A Single Verse, A Complete Moral Vision
In the book of Leviticus, a short commandment appears: “Do not place a stumbling block before the blind.”
On the surface, it is simple: don’t trip someone who cannot see. But Jewish legal tradition has understood this verse for centuries as something far larger — a comprehensive moral principle about knowledge, power, and responsibility.
The blind person in this verse is never the one at fault. He is the vulnerable party — the one who lacks information, lacks sight, lacks the ability to protect himself. The prohibition is directed entirely at the one who can see — and chooses nonetheless to place an obstacle in his path.
Continue reading Middle East Part 1: Ancient Wisdom for a World at War -by Chaim Goldberg
