Arakhin 3:5
When is verbal assault considered worse than physical damage?
讘诪讜爪讬讗 砖诐 专注 诇讛拽诇 讜诇讛讞诪讬专 讻讬爪讚, 讗讞讚 砖讛讜爪讬讗 砖诐 专注 注诇 讛讙讚讜诇讛 砖讘讻讛谞讛 讜注诇 讛拽讟谞讛 砖讘讬砖专讗诇, 谞讜转谉 诪讗讛 住诇注. 谞诪爪讗 讛讗讜诪专 讘驻讬讜 讬转专 诪谉 讛注讜砖讛 诪注砖讛. 砖讻谉 诪爪讬谞讜 砖诇讗 谞讞转诐 讙讝专 讚讬谉 注诇 讗讘讜转讬谞讜 讘诪讚讘专 讗诇讗 注诇 诇砖讜谉 讛专注, 砖谞讗诪专 (讘诪讚讘专 讬讚) 讜讬谞住讜 讗转讬 讝讛 注砖专 驻注诪讬诐 讜诇讗 砖诪注讜 讘拽讜诇讬.
The rule governing defamation may be considered lenient or strict. How so? Whether one defamed the girl of the most prestigious priestly family, or the girl of the most humble Israelite family, he must pay a fine of 100 sela. This shows that what one says orally is treated more severely than a physical outrage! [cf. the previous mishnah, which fined a seducer only 50 sela] And so too we find that the decree that our ancestors [must die] in the wilderness was sealed only as a result of defamation, as it says, 鈥渢hey have tested me these ten times, and have not heeded My voice.鈥� (Num. 14:22)
Comments
This tractate of Mishnah, Arakhin, deals with pledges to the temple that are pegged to the market value of a person in the slave market. It also considers the 鈥渃ost鈥� of various types of damage one person might do to another, and how to determine restitution. Our mishnah demonstrates an egalitarian principle. Defaming a woman鈥檚 honor is fined equally whether the woman (or girl) came from an elite or common family. This flat fine of one-hundred sela is 鈥渟trict鈥� if one defamed a commoner, but 鈥渓enient鈥� if the victim was high-class, since one might expect penalties to rise according to class. The second half of the mishnah focuses on the surprising severity of penalties for defamation compared to those for physical violation. Midrashically, it then connects this concept to the incident of the spies, saying that only when the Israelites defamed the land did God finally punish them.
Questions
- How would you evaluate the 鈥渃ost鈥� of various sorts of violations? One rabbinic idea is the amount a person would accept in order to volunteer, say, to be slapped in public, or beaten. Does this seem practicable?
- Can you think of times in which defamation could be more damaging than even a physical assault? What does this concept say about the value of honor in ancient 绿帽社 society? Which do we prioritize鈥攑hysical integrity, or honor? What does this say about our society?
