Conference of European Rabbis סמינר סופיה - זהוי ואיתור פגיעות במשפחה כט׳ מרחשון תשע״ט יוסף דוויך

As people say, the speech of a child in the marketplace is learned either from that of his father or from that of his mother.

The wise men say: "He who publicly puts his fellow's countenance to shame has no share in the world to come" (Pirke Abot, 3.15). A man is, therefore obliged to guard himself against putting his fellow to shame publicly, regardless of whether he be young or old; not to call him by a name of which he feels ashamed, nor tell aught in his presence of which he is ashamed. However, all these refer to matters touching the relationship between man and man; but if it concern heavenly matters, if the sinner does not repent after being rebuked privately, he should be shamed publicly, and his sin should be proclaimed, and harsh words should be used in his presence, and he should be shamed and cursed till he repent and take up the good path, even as all of the prophets in Israel did with the wicked.⁸Baba Mezi’a 59a; Yoma, 86b. C. G.

The Gemara relates that the tanna who recited mishnayot and baraitot in the study hall taught a baraita before Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak: Anyone who humiliates another in public, it is as though he were spilling blood. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said to him: You have spoken well, as we see that after the humiliated person blushes, the red leaves his face and pallor comes in its place, which is tantamount to spilling his blood.

(14) Each and every one of the enumerated twenty-four different categories of persons, Israelites though they be, have no share in the World to Come. And, there are yet lesser transgressions than those referred to concerning which the sages, nevertheless, said, that he who makes a practice to violate them has no share in the World to Come, and that they are of sufficient importance to be kept at a distance, and to watch out against them. They are: he who gives an alias name to his friend; he who calls his friend by his aliases; he who shames his friend publicly; he who glorifies himself by disgracing his friend; he who insults scholars; he who insults his masters; he who despises holy times; he who profanes holy objects. That is saying, that none of these will have a share in the World to Come, if he dies without repentance; but if he repent from his wickedness and died in a state of repentance, he is, indeed, of the sons of the World to Come, as there is not a thing to stand in the way of repentance.

(12) Similarly, the sages forbade a man to have marital relations while thinking of another woman. Nor may he initiate sex while drunk, nor out of spite or hatred, nor may he rape her or initiate sex while she is afraid. Nor may they have sex while either of them are excommunicated nor after he has decided to divorce her. If [the husband] does any of those things, the children will not be proper [citizens] but brazen, rebellious [people] and criminals.

Rabbi Zeira said: A person should not transfer ownership of the four species to a child by means of a gift on the first day of the Festival. What is the rationale for this halakha? It is due to the fact with regard to acquisition, a child is able to acquire objects; however, with regard to transferring ownership, he is not able to transfer ownership to others. And in that case, a situation will result where the adult is seeking to fulfill his obligation with a lulav that is not his.

He is not able to transfer ownership - ... as he does not have da'at

(9) In reality, he is a minor until he develops two pubic hairs and reaches the age of 13, and in a leap year 13 months.

"And God called out to Moses, and God spoke..." from here it is said 'any scholar that does not have da'at, a dead carcass is better than he is'. Know this to be true, and learn it from Moses, the father of wisdom and father of prophets, that took Israel out of Egypt, and by his hand many miracles were done in Egypt and awesome deeds at the Red Sea, he went up to the heavens, brought down the Torah, was involved in the creation of the Tabernacle and even so he did not enter the inner sanctuary until he was called in, as it is written "And God called out to Moses, and God spoke..."

And Rabbi Elazar says: With regard to any person in whom there is no knowledge, it is prohibited to have mercy upon him, as it is stated: “For it is a people of no understanding; therefore its Maker will have no mercy on them, and its Creator will show them no favor” (Isaiah 27:11). If God has no mercy upon them, all the more so should people not show them mercy.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: I remember when a boy and girl, of sixteen and seventeen years of age, would walk together in the market, and they would not sin.

(1) It is forbidden to deceive people in business dealings, as well as by false pretenses; non-Jews and Jews are all alike in this respect. If one is aware of a defect in the article he is selling, he must let the purchaser know about it. It is forbidden to cheat people even by the use of mere words.