Insulted Without Answering Back

Question

Where is the source. What rabbi and what Sefer says that when someone is embarrassed and they don’t answer they are like the rising sun and get full atonement for sins and therefore can ask for anything

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Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    It is a teaching in a beraita from our Talmudic Sages in Tractate Yoma 23a.

    However, there is a fascinating exception that is taught in the Talmud on that same page: “Any Torah scholar who is offended and does not want revenge and does not bear a grudge is not a Torah scholar.”

    This statement, made by Rabbi Yochanan in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Tzadok, may sound strange and unbecoming the spiritual loftiness which a Torah scholar should strive to embody. Also, it appears to contradict the behavior of the great Sage Mar Zutra, who each night forgave anyone who had slighted him during the day. (Tractate Megilla 28a)

    Many explanations are offered to help us understand our gemara. One approach is that Mar Zutra wholeheartedly forgave people who slighted him on a personal level, whereas the statement in our gemara refers to a Torah scholar who was shown disrespect with respect to Heavenly matters of Torah and mitzvot. In such a case he should not forgive the other person since he dishonored not only the scholar but also the holy Torah — and this offense cannot be “repaired” unless the offender is repentant and sincerely seeks atonement and teshuva (Ritva).

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team