Question: What is the Torah viewpoint on rebuking someone else?

Answer: First of all, one of the 613 commandments is to give rebuke to our fellow Jews. That being said, we have to qualify this with two points.

When the Torah gives us this commandment in Leviticus 19:17, it states immediately afterwards that you should not do a sin. This is understood as teaching us that when we rebuke our fellow Jews, it must be done with the utmost care so as not to hurt the person in the process.

Additionally, we see in Genesis 29:4, that when Jacob approaches the shepherds at the well, he refers to them as “my brothers.” The question is asked, why is he calling them his “brothers” if he is just meeting them for the first time? The answer is that he is about to rebuke them for wasting time (ibid verse 7). However, rebuke cannot be given without first expressing love. First, Jacob made them like his brothers, and then he was able to rebuke them.

Sincerely,
Pinchas Landis