1995/5755
In this week's Parsha, the Posuk states: "לא תלין פעלת שכיר אתך עד בקר," meaning that one may not leave overnight the wages of an employee until the next day (ויקרא י"ט:י"ג). This teaches that one may not hold back the wages of his workers and must pay them on time. The very next Posuk says "לא תקלל חרש," meaning that one may not curse the deaf (שם פסוק י"ד). What is the connection between these two seemingly unrelated ideas?
Some suggest that the Torah puts these two commandments one after the other in order to teach us that even if one's employer refuses to pay his wages, he should not curse him. Rather, he should take him to court, if necessary, to receive the money he deserves. The Pesukim are read as one unit: the employer may not withhold wages, but the employee should not curse him if he does.
When somebody wrongs someone else in any way, it is easy to get angry at him and curse him. But what does one really gain by doing so? Absolutely nothing. In actuality, one loses out by displaying anger and resentment, because cursing somebody lowers a person's spiritually and gives him nothing. It might be an outlet, but the Torah advises that one should be practical. If someone wrongs a person and he has a practical means of helping himself, he should do what he legally can do in order to protect himself from this loss, and not simply display anger and resentment which accomplishes nothing.
The story is told that someone once wrote a Sefer in which he sharply attacked a Teshuva which had been written by Rav Moshe Feinstein, using disrespectful and even rude terms. The printer called out of respect to ask Rav Feinstein if he should print this Sefer, and Rav Feinstein urged him to do the assignment, explaining that both the author and the printer had to earn a livelihood. There was no point in him getting angry at something wrong done by another person, because it would not accomplish anything, and would actually harm the livelihood of others. He thus contained his feelings even though he felt wronged. This is the lesson of our Parsha as well; even when one is wronged by someone who has violated a law in the Torah, he should control his reaction and act in the proper manner.