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LEVITICUS — 19:14 stumbling block

LEV414 It is a negative commandment not to cause one's fellow-man to stumble over anything as Scripture says, nor shall you put a stumbling-block before the blind [this verse] -- which means that if the other person is blind about something and he comes to ask advice, we are not to give him counsel that is not right. This includes everything, whether in worldly matters or in matters of Torah. It is forbidden, too, to bring someone, or to help him or cause him to come, into the power of sin. It is even forbidden to bring a heathen to transgress the laws of the Torah which he is enjoined to observe (any of the seven commandments for all descendants of Noah).

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LEVITICUS — 19:14 stumbling block

LEV410 … Jewish law specifically provides for a transfer of care to others when the child cannot tolerate the parent's mental state. The first exception thus depends on the parent's mental state and/or the child's reaction to it; the second exception is based instead on the relationship between the parent and child. While parents and children ideally get along well with each other, that is not always the case. As we have seen, Jewish sources specifically demand that a parent not make overly burdensome or provocative demands on a child so that the child is tempted to dishonor and disrespect the parent or perhaps even assault him or her, because in making a demand that evokes that response, the parent would thereby transgress the biblical command of not putting a stumbling block before the blind [this verse. See B. Mo'ed Katan 17a; B. Kiddushin 32a; M.T. Laws of Rebels (Mamrim) 6:8,9; and S.A. Yoreh De'ah 240:19,20.] Thus if the relationship between the parent and child is not good, Jewish law would find it better for the child to transfer the care of the parent to someone else, as long as the parent ensures that the care fulfills the parent's physical and psychological needs at a reasonably good level. Thus, while Sefer Hasidim required generally that children live in the vicinity of their parents to minister to their needs, it said this: "It is best that a father and son separate if they quarrel with each other, for much pain is caused; and I do not mean only the pain of the father or the teacher, but even the pain of the son." [Attributed to Rabbi Judah ben Samuel He-Hasid, Sefer Hasidim (ed. Margoliot, 1957), 371, #564,; see also 257, #343).

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LEVITICUS — 19:14 stumbling block

LEV416 One other important principle in regard to honor and respect of parents emerges from the sources--namely, that the parents should not make unreasonable demands of their children or punish their children in a way that will lead the child to rebel against them and dishonor them. The Rabbis deduced this from the Torah's command, "Do not put a stumbling block before the blind," which they interpret to include not only the physically blind but also those blinded by their lack of information or by the temptation to do something improper. (The verse is Leviticus 19:14. In addition to its literal reference to the physically blind, the Rabbis interpreted it to demand also that we not mislead those who lack information or who are morally blind by tempting them to do what is a violation of the law. See Sifra Kedoshim on Leviticus 19:14; B. Pesachim 22b; B. Mo'ed Katan 17a; B. Kiddushin 32a; and B. Bava Metz'ia 75b.) This is an instance of the latter case, by which unreasonable demands of children or striking an adult child will tempt the child to say or do things that are in violation of the Commandments demanding honor and respect for parents.

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LEVITICUS — 19:14 stumbling block

LEV424 The Jewish tradition demands quite a lot of someone who has harmed another person by requiring the wrongdoer to complete the process of return (teshuvah) described in Jewish sources. That process includes acknowledgment of one's wrongdoing, remorse expressed in words to the harmed party, compensation to the victim to the extent that that is possible, and, ultimately, better behavior when the same kind of situation arises again. In some ways, this is even harder than serving time in prison, for some convicts never acknowledge that they have done anything wrong, let alone try to make amends to the person they have hurt. Once a person has completed the process of teshuvah, however, [Mishnah, Bava Metzia 4:10 [58b] demands that people in society not even mentioned the person’s former troubles with the law, for that would be to engage in oppressive speech. Why? Because one would label the person by his or her former offense, undermine and distrust the process of return, and deny the person the possibility of writing his or her former wrong and taking on a new, better identity--writing a new personal script, as it were. This Mishnah thus starkly contrast with the practice in many American states, where former convicts have to list their convictions on any job application, are ineligible to apply for any government job, and, in a few states, lose the right to vote. As we saw earlier with regard to negative but true speech, however, there is an exception to this rule. If the person applies for a job that entailed the dealing with situations similar to the one in which he or she committed the offense and this would tempt him or her to do the same thing again, people who know of the person's past may describe the offense, and potential employers may refuse to take the chance of exposing the person to the same temptations again. In fact, such people have a duty to take these steps to protect other people and even the applicant, for the Rabbis interpret “do not place a stumbling block before the blind” (Leviticus 19:14) to include not only those who are physically blind but those who are morally blind as well. (B. Pesachim 22b; B. Mo’ed Katan 17a; B. Bava Metzia 75b). So, for example, people may tell potential employers at a school, camp, or youth group that they should not hire a given person because he or she has abused children in the past.

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LEVITICUS — 19:14 stumbling block

LEV412 "Do not place a stumbling block before an undiscerning person" (Lit, "a blind person.") We have been admonished herein not to instruct the Children of Yisrael [in ways that are] not in conformity with [Torah] law and halachah. Our Sages, z"l, said (Avos 1:1), "Be deliberate in judgment." Those who make haste in the grasping and rendering of halachic decisions cannot avoid placing an obstacle before an undiscerning person, and their sin carries grave implications, as the pasuk says (Tehillim 82:5), "They neither know nor understand; they will go about in darkness, all the foundations of the Earth will be shaken." (Rashi: "The judges who corrupt the judgment will not know or understand that due to this sin they will go about in darkness and the foundations of the world will be shaken.") They further said (Avos 4:13), "Be painstaking in study for carelessness in study is tantamount to willfulness" (I.e., If you make a mistake in halachah because of carelessness in your learning, Hashem sure will consider it as if you did so willfully (R. Ovadyah of Bartenura). They also said (Sotah 22a), "'For she has felled many dead' (Mishlei 7:26) -- this refers to a disciple who is not yet qualified to render halachic decisions, yet does so. 'Enormous is [the amount of] all she has slain' (ibid.) -- this refers to a disciple who is qualified to render halachic decisions, but does not do so." We have further been admonished from this pasuk to give proper advice to one who takes counsel with us, and not mislead him with foolish advice. Furthermore, one should not advise another with his own benefit in mind (Sanhedrin 76).

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LEVITICUS — 19:14 stumbling block

LEV411 "Before the blind do not put a stumbling block" This verse prohibits us from placing a spiritual stumbling-block in the path of others. If someone causes another to sin, he violates this prohibition (Rambam, Sefer Hamitzvos, Prohibition 298; Smag [Sefer Mitzvos Hagodol - AJL], Prohibition 168). By speaking or listening to loshon hora, you not only sin yourself, but also cause others to transgress.

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