Sefer HaChinuch ספר החינוך

To not curse father and mother: To not curse father and mother, as it is stated (Leviticus 20:9), “Any man that curses his father and his mother, etc.” And the truth is that the main warning of cursing father and mother is not from Scripture, since here it only mentions the punishment of the one that curses; and so [too,] that which is written in the Order of Mishpatim (Exodus 21:17), “And he who curses his father and his mother shall surely be killed” — there too, it only spoke about the punishment. And that is what they said in Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael 21:17:3, “‘And he who curses his father and his mother, etc.’ — we have heard the punishment, but from where is the warning? [Hence] we learn to say (Exodus 22:27) ‘Lords you shall not curse[, etc.]’ If his father is a chieftain (nassi), behold he is included in ‘and a chieftain in your people you shall not malign.’ If he is a boor, behold he is included in ‘You shall not curse the deaf.’ Hence it is to be derived by a constructive paradigm (binyan av) through the three of them, etc.” until, “Their common denominator is that they are ‘in your people,’ and you are exhorted against cursing them. Your father, too, is ‘in your people,’ and you are exhorted against cursing him.” And so did they say in Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 10:7, “‘And he who curses his father and his mother’ — we have heard the punishment, etc.” exactly like the language of the Mekhilta. And since there is no specific [textual] negative commandment to this warning — but rather it comes out from the principle [understand by an analysis] of three negative commandments — I have written it on this verse that is speaking about the punishment [for it]. And likewise, Rambam, may his memory be blessed, wrote about “he who curses his father and his mother shall surely be killed,” that it is speaking about the punishment (Sefer HaMitzvot LaRambam, Negative Commandments 318).

I have written about the roots of the commandment in Mishpatim on the negative commandment to not curse judges (Sefer HaChinukh 69).

From the laws of the commandment is, for example, that which they said (Sanhedrin 85a), that the liability for the cursing of father and mother is whether they are alive, or even after their death; which is not the case with hitting — as the liability in it is only in their lifetimes; but after death, he is exempt for hitting them. And that which they said (Shevuot 35a) that there is no liability for death on the son until he curses them with one of the explicit names [of God]; but one who curses them with an appellation is exempt from stoning, and is [only] lashed — as is the way that one is lashed for the curse of a proper man. And that which they said (Makkot 12a) that the law of one who curses the father of his father or the father of his mother is like one who curses [any]one from the rest of the congregation. And [in the case of] a father that is obligated an oath, the son should not administer the oath, with an oath that has a curse; but rather he administers an oath that does not have a curse. And they also said that it is forbidden to disgrace him at all, as it is not about the curse that the Torah was concerned, but rather about the disgrace. And one who disgraces him is cursed, as it is stated (Deuteronomy 27:16), “Cursed is the one who belittles his father and mother.” And the court should strike one who does this and punish him according to that which is fitting. And the rest of its details are in the seventh chapter of Sanhedrin. (See Tur, Yoreh Deah 241.)

And [it] is practiced in all places and at all times by males and females, and so [too,] by [those the sex of which is in doubt]. And a child of unknown paternity is obligated towards his mother, but he is not obligated towards his father, even if his mother was questioned and she said that he is the son of x. And it appears that a mamzer is liable for cursing his father and his mother — as behold, he is fit to inherit them from Torah writ. And he also has the status of a fit son regarding mourning and for everything. But the son of a female slave or of a gentile woman is not liable for their curse. And so [too,] a convert whose conception was not in holiness — for example, if his mother converted when she was pregnant — is not liable for cursing his father. And just like he is not liable for cursing his father, so too is he not liable for cursing his mother, even though she was Jewish when she bore him; and like they, may their memory be blessed, expounded (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 9:9), “‘And he who curses his father and his mother’ — one who is obligated for his father, is obligated for his mother, etc.” And it should not be asked about this teaching based on the son of unknown paternity who is only obligated for his mother — as [there] the father is not known and recognizable. And a convert is rabbinically forbidden to curse his gentile father, so that [people] not say he came from a stringent [level] of holiness to a light one. (See Yevamot 22a.) But a slave has no lineage, and behold his father is like someone who in all respects is not his father — and even after he is freed. And one who transgresses this and curses them with one of the names [of God] is stoned; and that is when there are witnesses and a warning there — as is well-known in every place. But if he [only] curses them with one of the appellations [of God], he is lashed.