Musar על בבא מציעא 117:13

And one should be very careful not to shame any man for the Sages said: "He who whitens (shames) the face of another in public has no portion in the world to come" (Baba Mezià 59a). To whiten another's face is like murder, for the red departs and the white comes (thus one is spilling the blood of the shamed one within him) (Ibid., 58b). And the Sage said further: The pain of shame is worse than death. A person should allow himself to be burnt alive and not shame his fellow in public. And they learned this from Tamar who, even though they brought her forth to be burned, did not want to shame Judah (Berakoth 43b). And even when you are required to rebuke another the Torah says: "You shall surely rebuke your neighbor and not bear sin because of him" (Lev. 19:17). How shall you rebuke? At first, secretly and gently. However if you rebuke him at the beginning in public and shame him, then you have sinned because of this, (Arakin 16b). And this is all the more true where one shames another where no rebuke is called for.

And anyone who causes pain to a fellow Jew transgresses a prohibitive command, as it is said: "And you shall not wrong one another but you shall fear the Lord" (Lev. 25:17), and this phrase "you shall not wrong" is said concerning wronging by words (Baba Mezi'a 58b). And our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said: "All gates are closed to hearing accusations against the repentant except the gate of wronging a fellow Jew" (Ibid. 59a). Therefore, should one be very careful not to cause pain to his companion in any way — not by deeds and not by words.

Tears come from sorrow and great worry. And we have learned that "the gates of tears are not locked" (Baba Mezi'a 59a). And it is written, "Mine eyes run down with rivers of water because they observe not Thy Torah" (Ps. 119:136). And it is written, "For I do declare mine iniquity : I am full of care because of my sin" (Ps. 38:19). A man ought always to be concerned with what has passed, worry as to what lies ahead and always be fearful that perhaps he will not fulfill the full measure of repentance. "Happy is the man that feareth always" (Prov. 28:14).

Our sages of blessed memory already said "verbal oppression is more severe than monetary oppression..." (ibid). This is even more so, if the shaming is done in public as we learned explicitly: "one who whitens his neighbor's face (shames him) publicly has no portion in the World to Come" (Avot 5:11), and Rabbi Chisda taught (Bava Metzia 59a): "all the gates [of prayer] were locked except the gates of [the cries of] verbal oppression". Rabbi Eliezer taught "for every sin, the Holy One, blessed be He, exacts payment through a messenger except for the sin of verbal oppression".

Rachel replied that she would bring a צרה into her home. She referred to her maid-servant Bilhah, whom she elevated to be a potential competitor by having Jacob sleep with her in order that she, Rachel, could by this means become a surrogate mother. Israel's position while in exile is somewhat similar to Rachel's status after she had given Bilhah to Jacob as a wife. When Israel in exile is forced to adopt alien practices, it does so with a pure heart, its motivation is Heaven-oriented. However, due to our sins there is a צרה which intercepts between us and G–d, i.e. the קליפה. This problem is alluded to in the Midrash Rabbah's introduction to Lamentations. Such behavior is tantamount to bringing the picture of an alien deity into the sanctuary. Seeing that Israel in exile is not a free agent, the gates of tears i.e. prayer of distress, are not closed to it and our prayers reach G–d having broken through to Heaven by way of ארץ ישראל. This is what Rachel said to Jacob. Though they were not in ארץ ישראל, the prayer would help by the very fact that she was prepared to bring a צרה into her house. As a result, G–d would look at her affliction and accept her prayer even while she introduced a foreign element into her sanctuary, her house.