Up to this point of the Mishnah, the word ona'ah meant taking advantage of somebody in a transaction of business. But here we'll talk about another type of ona'ah. The Mishnah says that just as there's a type of ona'ah involving causing pain or distress to somebody else, which is forbidden in buying and selling in business, that's what the word ona'ah really means. It means causing pain. Just as they have that in business, there is another type of ona'ah, which is ona'ah b'dvarim, with words. They're not allowed to say something to somebody else that's going to cause them pain or distress. This is learned out by an extra pasuk (verse) in the Torah. The Torah tells us, ish et amito, v'yareta me'Elokecha, ki ani Hashem Eloheichem (One man to his friend, and you should have fear of Hashem, because I am Hashem, your God). We learn from this pasuk in ona'ah, which isn't mentioned at all within the context of any business, that there's another type of ona'ah that happens through words.
What are some examples? You can't tell a merchant, someone who has a store, “Do me a favor, how much is this item? How much is this object?” when you don't really have any intention to buy it. You just want to talk. You just want to browse. And you want to make it seem like you're interested, but you're there for another purpose. When you do that, you're creating false hope in the salesman. Then eventually you're letting him down. You're creating disappointment when you don't purchase the item. In addition to that, you may have him lower his price because he wants to make a sale. Somebody else overhears, and they're going to take that cheaper price, when he could have made more money if you didn't haggle, if they didn't hear you haggling. So, therefore, you're not allowed to cause pain by asking him questions if there's really no plan to buy an item in a store.
If the person was a ba'al teshuvah, he repented. If somebody was a sinner earlier on in life and then did teshuvah (repentance), you can't tell him, “Oh, do you remember in the early days when you did so many...” That causes him shame; that causes him embarrassment and pain, and therefore you're not allowed to do that. He's the son of a convert. You can't tell him, “Ah, remember the evil ways of your non-Jewish parents or your ancestors, how they used to act?” That also could cause him pain and embarrassment, like the pasuk tells us. You're not allowed to cause pain to a convert. You're not allowed to oppress that convert.