LEV488 Witnesses to the Act or Results of Abuse. As I mentioned earlier, the Talmud interprets the Torah's command not to stand idly by the blood of our neighbor [this verse] to mean that we must take positive steps to save people's lives. Furthermore, the Torah's command to come forward with testimony (Leviticus 5:1-6) would make it seem obvious that Jews who witness abuse or its results must testify to it and help people extricate themselves from it. The following four commands within Judaism, though, are sometimes misinterpreted to prevent witnesses to abuse from testifying to government officials or to others in authority about an abusive situation: • The prohibition against defaming another human being (lashon ha-ra) • The prohibition against shaming someone else (boshet) • The prohibition against handing a Jew over to non-Jewish authorities (mesirah) • The prohibition against desecrating God (hillul ha-Shem). In addition, in the specific case of child abuse, some Jews worry that informing the authorities will violate the prerogatives of parents and make it impossible for them to carry out their biblical duties to educate their children. I shall examine each of these concerns in turn.