לֹ֥א תַעֲמֹ֖ד עַל־דַּ֣ם רֵעֶ֑ךָ

(1) 1) (Vayikra 19:15) ("You shall not do wrong in judgment. You shall not lift up the face of the poor man, and you shall not favor the face of the great one. In righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.") "You shall not do wrong in judgment.": We are hereby taught that a judge who perverts justice is called "wrong," "hated," "revolting," "rejected,." "abominable," and he leads to five things: He defiles the sanctuary, he desecrates the Name, he drives out the shechinah, he causes Israel to fall by the sword, and he exiles it from its land.

(2) 2) "You shall not lift up the face of the poor man": Do not say: He is a poor man and since I and this rich man are obliged to sustain him, I shall vindicate him in judgment, so that he can support himself honorably.

(3) 3) "and you shall not favor the face of the great one": Do not say: He is a wealthy man, the son of great ones. How can I shame him and look on at his shame!

(4) 4) "In righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.": that one be allowed to speak at length, and the other told "Speak briefly," and that one stand and the other sit. Variantly: "In righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.": Judge every man in the scale of merit.

(5) 5) (Vayikra 19:16) ("You shall not go spying out among your people. You shall not stand by the blood of your neighbor; I am the L–rd.") "You shall not go rachil among your people": You shall not be rach (soft) to one and hard to the other. Variantly: You shall not be like a rochel (a merchant), who bandies words (from one locale to another [thus, "rechiluth"]).

(6) 6) R. Nechemiah said: This is the practice of the judges: The litigants stand before them and state their cases, after which they are taken outside and they (the judges) deliberate upon the matter. When they are finished doing so, the litigants are brought back in, at which time the chief judge says: "So and so, you are liable, etc."

(7) 7) And whence is it derived that if one of the judges goes out, he should not say "I found for you, but what can I do, my fellow (judges) are in the majority"? From "You shall not go rachil among your people." And (Mishlei 11:13) "He who goes rachil reveals a secret, and the faithful of spirit conceals a thing."

(8) 8) And whence is it derived that if you can testify on someone's behalf, you are not permitted to remain silent? From "You shall not stand by the blood of your neighbor." And whence is it derived that if you see someone drowning in the river or being waylaid by robbers or attacked by a wild beast, that you must rescue him? From "You shall not stand by the blood of your neighbor." And whence is it derived that (if you see) a man pursuing another to kill him or to sodomize him, or after a betrothed maiden, that you must rescue the pursued by (taking) the life of the pursuer? From "You shall not stand by the blood of your neighbor." (Vayikra 19:17) "You shall not hate your brother in your heart. Reprove shall you reprove your neighbor, but do not bear sin because of him.") "You shall not hate your brother": I might think (that this means) that he should not curse him or strike him or slap him; it is, therefore, written "in your heart." Scripture speaks only of hatred in the heart. And whence is it derived that if he reproved him four or five times (and he did not take heed), he should keep on doing so? From "Reprove shall you reprove." I might think that he must do so even if his face changes color (in shame); it is, therefore, written "but do not bear sin because of him."

(9) 9) R. Tarfon said: I swear that there is no one in this generation who is able to reprove, (for the one he reproves is likely to attribute even worse faults to him). R. Elazar b. Azaryah said: I swear that there is no one in this generation who is able to accept reproof. R. Akiva said: I swear that there is no one in this generation who knows how to give reproof. R. Yochanan b. Nuri said: I call heaven and earth as witness for me that more than four or five times Akiva was beaten because of me before R. Gamliel, to whom I would complain about him, and he loved me all the more for it, in keeping with (Mishlei 9:8) "Do not reprove a scoffer lest he hate you."

(10) 10) (Vayikra 19:18) ("You shall not take revenge, and you shall not bear a grudge against the children of your people. And you shall love your neighbor as yourself; I am the L–rd.") "You shall not take revenge": How far does the "power" of revenge extend? If one said to another: Lend me your sickle, and he did not lend him, and the next day the other said to him: Lend me your spade, and he answered: No, just as you did not lend me your sickle.

(11) 11) "you shall not bear a grudge": How far does the "power" of grudge-bearing extend? If one said to another: Lend me your spade, and he did not lend him, and the next day the other said to him: Lend me your sickle, and he answered: Here it is; I am not like you, who did not lend me your spade.

(12) 12) "You shall not take revenge and you shall not bear a grudge against the children of your people": You may take revenge of and bear a grudge against others (idolators). "And you shall love your neighbor as yourself": R. Akiva says: This is an all-embracing principle in the Torah. Ben Azzai says: (Bereshith 5:1) "This is the numeration of the generations of Adam" — This is an even greater principle.

(13) 13) (Vayikra 19:19) ("My statutes you shall keep. Your beast you shall not mate with a different breed. Your field you shall not sow with diverse seeds. And a mingled (kilaim) interwoven (sha'atnez) garment shall not come upon you.") If it were written only "You shall not mate your beast," I might think he should not take a (female) beast and stand it before a male; it is, therefore, written "kilaim" (a different breed); it is only kilaim that is interdicted, (and not breeding alone).

(14) 14) This tells me (of mixed breeding being interdicted) only of "your beast" with your beast. Whence do I derive the same for your beast with that of others (gentiles); that of others with your beasts, that of others with that of others? From "My statutes you shall keep."

(15) 15) This tells me only of beast with beast. Whence do I derive the same for beast with animal, animal with beast, unclean with clean, clean with unclean? From "My statutes you shall keep."

(16) 16) "Your field you shall not sow": This tells me only that he shall not sow (it with kilaim). Whence is it derived that he shall not preserve it (if it is already sown in that manner)? From "kilaim, your field, not" (thus, the order of words in the verse).

(17) 17) Whence is it derived that it is forbidden to graft a non-fruit tree with a fruit tree, a fruit tree with a non-fruit tree, a fruit tree (of one kind) with a fruit tree (of a different kind)? From "My statutes you shall keep."

(18) 18) "And a mingled, interwoven garment": What is the intent of this? (i.e., Why mention "garment"?) Because it is written (Devarim 22:11) "You shall not wear an interweaving, wool and linen together," I might think it is forbidden to wear strips of wool and stalks of flax; it is, therefore, written "garment." This tells me only of a garment. Whence do I derive the same for felt (stuff): From "sha'atnez," anything that is hackled, spun, and twined ("shua, tavui, vanuz" [acronym on sha'atnez]). R. Shimon b. R. Elazar says: (on "sha'atnez") He (the transgressor of "sha'atnez") is perverse (naloz) and he turns (meliz) his Father in heaven against him. From "shall not come upon you" I might think that he may not throw a bundle (containing sha'atnez) over his shoulder. It is, therefore, written "You shall not wear" (sha'atnez). If only that were written, I would think that only "wearing" were forbidden. Whence is the same derived for covering oneself with it? From "there shall not come upon you." He is permitted to spread it beneath him but the sages have forbidden it lest a strand entwine itself on his flesh.

(14) Anyone who can save and does not save transgresses 'do not stand by the blood of your neighbour'. So too one who sees his friend drowning in the sea, bandits attacking him or a bad animal attacking him and he is able himself to save him or he could hire others to save him but he does not; one who hears idol worshippers or informers plotting harm for him or laying a trap for him and he doesn't tell his friend and inform him; or if he knows that an idol worshipper or a thug are on their way to his friend and he could appease them on behalf of his friend to change their intention and he doesn't appease him; and so too any similar case; One who does any of these transgresses 'do not stand idly by your neighbour's blood'.