Different Motivations for Tochacha, Human vs Godly Tochacha, and Shavuot

(25) But it shall go well with them who rebuke; Blessings of good things will light upon them.

It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Tarfon says: I would be surprised if there is anyone in this generation who can receive rebuke. Why? Because if the one rebuking says to him: Remove the splinter from between your eyes, i.e., rid yourself of a minor infraction, the other says to him: Remove the beam from between your eyes, i.e., you have committed far more severe sins. Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria says: I would be surprised if there is anyone in this generation who knows how to rebuke correctly, without embarrassing the person he is rebuking.

(3) And Abraham rebuked Avimelech: R. Yosi ben R. Hanina said: Rebuke leads to love, as it says, rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Such indeed is R. Yosi ben Hanina’s view, for he said: Love unaccompanied by rebuke is not love. Resh Lakish said: Rebuke leads to peace; hence, ‘And Abrahman reproved Avimelech’. Such is his view, for he said: Peace unaccompanied by rebuke is not peace.

(17) You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. Reprove your kin but incur no guilt on their account.

Rava bar Rav Ḥanin said to Abaye: We learned in a mishna: The Rabbis decreed that one may not clap, nor strike a hand on his thigh, nor dance on a Festival, lest he come to repair musical instruments. But nowadays we see that women do so, and yet we do not say anything to them. He said to him: And according to your reasoning, how do you explain that which Rava said: A person should not sit at the entrance to an alleyway, next to the side post that has been placed at the edge of an alleyway in order for it to be considered a private domain, as perhaps an object will roll away from him and he will come to carry it four cubits in the public domain, thereby transgressing a biblical prohibition? But don’t these women take their jugs, and go, and sit at the entrance to an alleyway, and we do not say anything to them? Rather, the accepted principle is: Leave the Jews alone; it is better that they be unwitting sinners and not be intentional sinners. If people engage in a certain behavior that cannot be corrected, it is better not to reprove them, as they are likely to continue regardless of the reproof, and then they will be sinning intentionally. It is therefore preferable for them to be unaware that they are violating a prohibition and remain merely unwitting sinners. Here, too, with regard to clapping and dancing, leave the Jews alone; it is better that they be unwitting sinners and not be intentional sinners.

The Gemara cites other statements made by Rabbi Ile’a in the name of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon. And Rabbi Ile’a said in the name of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon: Just as it is a mitzva for a person to say that which will be heeded, so is it a mitzva for a person not to say that which will not be heeded. One should not rebuke those who will be unreceptive to his message. Rabbi Abba says: It is obligatory for him to refrain from speaking, as it is stated: “Do not reprove a scorner lest he hate you; reprove a wise man and he will love you” (Proverbs 9:8).

With regard to the issue of reprimand, it was related that Rabbi Zeira said to Rabbi Simon: Let the Master reprimand the members of the house of the Exilarch, as Rabbi Simon had some influence over them. Rabbi Simon said to him: They will not accept reprimand from me. Rabbi Zeira said to him: Let my master reprimand them even if they do not accept it.

(1) That is that He commanded us to rebuke a sinner, or one who wants to sin, and to prevent him from it with words of rebuke. And it is not fitting to say, "Since I am not sinning, if someone besides me sins, what do I have to do with his God?" This is the opposite of the Torah. Rather we are commanded not to sin, and that we not let someone else of our faith rebel. And if he tries to rebel - and even if there is no testimony that has come out against him and judgement passed against him - we are obligated to rebuke him and bring him back. And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "you shall surely rebuke your kinsman" (Leviticus 19:17). And included in this command is that some of us rebuke others of us when one man sins to another man, such that we not bear a grudge in our heart and we not think iniquitously about him. Rather, we are commanded to rebuke him with words until no [enmity] remains in the soul. And the language of the Sifra (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 4:8) is, "From where [do we know] that if he reproved him [four or five] times, he should keep on reproving him? [Hence] we learn to say, 'you shall surely rebuke.' I might think that he must rebuke him [even if] his face changes color (in shame); [hence] we learn to say, 'but do not bear sin because of him.'" And the sages already explained that the obligation of this commandment is upon every man; and even the lesser one is obligated to rebuke the honored one. And even if he curses him and disgraces him, he must not turn away from rebuking him, until he [reaches the limit] - as the receivers of the Torah explained and said (Arakhin 16b) - "until [he] strikes [him]." And this commandment has stipulations and regulations that have been explained in scattered places in the Talmud. (See Parashat Kedoshim; Mishneh Torah, Human Dispositions 6.)

(2) The source of this commandment is G‑d's statement (exalted be He),1 "You must admonish your neighbor."

(3) Also included in this commandment is that we should complain to a person who has done wrong to us. We should not bear a grudge and consider him to be a sinner. Rather, we are commanded to verbally complain to him in order that nothing should remain in our heart [against him].

(4) In the words of the Sifra, "What is the source of the law that even if you admonish someone four or five times that you should continue to admonish him? From the phrase, 'hochei'ach to'chiach.' One might think that one could admonish him to the point that his facial features change — the verse therefore continues,4 "And not bear sin because of him."...

