The Prohibition of Striking

הרב מנדי נחשון | הרב חיים אליעזר חיטריק

29 Adar 5786

Article #55

שונה הלכה

הכאת חברו

איסור הכאה

נזקי גוף

רשע

חרם

חינוך

אדמו"ר הזקן

striking a fellow

hitting

physical injury

resha

excommunication

chinuch

Admo"r Hazakein

בניין

self-defense

striking others

Shulchan Aruch HaRav

damage

education

nezek

physical harm

[1] (Halacha 14)

Question: What is the prohibition of striking, and what is the law concerning one who strikes?

Answer: It is forbidden for a person to strike his fellow, and if he strikes him he transgresses a negative commandment, [and if he struck him and caused him damage he pays for the damage, but if it was a light blow that involves no damage worth a perutah he is liable to lashes from the Torah]. And anyone who raises his hand against his fellow to strike him, even though he did not actually strike him, is called wicked, as it is stated, "And he said to the wicked one, why do you strike your fellow" — it does not say "why did you strike" but rather "why do you strike." However, more severe is the situation of a person who actually struck his fellow, for besides being called wicked, he is also placed under the ban of the early authorities, and it is not possible to include him in a minyan or in matters of holiness until a beis din releases the ban for him (Shulchan Aruch of the Rebbe, Laws of Damages to Body and Soul, sections 1-2).

[2] (Halacha 15)

Question: May a person grant permission for himself to be struck?

Answer: The prohibition for a person to strike his fellow applies even in a case where his fellow grants him permission to strike him, since a person has no authority over his own body at all to grant permission for himself to be struck; and not only striking, but also not to shame or pain the body, such as fasting without reason (however, in a case where one fasts as repentance, or as part of self-affliction for the sake of the service of Hashem, it is permitted).

Question: Is it permitted to work in a profession that involves striking?

Answer: A person for whom the only way to earn a livelihood involves paining his body or degrading himself, it is permitted to him, such as a person whose profession is to engage in boxing — it is permitted to him since this is for the sake of livelihood (Shulchan Aruch of the Rebbe, Laws of Damages to Body and Soul, section 4 and Kuntres Acharon, subsection 2. Agura B'Ohalecha vol. 2 siman 74).

[3] (Halacha 16)

Striking for the purpose of self-defense:

Question: Is it permitted to strike back at someone who strikes me?

Answer: *The prohibition of striking applies even in a case where another person struck us or started a quarrel and reviles and curses us, and now we wish to repay him for what he did to us.

*However, as long as his fellow is actually striking him (or is planning to strike), it is permitted for him to strike back, provided that this is the only way for him to stop the blow (and likewise to prevent in advance that he not strike), and even then, if he is able to suffice with a small blow, it is forbidden for him to multiply the striking.

*And likewise, when we see someone striking his fellow, it is permitted for us to strike the one who strikes in order to prevent him from continuing to strike, but as above, to do only the necessary minimum and no more.

*A person who enters our home and is not willing to leave — there are those who permit striking him so that he leaves, on condition that there is no other way.

*A person who stole an object of ours or comes to steal — in this too it is permitted for us to rescue the object by means of striking if there is no other way [and there is no need to wait and sue him in beis din so that he returns the object].

(Shulchan Aruch of the Rebbe, Laws of Damages to Body and Soul, sections 2 and 3)

[4] (Halacha 17)

Striking for the purpose of education:

Question: Is it permitted to strike for the purpose of education?

Answer: *King Solomon wrote in Mishlei: "חוֹשֵׂךְ שִׁבְטוֹ שׂוֹנֵא בְנוֹ וְאֹהֲבוֹ שִׁחֲרוֹ מוּסָר" ("He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him early"), meaning that a person who loves his children and students and wishes to educate them to walk in the upright path must also use sternness in order to set boundaries for them.

However, the Sages set many boundaries in order to ensure that there is an educational purpose here, and not, Heaven forbid, the venting of the frustration of the parent or educator, or, on the other hand, that on account of the striking, harm rather than benefit results.

Therefore they wrote:

a. With respect to young children, that it is forbidden to strike a cruel blow, with a whip or a stick, but only with a small strap; and to the extent that the striking exceeds the point of education, the one who strikes transgresses a negative commandment, and he is placed under the ban. (And likewise our Sages wrote that it is forbidden to threaten and frighten the child that he will be punished with striking in the future; rather, either punish immediately or do not punish.)

b. With respect to older children, it is altogether forbidden to strike them, and one who strikes is placed under the ban. The definition of an older child for this matter — some say from the age of 22, or that he is married; but some say that any child who, by reason of his age, there is a concern that he will respond in kind or curse his parents, must already refrain from being struck.

And all this is from the strict letter of the law, but already in recent generations people are careful regarding the entire matter of striking, since the harm that can result from it is great, and "the harm is not worth the king's damage," and the prophet Zechariah already said, "וָאֶקַּח לִי שְׁנֵי מַקְלוֹת לְאַחַד קָרָאתִי נֹעַם וּלְאַחַד קָרָאתִי חֹבְלִים" ("And I took for myself two staffs; one I called Pleasantness, and the other I called Binders"), and therefore in place of the staff of Binders one must grasp the staff of Pleasantness.

And so the Rebbe writes in Igros Kodesh vol. 12 p. 266: "It is correct that this is not the way to use the punishment of the rod in education, for sometimes, most frequently, it turns out that its reward — what one gains through it — is outweighed by its loss, and the wise will understand. And we see tangibly that with the firmness clothed in ways of pleasantness, one accomplishes more." (Shulchan Aruch of the Rebbe, Hilchos Talmud Torah ch. 1 halacha 13; Hilchos Nizkei Guf V'Nefesh sec. 4).

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