his fellow embarrassment when he hears them, and whitens his face, due to the humiliation that he feels, and the fact that he believes that all who are present know that these things are against him,” has committed a transgression that is equal to spilling blood. Here the focus is on the pain caused to the victim, perhaps reflective of the prohibition of verbal oppression. In the second part, there is a slightly different emphasis: “and one who says in public, things that are against the honor of his fellow, and that this is something that it is clear that those who are present are aware it is being said about him, and this is something serious in the eyes of man, concerning such a ‘whitening’ it is better for one to be killed, and even burnt, rather than whiten his fellow’s face in public.” In this instance reference is made to the destruction of the dignity of the afflicted party, possibly the intended beneficiary of the protection of “you shall not bear iniquity because of him,” and it is here that the Menorat Hamaor emphasizes that it is preferable to be killed rather than allow oneself to trample over this injunction.
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