AVOIDING DISRESPECT
R. Yehuda said that Yerushalayim was destroyed only because the Yidden were disrespectful to talmidei chachomim. Rav said that there is no remedy for the punishment awaiting a person who insults a talmid chacham. And R. Elazar said that a person who doesn't show his respect for a talmid chacham by rising in his presence will forget his Torah learning and won't live long.
(שבת קי''ט ע''ב, קידושין ל"ג ע"ב)
The Mishna says that an apikores doesn't merit a share in Olam HaBa. The Gemara explains that the term apikores includes the following people: one who insults a talmid chacham; one who insults another in the presence of a talmid chacham; one who says, "What benefit do the talmidei chachomim bring? All their learning is only for themselves!" – for he doesn't admit that the ongoing existence of the world depends on the study of Torah; or one who says, "What benefit are the rabbonim to us? Whatever they pasken is clearly written in the Torah" – for he doesn't recognize the breadth of knowledge involved in paskening a shaila.
Why is even a person who is not particularly disrespectful also considered an apikores? As Rabbeinu Yona explains, that person's lack of respect shows that he is also lacking an appreciation for HaShem's Torah.
R. Papa once inadvertently referred to some chachomim as “those rabbonim” (instead of "our Rebbes in that city") and then fasted as a kapara.
(סנהדרין צ' ע"א וצ"ט ע"ב ואילך, שערי תשובה ח"ג פ' קנה)
Every motzaei Shabbos, it was the custom of Reb Hillel Paritcher to partake of a chicken that had been shechted and prepared that night. Once, while visiting Kremenchug, he was hosted by Reb Yosef Tumarkin, the av beis din, and the rebbetzin wanted to have a chicken prepared for him for motzaei Shabbos. Of the two shochtim in Kremenchug, Reb Hillel preferred the Polisher chossid over the Chabad chossid, so Rebbetzin Tumarkin sent him the chicken. However, by that time he was not at home: he had already left to go and shecht for the following day. The rebbetzin decided that since she had no choice, and since even her husband ate from the shechita of the Chabad chossid, she would send the chicken to him. Yet when they sat down for their melaveh Malka and were served chicken and soup, Reb Hillel did not touch it.
Reb Yosef, his host, concluded that there must have been some shaila with the chicken and asked his wife what it had been.
"There was no shaila," she said. "He's probably not eating it because it was shechted by the Chabad chossid."
Her husband then asked Reb Hillel to explain his reasoning, so that he would know whether the shochet could be trusted. Reb Hillel assured him that there was nothing wrong with his shechita. However, since he had once heard him embarrassing a talmid chacham, he didn't want to eat from his shechita. Reb Yosef asked how this could be corrected if the offended party had already passed away, and Reb Hillel advised that the shochet should go with ten other men to the talmid chacham's kever and ask for forgiveness. Once that was done, he would eat from his shechita.
(רשימות דברים [חדש] עמ' 246 )
SEVERE CONSEQUENCES
For many years, a certain chossid of the Alter Rebbe was not blessed with children. Whenever he asked for a bracha, the Alter Rebbe would respond that he was unable to help him. Once, however, after giving his usual response, he added the advice that he visit Reb Shlomo Karliner. That tzaddik would be able to help him.
When he arrived in Karlin, he was told to wait until the tzaddik traveled out of town and then to accompany him on his journey. A few days later, Reb Shlomo in fact left Karlin, and gave permission for anyone who had a request to join him on his trip.
As they passed through a certain town, the tzaddik told this chossid, "If you contribute money (and he named a large sum), you will merit having children." The chossid, not being a man of means, felt he could not fulfill that weighty request.
Disappointed and saddened, he returned home. Some time later, when he next visited Liozna, and the Alter Rebbe asked him what had transpired, the chossid told him how he had refused to fulfill the tzaddik's formidable demand.
The Alter Rebbe said, "You once embarrassed a talmid chacham, and that is why you are childless. Since the talmid chacham has already passed away, you cannot ask him forgiveness, and according to the Gemara, 'One who embarrasses a talmid chacham must pay a significant sum of gold as an atonement.' Reb Shlomo traveled with you to the kevarim of those poskim who hold that this kapara can be attained even after the talmid chacham has passed on. That is why he demanded so much money – but now it is too late."
The chossid protested, "I have never insulted a talmid chacham!"
The Alter Rebbe queried, "Didn't you once insult Reb Yissachar Dov, the rov of Lubavitch?"
"Eh! Reb Yissachar Dov... I wouldn’t consider him a talmid chacham," said the chossid.
The Alter Rebbe responded, "Eliyahu HaNavi revealed himself to Reb Yissachar Dov every day – and you do not respect him as a talmid chacham?! I can't help you, nor can I forgive you for speaking to him dishonorably, for I was his talmid."
(המשפיע ע' קכו)
The following painful episode was reported by Reb Shmuel Nimoitin, the chossid who served as the contact between the Frierdiker Rebbe and the Rogatchover Gaon: "Before the Frierdiker Rebbe went to Leningrad, he dispatched me to the Rogatchover Gaon, the leading rov of the city, to receive his permission, not wanting to cause him any disrespect. However, three chassidim, fired with misguided zeal for the Rebbe’s honor, apparently said something to the Rogatchover that caused him to leave the city.
"When the Frierdiker Rebbe heard about this, he told them to ask the Rogatchover for forgiveness. He warned them that they were playing with fire. One of them followed the Rebbe’s strict instructions, and was forgiven. Of the other two, one passed away within the year. The other, who had been a tamim in Lubavitch and a well-reputed chossid, strayed from the path of Yiddishkeit.
Although after ten years he did teshuva, none of his offspring remained frum."
(הצפנת פענח במשנת הרבי עמ' ס"א, הרוגוצ'ובי עמ' 221 )
Consider
What is so severe about disrespecting a talmid chacham: the shame caused or the underlying cause for the disrespect? How was the chossid expected to know that Reb Yissachar Dov saw Eliyahu HaNavi?
