Shaming a Fellow in Public Is Like Spilling His Blood

A reciter [tanna] recited before Rav Nachman: One who shames the face of his fellow in public, it is as though he sheds his blood. He said to him, "You have spoken well, for you can see that the red departs and the white comes" [the blood drains from the face]. Abaye said to Rav Dimi, "In the West [the Land of Israel], in what are they especially careful?" He said to him, "In not whitening faces." Rabbi Yochanan said: All who descend into Gehinnom come up again, except three who descend and do not come up: one who calls his fellow by an [insulting] nickname, one who shames the face of his fellow in public, and one who has relations with a married woman. But is not "one who calls a nickname" the same as "one who shames"? [It is counted separately because] even though he has grown used to the name [so it no longer stings him], it is still forbidden. It is better for a person to throw himself into a fiery furnace than to shame the face of his fellow in public. From where do we learn this? From Tamar, as it is written, "she was brought out" [she chose to risk the fire rather than expose Judah].