Rebuke

Jubilees, and later the Mekhilta, suggest that the covenant ceremony described after the revelation at Sinai (Exodus 24) actually took place earlier — at the moment when the Israelites declared נַעֲשֶׂה, “we will do” (Exodus 19). According to Rabbi Ishmael, it was then that Moses read Leviticus 25–26 to the people — a section explicitly framed as spoken at Sinai, and which sets out the terms of the covenant.

How much is too much when rebuking someone? Proverbs, Talmud, and Maimonides stress the importance of not humiliating the person, and stopping if they're not listening. The Zohar, however, tells a story of Rabbi Ḥiyya and Rabbi Yosi meeting a man with a skin disease on the street and publicly rebuking him. This mindset reflects the Jewish community in 13th century Spain and the institution of berurei aveirot, religious police appointed to root out evil and maintain righteousness.

In sequence, Leviticus 19:17 commands: do not hate, do rebuke, and do not incur guilt. What is the relationship between these imperatives—and what do they teach us about the biblical art of rebuke?

Evaluating Deuteronomy’s angst about Israel’s future in light of the story of Ahiqar and modern educational research into student resistance.