DEUT952 A good name is so important that giving someone a bad name is a vile Jewish offense: "R. Eleazar b. Perata said: Come and see how great is the power of an evil tongue! The ten spies who brought back an evil report against the wood and stones of the land of Israel received a severe punishment; how much the more so will this happen to one who bad-mouths his neighbor! (Ar. 15a). A similar story is told in a legal context. Under Jewish law, one witness is not enough to convict someone of a crime. "It once happened that Tobias sinned and Zigud alone came and testified against him before R. Papa. Since one witness does not constitute definitive proof, R. Papa had the witness ZIgud punished. R. Papa explained, the Torah says: 'One witness shall not rise up against a man' [this verse], so by testifying against him, you have brought him into ill repute" (Pes. 113b). As children, we proved how self-righteous we were if we responded to someone who called us something awful by screeching out: "Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me." Today we know how false that is, for a "bad name" can be hurtful indeed.