Approved Reproof
Once, as I was delivering a shiur, a man suddenly burst into the Beit Hamidrash and began to publicly denounce me. The congregants were up in arms in an attempt to defend my honor. Pandemonium filled the place as shouts and argument filled the air. The man would not calm down. The matter escalated to the extent that I simply walked out in order to avoid the tumult within. When the participants noticed my absence, they immediately called me back in, to continue the shiur.
“Why did you shame this man?” I demanded.
“Honored Rav, we took up for the Torah’s honor.” I chastised them strongly, stating that even when one is permitted to rebuke his fellow man, he must do so within the parameters of halachah. The same Torah which commands one to give reproof to his fellow Jew commands us to love him and preserve his dignity, in his eyes as well as in the eyes of the onlookers.
The pasuk says (Vayikra 19:17), “You shall rebuke your fellow, and do not bear a sin because of him.” Rashi expands on the words “and do not bear a sin because of him”: You shall not shame him in public. Even when one is required to rebuke his fellow Jew for his inappropriate actions, he must do it with utmost respect and never embarrass him before others.
