Photo Credit: Jewish Press

The Torah tells us (Leviticus 19:14) not to place a stumbling block before the blind.

This has always struck me as the most minimalist, basic, and self-evident requirement. What kind of monster would be so cruel as to put a stumbling block in front of a blind person? It seems like the sort of thing that would go without saying. A genuinely rigorous requirement would be to act affirmatively to remove stumbling blocks from the paths of blind people, but that is not how the Torah words it. Perhaps by setting the bar so seemingly low, the Torah is being realistic. You certainly have permission to go around removing stumbling blocks if you want to, but the minimum standard is set at what seems like an easily achievable level.

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The requirement comes in the same verse as an injunction to fear G-d. Perhaps it is a reminder that G-d created blind people, too. Seemingly basic acts of abstaining from cruelty to others are a way of honoring G-d by acknowledging the dignity of all G-d’s creatures. Adding a fear of G-d to interpersonal interactions can help steer them away from cruelty and toward kindness.

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Ira Stoll is media critic at the Algemeiner, columnist at the New York Sun, and editor of FutureOfCapitalism.com. He lives in Boston.