(7) He who beholds his fellow stooping to sin or following an unrighteous path, is obliged to return him toward the good, and to let him know that he is actually sinning against himself in pursuing wicked deeds for, it is said: "And thou shalt indeed rebuke thy neighbor" (Lev. 19.17). He who rebukes his fellow, whether it be regarding a sin committed between man and man, or whether it be regarding matters between man and God, it is essential that the rebuke be administered only between them both; and he shall speak to him calmly, employing soft language, telling him that he does not speak of it to him, save for his own good, to bring him to a life in the world to come. If he receive it attentively from him, it is well; if not, he should rebuke him a second, even a third time. So is the constant duty of a man to continue to rebuke his fellow, even until the sinner strike him, and say unto him: "I will not listen". He in whose power it is to prevent sin and does not take the means to prevent it, he himself is ultimately overtaken by their sin, since it was possible for him to prevent them.⁷Shabbat, 54a; Ibid. 119b; Baba Mezi’a 31a. C. G.

(8) When I say to the wicked, “Wicked man, you shall die,” but you have not spoken to warn the wicked man against his way, he, that wicked man, shall die for his sins, but I will demand a reckoning for his blood from you.

(1) לא תשנא את אחיך בלבבך, if he has done something evil to you, do not behave as if you continue to love him, all the time setting an ambush for him in your heart. (compare Jeremiah 9:7) Such an attitude is unhealthy, but (2) הוכח תוכיח, rebuke him for what he has done and as a result you will restore harmonious relations. (3) ולא תשא עליו חטא, in your heart.

(1) THOU SHALT NOT HATE THY BROTHER IN THY HEART. Because it is the way of those who hate a person to cover up their hatred in their hearts, just as it is said, He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, but he layeth up deceit within him, therefore Scripture speaks of the usual events, [mentioning, thou shalt not hate thy brother ‘in thy heart,’ but the law forbids all hating, even if done openly]. THOU SHALT SURELY REBUKE THY NEIGHBOR, This constitutes another commandment, that we must teach him reproof of instruction. THOU SHALT NOT BEAR SIN BECAUSE OF HIM, for you will bear sin because of his transgression if you do not rebuke him...

(1) יהוה replied to Moses, “See, I place you in the role of God to Pharaoh, with your brother Aaron as your prophet.

(2) יהיה נביאך [AARON] SHALL BE THY PROPHET — This must be understood as the Targum takes it: thy interpreter. Similarly, wherever this term of נבואה is mentioned it refers to a man who publicly proclaims and utters to the people words of reproof. It is of the same derivation as, (Isaiah 57:19) “utterance (ניב) of the lips”; (Proverbs 10:31) “it utters (ינוב) wisdom”; (I Samuel 10:13) “he made an end of proclaiming (התנבות)”, which is in the book of Samuel. In old French we call him predicar; English preacher.

(2) Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, For the LORD has spoken: “I reared children and brought them up— And they have rebelled against Me! (3) An ox knows its owner, An ass its master’s crib: Israel does not know, My people takes no thought.” (4) Ah, sinful nation! People laden with iniquity! Brood of evildoers! Depraved children! They have forsaken the LORD, Spurned the Holy One of Israel, Turned their backs [on Him].

(10) Dull that people’s mind, Stop its ears, And seal its eyes— Lest, seeing with its eyes And hearing with its ears, It also grasp with its mind, And repent and save itself.”

(1) “Come, let us turn back to the LORD: He attacked, and He can heal us; He wounded, and He can bind us up.

(5) It is better to listen to a wise man’s reproof than to listen to the praise of fools.

(14) But if you do not obey Me and do not observe all these commandments, (15) if you reject My laws and spurn My rules, so that you do not observe all My commandments and you break My covenant, (16) I in turn will do this to you...

(1) APH ANI E’ESEH ZOTH LACHEM’ (ALSO I WILL DO THIS UNTO YOU). ... Know and understand that these oaths [stated in this section] allude to the first exile [i.e., the Babylonian exile following the destruction of the First Temple], for it is with reference to the First Temple that all the words of this covenant, concerning the exile and the redemption therefrom, apply... However the covenant in the Book of Deuteronomy alludes to this our [present] exile, and to the redemption by which we will be redeemed from it...

(17) Now when Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although it was nearer; for God said, “The people may have a change of heart when they see war, and return to Egypt.”

The Gemara explains: But even so, God gave the nations an opportunity to perform a mitzva, as The Holy One, Blessed be He, does not deal tyrannically [beteruneya] with His creations, but wants them to feel that they have been judged fairly. The Gemara asks: And why does God call the mitzva of sukka an easy mitzva to fulfill? Because performing the mitzva involves no monetary loss.

(1) "AND I IMPLORED THE L-RD AT THAT TIME, SAYING" (DEUTERONOMY 3:23)

(2) It is well known that one who wishes to correct another who has gone astray in some respect can do so in two ways. First, he can apprise him of his wrong and reprove him concerning it never again to repeat it. For so long as one averts his eyes from his sin it is impossible for him to repent of it, just as the sick man who does not acknowledge his illness cannot be cured. This is the intent of David's statement (Psalms 51:5): "For I know my offenses and my sin is constantly before me." This is the first way. The second way is to apprise him that great eminence awaits him, that for all his wrongdoing he is still beloved and desired by the one who wishes his closeness. In these two ways Moses corrected Israel. First he opened with words of chastisement, apprising them, in brief, of all their past wrongs. All of this is included in the section "These are the words." After this, so that they not lose hope and despair of coming to cleave to the Blessed One in their shame before Him over all their wrongdoing, he informed them in this parshah that they are still desired by the Blessed One — even more so than he, the patriarch of Torah, wisdom, and prophecy...

(5) On the first day of Passover, the congregation reads from the portion of the Festivals of Leviticus (Leviticus 22:26–23:44). On Shavuot they read the portion of “Seven weeks” (Deuteronomy 16:9–12). On Rosh HaShana they read the portion of “And on the seventh month on the first of the month” (Leviticus 23:23–25).