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Is raising your hand against someone (assault) merely a "shem rasha" or is it a Torah (תורה) prohibition that carries malkus? The shiur analyzes whether the lav applies only when you actually hit (battery) or whether threatening counts as the beginning of the prohibited act. Targum Yonasan ben Uziel's reading of "arba'im yakenu"—that the fortieth malkah is lifting the hand without striking—suggests that the gesture itself constitutes a hakah and triggers the lav.
Rabbi Zweig examines a fundamental question in the laws of assault and battery found in Parshas Mishpatim: when the Torah (תורה) labels someone who raises their hand against another person a "rasha," does this mean the person violates a Torah prohibition (lav) and receives malkus, or is it merely a descriptive title without carrying the full force of Torah law? The practical distinction is significant—if raising one's hand constitutes a lav, the perpetrator would receive malkus, whereas if it's only a "shem rasha" (called wicked), there would be no malkus. The shiur distinguishes between two legal concepts: battery (actually hitting someone) and assault (threatening or raising your hand against someone, causing them to cower). The question is whether the Torah's prohibition of "lo sosef" applies only to battery, or whether assault is already included within the lav itself. Rabbi Zweig suggests a major nafka mina (practical difference): If hitting someone is definitively a lav that carries malkus (unless it causes monetary damage of at least a sheveh perutah, in which case you pay instead), then if raising your hand is also a lav, it too would carry malkus.
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Shemos (Mishpatim) and Devarim (Ki Seitzei) - assault and battery laws
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