Touchstone Texts on Bullying, Teasing and Harassment

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Touchstone Texts on Bullying, Teasing and Harassment Your friend’s dignity should be as precious to you as your own. - Pirkei Avot 2:10 Why is gossip like a three-pronged tongue? Because it kills three people: the person who says it, the person who listens to it, and the person about whom it is said. - Babylonian Talmud, tractate Arakhin, page 15b Whoever can prevent members of their household from committing a sin, but does not, is punished for the sins of their household. If they can prevent their fellow citizens from committing sins, but does not, they are punished for the sins of their fellow citizens. If you can prevent the whole world from committing a sin, but does not, they are punished for the sins of the whole world. - Babylonian Talmud, tractate Shabbat, page 54b Life and death are in the hands of the tongue. - Proverbs 18:21 One who gives his neighbor a bad name, can never gain pardon. - Jerusalem Talmud, Bava Kamma 8:7 Even if we upset somebody only through harsh words, without committing any tangible act of injury, we are still required to seek forgiveness. - Maimonides, Laws of Repentance, 2:9 If a person guards his speech, others will emulate him and he will be rewarded for that merit also. - Guard Your Tongue, Chofetz Chayim, p.189 Whoever shames his neighbor in public, it is as if he shed his blood. - Bava Mezia 58b Do not humiliate your fellow in public, whether he or she is a minor or an adult. - Maimonides, Law of Character Development 6:8 If the humiliation took place in the presence of others, make your apology in their presence, as well as in private. Otherwise the victim has the right to say, “You shamed me in front of others, and now you want to apologize in private. Bring me all the people who heard you embarrass me, and then I will accept your apology. - Yalkout Shimoni, Hosea 14 It is forbidden to call someone by a name they dislike. - Maimonides, Law of Character Development 6:8 The goal of wisdom is to engage in repentance and good deeds. - Berachot 17a One who overcomes their natural tendencies (i.e. to hold onto a grudge) and instead forgives, all their sins are forgiven. - Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 17a .

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