It may happen that one looks condescendingly on Torah scholars and pious individuals. One may do it without realizing it or one may do it intentionally. In his last class, Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto referred to the punishment of those who despise the righteous. He said: "One should beware of the fiery coals of the righteous, of a bite by the righteous. A blow by a righteous person is a blow for generations."
Rabbi Pinto warned that "a righteous man’s curse will haunt one who slanders the sages for generations, effecting him and his seed forever. There is no remedy for this. Therefore, a person who has a problem with a righteous man, let him settle it with him. Do not leave the problem festering because it will haunt him and his children and the curse will pursue them forever."
Rabbi Pinto said: "We realized this from when we were young. We were sitting at Baba Meir's, someone came in and said something to him and Baba Meir said to him: 'God will give you a blow to your head...' We remembered that."
"Years passed, and we started receiving an audience in Kiryat Malachi, That same person came to us, maybe he was the tenth person to come to us after we started receiving an audience. It was 30 years ago, and he told us that they found cancer in his head. We knew it was from Baba Meir's curse, when he said that 'God will give you a blow to your head...'"
"May God save us!" Rabbi Pinto added. "A curse can last 20 years, 15 years, but whatever the righteous person said - you will pay for it with compound interest. That is why one should be careful with righteous people, and be careful with the Torah scholars. Watch out where it concerns the Torah. Respect the Torah."
Watch his full words.
This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel