"You shall not hurt the feelings of one another and you shall fear Yahveh." Leviticus 25:17
In this verse the Torah commands us to be careful not to say anything to another person that will cause
him emotional pain. Some people are careless with other people’s feelings and think that they only have to be careful
to observe those commandments, which involve man's obligation to Yahveh. But if a person is not careful with his obligations
to his fellow men and speaks against them to hurt them, he will eventually be careless with the commandments between man and
Yahveh. Therefore in the same verse that the Torah warns against hurting the feelings of other people the Torah adds "And you shall fear Yahveh."
Failure to observe the first half of the verse will lead to failure to observe the latter half of the verse.
Since verbal abuse can cause so much suffering, much care must be taken not to say things to people that will hurt them. The
more sensitive a person is, the greater care we must take when speaking to him that we do not cause him pain with our words.
Not only is it important to watch what we say, but also our tone of voice is crucial. When we shout at someone or speak in
an angry voice, it causes hurt feelings and is included in this commandment. Every time we speak, we have a choice of saying
things that edify or saying thing that hurt.
Be careful to use your speech to build people up, not to tear them down.
