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6 ‎[1] It is mandatory to respect every disciple of the wise even though he be not one's master, for it is said: "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head and honor the face of the old men" (Lev. 19.32); the old man herein spoken of is, the old man who acquired wisdom. Whence-onward is the obligation to rise before him applicable? From the time he will approach within four ells until he will pass by from in the front of him. ‎[2] There is no rising up in a bath house, nor in a lavatory, for it is said: "Thou shalt rise and honor", a rising up which is accompanied by honor. Working men are not obliged to rise up before the disciples of the wise, during their working hours, for it is said: "Thou shalt rise up and honor", even as doing honor does not cause a loss to the purse, so must the rising up be without loss to the purse. Whence do we know that one is forbidden to close his eyes at the approach of a wise man so as not to see him at the time when he is obligated to rise before him? From what it is said: "And thou shalt fear thy God" (Ibid.), herefrom we infer that of everything which belongs to one's heart, it is said: "And thou shalt fear thy God". ‎[3] It is improper for a wise man to be troublesome to the public by timing himself to appear in their presence so that they may rise up before him, but he shall take the shortest path in passing them by and arrange it so that they may not see him, and not be troubled to rise up. The wise men of yore did round out their walks and follow the outer path where their acquaintances do not frequent, so as not to burden them. ‎[4] One who is riding is entitled to the same deference as the one who is walking, and as it is obligatory to rise before one who is walking, so it is obligatory to rise before one who is riding. ‎[5] When a company of three are walking on the way, the master shall be in the middle, the better scholar on his right, and the lesser one on his left. ‎[6] He who sees a wise man approaching does not rise before him until he will be within four ells, and as soon as he passes by, he may sit down; he who sees a dean of a tribunal passing by must rise before him as soon as his eyes behold him from a distance and not sit down until he will pass him by and be back of him four ells; he who sees the president of the tribunal approaching he should rise before him as soon as his eyes behold him and not sit down until he will take his seat, or until he will walk away out of his sight. The president of a tribunal who renounces all these attentions of honor, his renunciation thereof is valid. When the president enters, the whole audience rises and do not sit down until he will tell them, "Be sitted." When the dean of a tribunal enters, two lines are formed in his honor and the people on either side remain standing until he enters and sits down on his place, but the rest of the audience remain sitting in their places. ‎[7] When a Rabbi enters, every one whom he passes by within four ells rises before him, so that one rises up and another sits down, until he reaches and sits down on his place. The sons of the wise and the disciples of the wise, when the public stands in need of their services, may step by the elders of the people and take their own places; but it is no praise for the disciples of the wise to arrive last. When the wise man leaves, as he has a need to, when he has a need, he may return to his own place. The sons of the wise, when they have ability to understand are seated facing their fathers, but if they have no ability to understand, they are seated facing the audience. ‎[8] A student who is continuously in the presence of his master, is not permitted to rise up before him save morning and evening, so that his master's honor should not appear to be greater than the honor of Him Who is in Heaven. ‎[9] For one who is old and distinguished in age, though not a scholar, it is obligatory to rise up; even a young scholar should rise before an old man distinguished in age; but the obligation is not to rise before him in full height, only enough to honor him. It is proper to honor with words even the aged Kuthean and to give him a leaning hand, as it is said: "Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head", the inference being that it includes all hoary heads. ‎[10] The disciples of the wise do not go forth personally to work with the rest of the population on construction and digging for the state, or like labor so as not to expose themselves to be degraded by the ignorant people. They should not be levied upon for the erection of a wall, repairing of the gates, wages for the watchman and the like, nor for the king's gift-fund. They should not be obliged to contribute to taxes, whether it be a fixed tax levied upon the inhabitants of the city, or whether it be a fixed tax upon every individual, for it is said: "But even though they should spend gifts among the nations, now will I gather them and they shall be humbled a little through the burden of the king and princes" (Hos. 8.10). If a disciple of the wise had merchandise to sell, he should be permitted to be first to sell it, and no one else in the market should be permitted to sell until he will sell out. Likewise, if he had a trial, and he was standing among many others who had law suits, he should have precedence, and given a place to sit down. ‎[11] It is a grievous sin to disgrace the wise or to hate them. The destruction of Jerusalem did not come about until the disciples of the wise in its midst were disgraced, even as it is said: "But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets" (II Chron. 