LEV381 At times, an additional prohibition is violated, that of cursing with Hashem's Name. Unfortunately, people often speak lashon hara out of anger, and in the heat of the moment, they curse the other person, even with Hashem's name. If he curses with Hashem's Name, in any language, then he transgresses the full-fledged prohibition of לֹא־תְקַלֵּ֣ל חֵרֵ֔שׁ, “Do not curse a deaf person” (Vayikra 19:14). (When the pasuk says not to curse a deaf person, it means even a deaf person; it is certainly forbidden to curse someone who is not deaf, as explained in Shulchan Aruch Choshen Mishpat 27:1.)

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LEV385 It is a negative commandment to curse no decent person in Jewry for Scripture says, You shall not curse the deaf [this verse]; it speaks of a deaf person to make a stronger point – – that even though this individual does not hear and suffers no distress from the curse, nevertheless one transgresses by cursing him. If a person curses himself, he likewise violates this. However, one who utters a curse does not commit the transgression unless he does so with the Divine name or a substitute name [of God]. If it was even with any term by which the heathen call the Holy One, blessed is He, that is like any of the substitute holy names.

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LEV387 We are forbidden to curse others. It is forbidden to curse even the deaf who are unable to hear the curse. All the more so it is forbidden to curse people who are able to hear. (Sifra).

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LEV384 [Now is it forbidden to curse a deaf man alone? Why, then, is it written: "Do not curse the deaf man"?] Scripture is speaking of the unfortunate ones among your people [i.e., they are never so unfortunate as to be "immune" to cursing] (Sanhedrin 66a).

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LEV386 One who curses his neighbor transgresses the negative commandment: "Do not curse the deaf man"[ all men being subsumed herein] (Shevuoth 36a).

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LEV389 The Bible hopes that fear of God will protect the vulnerable from oppression and exploitation. That is why the demand to fear God's is so often added to commands concerning the weak (and not to other commands). For example [this verse]. The average person, even one with a sadistic inclination, is unlikely to trip another; even if he is stronger than his would-be victim, he will fear that the victim will tell others who might then seek retribution. But there is no reason for a cruel person to refrain from hurting a blind person. The victim will have no idea who caused his injury, and might not even realize that the act was done on purpose. Therefore, God appends to this prohibition a reminder to fear God, the one who sees all that we do. ... Rabbi Aaron Levine presents God's warning even more graphically: "Don't imagine that you will escape punishment just because your misdeeds go undetected by your fellow man. No! Remember that it was I who distinguished in Egypt between the firstborn and those who are not firstborn." Levine, Case Studies in Jewish Ethics, 4.

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LEV388 [What is the intent of this?] In respect to things which are known to the heart, "And you shall fear your God" is stated (Kiddushin 32b)

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LEV392 See [[LEV301]] Leviticus 19:3 "I" ISSACS 7-8

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LEV390 … the Sifra (88d) has this comment on [this verse]: Lest you plead: "I meant well, giving him only friendly advice", the divine warning is that since you advance your motives as a defence, God knows what is in your hearts. This is the reason why the phrase "I am the Lord your God" acts as a refrain almost to every command in this chapter of Holiness.

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LEV391 [Continued from [[DEUT182]] Deut. v. 18 covet LERHMAN 316-17] The many laws (especially in Leviticus xix) "not to hate our brother in our heart"; "not to curse the deaf"; "not to place stumbling-blocks before the blind"; not to take a mean advantage of the ignorance of another, end with the stern reminder "I am the Lord thy God". The deaf and the blind may be unaware of our malicious intention, but He who knows all, will in due course exact severe punishment for such double-dealing. A medieval teacher summed up this stress on sincerity of intention and action succinctly when he explained the verse: "And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him (Moses) in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush" (Exodus iii. 2). The two Hebrew words for "in a flame of fire" are Belabbat aish, implying that God wishes us to perform all our duties as His witnesses sincerely and eagerly, with a heart (lev) aflame for righteousness. To illustrate this thought, take the conspicuous part allotted to charitable acts. It has been explained that the reason why the middle one of the three Matzot at the Seder table is broken in two (Yahatz), is to indicate that our aim as Jews should be to halve another's sorrows by practical sympathy and by sharing with him the blessings that a good fortune has brought our way.

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