The Mishnah on daf TB Baba Kama 90 turns our attention to the last fine of embarrassment (boshet-בּוֹשֶׁת). “If he pulled his ear, or pulled out his hair, or spat at him and his spittle reached him, or if he removed the other’s cloak from him, or if he uncovered the head of a woman in the marketplace, in all of these cases, he must give the injured party four hundred dinars.” (Sefaria.org translation)
Today’s daf TB Baba Kama qualifies the issue of
spitting and when the person is fined 400 dinars. “Rav Pappa says: They
taught this halakha only in a case where the spittle reached him.
But if the spittle landed on his clothing without touching him, he
is not required to pay him.”
Based on
this qualification however, the Gemara teaches a surprising and unsettling
conclusion. “The Gemara asks: Why not? Let it be like one who humiliated
another with words.
“The Gemara
answers: In the West, Eretz Yisrael, they say in the name of Rabbi
Yosei bar Avin: That is to say that if he humiliated another with
words alone, he is exempt from paying anything, although he
will be held accountable by Heaven for his sin.” (Sefaria.org translation)
We are
surprised at this ruling because the Gemara has always emphasized “Great is the
dignity due to human beings- גָּדוֹל כְּבוֹד הַבְּרִיּוֹת). No matter what, it is wrong to humiliate
anybody verbally. Later poskim do
their best to prevent people from taking advantage of this loophole. Rav
Sherira HaGaon[1] wrote
that even though the person is not penalized monetarily for verbally
humiliating another person, he is to be excommunicated until he appeases the
person he wronged according to the wronged status. Rambam writes that the court
need to ensure that people are careful about not humiliating others and if it
gets out of hand the court has to do something to lower the temperature.
The Bach on
Even Haezer 83:3 quotes both poskim. “רב שרירא גאון דהמבייש את חבירו ברבים
היו מנדין אותו עד דמפייס המבוייש וכן כ' הרא"ש וגם כתב בשם הרמב"ם שיש
לב"ד לגדור כפי מה שראוי”
[1] (906 – c. 1006) was the gaon of the Academy of Pumbeditha. He was one of the most prominent Geonim of his period, and the father of Hai Gaon, who succeeded him as Gaon. He wrote the Iggeret Rav Sherira Gaon ("[The] Epistle of Rav Sherira Gaon"), a
comprehensive history of the composition of the Talmud. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherira_ben_Hanina)
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