36.16), as if saying, they despised those who instructed His words. Such is also the meaning of the words of the Torah in saying: "Thus if ye so reject My statutes" (Lev. 26.16), those who instruct My statutes ye so reject. He who disgraces the wise has no share in the World to Come and is in the category of such of whom it is said: "Because he hath despised the word of the Lord" (Num. 15.31). ‎[12] Although he who disgraces the wise is deprived of a share in the World to Come, if witnesses testify that one did disgrace him even with words, the offense is punishable by excommunication, if he be found guilty, the tribunal should excommunicate him publicly, or fine him a gold pound in every instance and give it to the scholar. He who disgraces the wise by words, even after the latter's demise, the tribunal should excommunicate him, but it may, when he will repent, remove the stigma from him. But if the wise man be living, the tribunal has no authority to remove the stigma from him until the one for whose sake he was excommunicated will consent to it. The wise man himself may likewise pronounce an excommunication to defend his honor against an ignoramus who acted irresponsibly toward him, and he needs no witnesses and no warning, and the stigma should not be removed from him until he will apologize to the wise man. If the wise man dies, a tribunal of three may assemble and remove the stigma from him. However, if the wise man desires to forgive him and not ostracize him, the discretion is in his hands. ‎[13] A master who pronounced an excommunication in defense of his honor, all his disciples are obliged to follow the customs of ostracism against the one so ostracised; but if a disciple pronounced an ostracism in defense of his honor, the master is not obliged to follow the manners of ostracism against the one so ostracised, but the public is obliged to follow the customs of ostracism against him. Likewise, one who is ostracised by the president of a tribunal is ostracised to all Israel, but one ostracised to all Israel is not ostracised to the president; one ostracised in his own community is ostracised to every other community, but one ostracised in another community is not ostracised to his own community. ‎[14] All of these apply only against one who was ostracised because he insulted the disciples of the wise, but one who was ostracised on account of other matters which carry a penalty of ostracism, even though the ostracism was pronounced by the smallest one in Israel, both the president and all Israel are obliged to follow the custom of ostracism against him until he will repent himself from the thing on account of which he was ostracised, when the stigma may be removed from him. On account of twenty-four different offenses the punishment of ostracism is inflicted upon a person, whether it be man or woman. They are: (1) he who disgraces the wise even after his demise; (2) he who disgraces a messenger of a tribunal; (3) he who calls his fellow a slave; (4) he whom a tribunal summoned to appear and set a date for his appearance and he did not come; (5) he who scoffs at a matter enacted by the scribes, needless to say, a matter mentioned in the Torah; (6) he who did not carry out a judgment of a tribunal is ostracised until he will comply; (7) he who keeps in his premises something which may cause damages, such as a bad dog, or a broken step ladder, is ostracised until he will remove the damaging article; (8) he who sells his immovable property to an idolater is ostracised until he will assume responsibility of any mishap that may be brought about by the idolater against his fellow, the Israelite, his erstwhile adjoining neighbor; (9) he who testifies against an Israelite in the idolatrous court, and judgment is obtained against him as a result of his evidence to pay money contrary to the laws of Israel, is ostracised until he will make restitution; (10) a priest who is a butcher and does not separate the priestly gifts and give them to another priest is ostracised until he will give; (11) he who disgraces the second day of a holiday in Diaspora, even though it is but a custom; (12) he who does servile work during the afternoon of Passover Eve; (13) he who mentions the Name of Him Who is in heaven in vain or takes oath by the Name in non-essential matters; (14) he who causes many to commit blasphemy against the Name; (15) he who causes many to eat holy food without; (16) he who calculates years and appoints months in Diaspora; (17) he who causes the blind to stumble; (18) he who deprives many of performing a mandatory commandment; (19) a butcher who underhandedly deals out terefah; (20) a Sho'het who practices She'hita without having his slaughtering knife examined by and obtained authority from a Rabbi; (21)he who consciously brings on erection; (22)he who divorced his wife and then forms a partnership between himself and her, or establishes a business which brings them together, when they appear before a tribunal, they should be ostracised; (23) a scholar of a universally evil reputation; (24) he who excommunicates one who was not guilty of an offense punishable by excommunication.
Version: Mishnah Torah, Yod ha-hazakah, trans. by Simon Glazer, 1927
License: Public Domain