He’s A Communist!
‘He Who Calls Another Rasha’
(Bava Metzia 71a)
Our sugya teaches that if someone calls another a rasha (wicked), the person insulted may “ruin his life.” According to some commentators, the Gemara allows the insulted to undermine his detractor’s livelihood, such as by opening a competing business. Rashi (s.v. “yored imo …”) though, doubts that interpretation: “It is hard for me to accept that our Sages allow people to wreak revenge or ‘get even.’ ”
Tosafos (s.v. “adam kore l’chavero …”) cite the Teshuvas Hageonim in the name of Rav Tzadok Gaon that one may even go so far as to burn a third of the crops in his [detractor’s] field, yet Tosafos too find this very odd and question Rav Tzadok’s reasoning. However, Rashi in Kiddushin (28a, s.v. “rasha yored imo …”) adheres to the literal meaning that one may “go down to his livelihood.”
Insinuating Transgression
The commentators explain that the Gemara (Kiddushin, ibid.) mentions similar halachos: One who calls another a slave is punished with niduy (a form of excommunication); if he calls him a mamzer, he gets flogged. By calling another a slave, the one who insults includes himself in the Torah’s damnation “cursed is Canaan” (Bereishis 9:25) and is therefore placed under the curse of excommunication. Similarly, one who calls another a mamzer hints that the target person has or intends to sin by pretending he is not so in order to marry anyone; the one who insults is therefore flogged, as though he himself has transgressed such a prohibition.
One who calls another rasha also causes him considerable harm: “If your brother becomes (is becoming) poor,” the Torah says, “… support him” (Vayikra 25:35). Our Sages teach that this mitzvah excludes a rasha, who does not deserve support. Therefore, one who calls another rasha in public or spreads such a rumor prevents others from supporting him. In that event, the person insulted is permitted to undermine the livelihood of the one insulting him (Nimukei Rabbi Menachem meReseburk, s.v. “din hakorei”; Shittah Mekubbetzes in the name of Rabbi Yonasan; etc.).
However, a person is not allowed to undermine the livelihood of one who calls him rasha in a casual manner, perhaps in the heat of an argument (as we note further). He may only do so to one who spreads rumors in a malicious manner, which insinuates that he rebels against the Torah.
450 Years Ago
About 450 years ago, two people had a vehement argument. One called the other names, such as “slave,” and the person insulted asked a beis din to flog his detractor, as taught in the Gemara. The question was sent to Rabbi David ben Shlomo Ibn Zimra (Responsa Radbaz 3:480, in the name of the Geonim) who replied that as people give little importance to curses voiced in arguments, such insults do not harm one’s reputation and are not what is intended by the Gemara.
The Radbaz concludes, though, that “the one who insults should be shamed verbally and warned to desist from calling another such a name … even if the other starts an argument.” However, one who makes it a regular practice of calling others derogatory names would suffer excommunication only if they are names specified by the Gemara. Maharam Galanti (Responsa 33) therefore ruled that a beis din should not flog one who always calls another salak-el-din (apparently a reference to Saladin, the Muslim warrior who conquered Eretz Yisrael from the Crusaders) though one so dubbed is deeply hurt. However, “He is regarded as one of the derisive scoffers who do not meet the Shechina.”
A Slap On The Cheek
A similar question was referred to HaGaon Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, in the McCarthy era when hatred for Communism engulfed the United States. People suspected of Communist links had their reputations ruined, and anyone so called was very insulted. Such a person asked Rabbi Feinstein to allow him to undermine his detractor’s livelihood, as if he had been called rasha, but was told that “communist” is not synonymous with rasha (Igros Moshe, Choshen Mishpat 1:38): Many evil people are not communists. One who forces his ideas on others in a communist fashion is not necessarily a sinner. Rabbi Feinstein also cited Rashi’s above comment (on our daf) that there is no explicit permission to undermine the livelihood of one who calls another rasha.
In conclusion, we add the explanation of some commentators that yored lechayav, usually understood as “ruining his life,” actually means that the insulted person may slap the cheek of the one who insulted him: lechayav – his cheeks (see Tashbetz, Responsa 3:204).
