Sefer HaChinuch ספר החינוך

To not whiten the face of an Israelite: To not embarrass an Israelite; and our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, called this sin (Avot 3:15), “whitening the face of his fellow in public. And the negative commandment that comes about this [in the Torah] is that which is written (Leviticus 19:17), “you shall surely rebuke your compatriot, and you shall not bear a sin because of him.” And they said in Sifra, Kedoshim 4:8, “From where [do we know] that if you rebuked him four or five times [...] go back and rebuke [him again]? [Hence] we learn to say, ‘you shall surely rebuke.’ Perhaps, he should rebuke and his face change [color]? [Hence] we learn to say, ‘and you shall not bear a sin for him.’”

The root of the commandment is well-known — since embarrassment is very painful for the creatures — there is nothing greater than it. Therefore God prevented us from causing so much pain to His creatures, since it is possible to rebuke them in private and not to embarrass the sinner so much.

From the laws of the commandment is that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Yoma 86b) that we were not warned like this about all things, but rather [only] about things between a man and his fellow. But with Heavenly matters — if he does not return after the private rebuke — it is a commandment to shame him publicly, to publicize his sin and to disgrace and curse him until he returns to the good, as the prophets did to Israel. And [also] that which they, may their memory be blessed, said (Berakhot 43b) by way of a warning about this matter, “From where do we [know that] it is better for a man to descend into a fiery furnace, and not to whiten the face of his fellow in public? From Tamar,” who did not want to whiten the face of her father-in-law, to say in public that she was pregnant from him. And had she not found the pledge and let the matter be known through a hint, she would have been condemned to burning; but she did not whiten his face. And the rest of the details of the commandment are in scattered places in the Gemara and in the Midrash.

And [it] is practiced in every place and at all times. And [if one] transgresses it and volitionally whitened the face of his fellow publicly — not for a sin in the way that we have said — he has violated a commandment of the King. But he is not lashed, since there is no act [involved] with it. And the Omnipresent has many agents to pay back those that transgress His will.