לֹא־תֵלֵךְ רָכִיל בְּעַמֶּיךָ
לֹא תַעֲמֹד עַל־דַּם רֵעֶךָ
אֲנִי יהוה׃
Do not go about as a gossip among your people,
do not stand upon your neighbor’s blood,
I am God.
The second line in this pasuk is confusing. What exactly is being commanded?
Rashi says it means not to stand idly by when another person’s life is threatened:
Do not stand upon your neighbor’s blood, to witness your neighbor’s death, when you could have prevented it—for example, if your neighbor is drowning or being attacked by a wild animal or a robber.
Ibn Ezra connects the two halves of the pasuk. He says the unclear line in the pasuk is a description of the bad things that can happen when you spread gossip:
לֹא תַעֲמֹד עַל־דַּם רֵעֶךָ. שֶׁלֹּא יִתְחַבֵּר עִם אַנְשֵׁי דָמִים. וְיָדוּעַ כִּי כַמָּה נִרְצְחוּ וְנֶהֶרְגוּ בַּעֲבוּר הַמַּלְשִׁינוּת.
You should not befriend bloodthirsty people. It’s well known that people can end up getting killed because of gossip..
- According to Rashi, our pasuk is warning us not to be a bystander, someone who does nothing while another person is hurt. The alternative is to be an upstander, someone who stands up to help others. Have you ever seen someone being bullied? What are ways a person can be an upstander in those situations, instead of being a bystander?
- How could gossip lead to bloodshed?
- Do you think gossip and being a bystander are separate ideas, or are they actually connected? Why?